monarcadelibros's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not a fan of the romance in this story, but the action and magical realism was bomb!
alexilse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mswalshreads's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
scoutee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
readingwithhippos's review against another edition
4.0
Update 9/1/21: I am suuuuuuuper smug that I have an original hardcover copy of this book. Glad it's being reissued so more people can enjoy it but that original cover is just delicious (and now, apparently, a collector's item!).
I’d been familiar with the concept forever, but I didn’t have a name for it until an early episode of New Girl when Schmidt decided to dump CeCe for her own good by being mean to her until she gave up on him. Fortunately for their relationship (for a while, anyway), CeCe knew Schmidt was a fan of Jack London’s novel White Fang and immediately caught on to what he was doing.
“Are you White Fanging me?” she asked. Schmidt tried to play innocent, but everyone knew White Fang was the only book on his Kindle (though he points out that he has “many PDFs”).
Not a fan of half-hour Fox sitcoms or wolf books? That’s okay, you’ve still seen this shtick enough times to be bored by it. People get together, but one of them decides the other is too perfect for them and proceeds to sabotage the relationship for the other’s perceived benefit. Because love may be grand, but nothing feels as good as being a martyr.
Now, I normally don’t have much patience for plots that hinge on White Fanging. I also am not typically enthused to read about vampires (none of us are really over Twilight yet, are we? Will the specter of Twilight ever clear, so that we can enjoy vampire-y stuff without immediately imagining Kristen Stewart’s pasty face and heavy mouth-breathing?). But I am willing to make allllll the exceptions for Certain Dark Things.
These are vampires like you haven’t seen before. Moreno-Garcia has created different races (breeds?) of vampires, originating from all over the world and in varying degrees of creepiness. Atl is a Tlahuihpochtli from the North hiding out in Mexico City after several of her family members were wiped out by rival vampires. On the train, she meets Domingo, a garbage collector and streetwise kid who is drawn to the mysterious woman and her big bioengineered dog. Maybe because she’s feeling vulnerable, Atl asks Domingo back to her place, and so begins one of the strangest yet sweetest partnerships I’ve ever seen in fiction.
Of course, because Atl is a vampire and Domingo is just a kid with a heart of gold, there’s all kinds of ambivalence and tooth-gnashing about whether or not they should be friends, let alone anything more. But Domingo has all these good qualities—he’s protective, strong, smart, resourceful—and he keeps coming in super-handy, because Atl is being hunted by the same vampires who took out her family.
Don’t let the White Fanging or the vampires scare you away—Certain Dark Things is a dark, fun ride.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
I’d been familiar with the concept forever, but I didn’t have a name for it until an early episode of New Girl when Schmidt decided to dump CeCe for her own good by being mean to her until she gave up on him. Fortunately for their relationship (for a while, anyway), CeCe knew Schmidt was a fan of Jack London’s novel White Fang and immediately caught on to what he was doing.
“Are you White Fanging me?” she asked. Schmidt tried to play innocent, but everyone knew White Fang was the only book on his Kindle (though he points out that he has “many PDFs”).
Not a fan of half-hour Fox sitcoms or wolf books? That’s okay, you’ve still seen this shtick enough times to be bored by it. People get together, but one of them decides the other is too perfect for them and proceeds to sabotage the relationship for the other’s perceived benefit. Because love may be grand, but nothing feels as good as being a martyr.
Now, I normally don’t have much patience for plots that hinge on White Fanging. I also am not typically enthused to read about vampires (none of us are really over Twilight yet, are we? Will the specter of Twilight ever clear, so that we can enjoy vampire-y stuff without immediately imagining Kristen Stewart’s pasty face and heavy mouth-breathing?). But I am willing to make allllll the exceptions for Certain Dark Things.
These are vampires like you haven’t seen before. Moreno-Garcia has created different races (breeds?) of vampires, originating from all over the world and in varying degrees of creepiness. Atl is a Tlahuihpochtli from the North hiding out in Mexico City after several of her family members were wiped out by rival vampires. On the train, she meets Domingo, a garbage collector and streetwise kid who is drawn to the mysterious woman and her big bioengineered dog. Maybe because she’s feeling vulnerable, Atl asks Domingo back to her place, and so begins one of the strangest yet sweetest partnerships I’ve ever seen in fiction.
Of course, because Atl is a vampire and Domingo is just a kid with a heart of gold, there’s all kinds of ambivalence and tooth-gnashing about whether or not they should be friends, let alone anything more. But Domingo has all these good qualities—he’s protective, strong, smart, resourceful—and he keeps coming in super-handy, because Atl is being hunted by the same vampires who took out her family.
Don’t let the White Fanging or the vampires scare you away—Certain Dark Things is a dark, fun ride.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
bessadams's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence
sullivc5's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: Violence, blood, gore, violent/gruesome deaths, death of a parent, substance use, sex work mention, sexual content, colonization mention, dog fighting mention
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is neon-noir horror that gave me Bladerunner vibes, but instead of androids, vampires. I have found that this author is very hit or miss for me. I did enjoy parts of the novel, but it was just so slow for such a short book. It was also very gruesome, which is not my favorite thing.
We follow Atl, a birdlike vampire on the run from a rival vampire gang. We get several povs from people either going after Atl or assisting her. Domingo is the sweet, naive one that should be protected at all costs. Atl appears to be a badass, but is really a spoiled vampire who made a grave mistake. I really didn't like Nick, the vampire from the rival gang. He was violent and misogynistic.
As I said, this was incredibly slow and not much character development. I did like learning about the different types of vampires from different cultures. It was cool seeing Aztec culture represented through Atl. This was just fine. I'm wondering if I should continue to read this author. I really enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow, but that's about it so far.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is neon-noir horror that gave me Bladerunner vibes, but instead of androids, vampires. I have found that this author is very hit or miss for me. I did enjoy parts of the novel, but it was just so slow for such a short book. It was also very gruesome, which is not my favorite thing.
We follow Atl, a birdlike vampire on the run from a rival vampire gang. We get several povs from people either going after Atl or assisting her. Domingo is the sweet, naive one that should be protected at all costs. Atl appears to be a badass, but is really a spoiled vampire who made a grave mistake. I really didn't like Nick, the vampire from the rival gang. He was violent and misogynistic.
As I said, this was incredibly slow and not much character development. I did like learning about the different types of vampires from different cultures. It was cool seeing Aztec culture represented through Atl. This was just fine. I'm wondering if I should continue to read this author. I really enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow, but that's about it so far.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty
jannne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0