Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

82 reviews

hanz's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Racism, Self harm, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment

boba_nbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️

Silvia Moreno-Garcia does not disappoint. Silver Nitrate had me on the edge of my seat and is terrifying in all the right ways.

Monserrat and Tristán have been friends since they were kids, and though Monserrat has been in love with Tristán all these years, he is oblivious to her feelings. The boys' club running the film industry in Mexico City in the 90s leaves no place for Monserrat, even though she's an extremely talented sound editor. As an aging actor, Tristán is also starting to feel left out of the industry, too. So when he finds out that his new neighbor is a cult horror director who wants to work with himself and Monserrat, Tristán wants to jump in without any hesitation. However, Monserrat is a little more cautious. The director, Abel,  wants the two of them to help him finish a film that he never got the chance to complete, but that film has left everyone who has touched it with bad fortune. The person Abel originally worked with on the film was a Nazi who believed creating this film would bring them magical powers. Abel believes finishing the film will lift the curse and bring fortune and fame, as well as magic, to the trio, but once they start working on it, strange things start to happen that leave Monserrat and Tristán wondering just what they got themselves into.

This novel focuses on how obsession with the occult can drive people to go to the extreme. It also explored the art of film, especially horror movies, and how all of the pieces come together to create a sort of magic--and in this story, the magic happened to be real. After being powerless her whole life, both in her career and in her own body, Monserrat has to decide what to do with the very real power she gets ahold of. She has to choose whether power is the most important thing to her. 

Similarly to one of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's other novels, Mexican Gothic, this was a very atmospheric read. Silver Nitrate explores ritual and how the past can still permeate the present. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Cursing, and Vomit

moscat's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Movie magick. Loved this. The seedy Gialli vibes, the creeping magic, the unraveling mystery, the period touches. My fave SMG.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

bri_fabiano's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder, and Alcohol

rodile's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This was a fun read! The main characters are Mexican disaster bisexuals, and their interactions are well-written. I enjoyed the portrayal of grief and its interplay with magic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Biphobia

alisonvh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I surprised myself by answering “no” to the question “Did you find the characters lovable?”

Whether or not I like the characters is usually directly related to whether or not I like a book. In this case, I didn’t care for any of the characters, but I think that was kind of the point.

The book is all about magic and movie-making, and I don’t mean “the magic of movies!” I mean using movies as a vehicle for casting literal spells.

A central part of the book is how access to that kind of power can bring out the worst in us.

I loved this book! I was growing up in the ‘90s, so I feel very nostalgic about that time period. And I love a story about magic and sorcery, so this book was right up my alley.

My only complaint is the narrator gave a very stilted and wooden performance, so maybe skip the audiobook for this one.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

virgilsinferno's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A slow burn with an epilogue I didn't care for. But I liked the bit of character growth we get and I think the magic stuff is interesting and the history bits were cool. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Biphobia and Suicide

applesodaperson's review against another edition

funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was honestly a very fun book! It definitely wasn't perfect, but there was a lot that I liked about it. I loved the 90s Mexico City setting, and the turn of the century, and how the advancements in technology had a ton of impact on the story. Like how Monserat is being slowly pushed out of her job because of technological advancements (and of course in addition to a ton of misogyny). I also loved the characters. They were both so dysfunctional in their own ways and honestly their relationship was really dysfunctional too.

They have a childhood best friends to eventual lovers at the end dynamic. But seriously Tristan treated Monserat terribly by using her as a fall back and only hanging out with her and needing her when he is going through a breakup.

And holy cow Tristan reminded me so much of Rojelio de la Vega from the TV show Jane the Virgin. They are both middle aged, washed up soap opera stars that still have huge egos and a ton of regrets. He was just a very entertaining character. 
A criticism I have about this book was that the horror was lacking. The magic scenes were a bit convoluted and boring. It also just wasn't very scary. Which should really be a requirement for something to be considered a horror book in the first place. And a lot of the plot beats were extremely repetitive. Monserat just complained about work over and over again and they talked about the movie curses so much. 
Overall, the characters were really the stand out of this book, which made the lackluster plot even more dissapointing. But overall this was good. 
Listened to on Libby.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Racism

vixenreader's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

A tribute to foreign cinema, adversity, and overcoming your own demons, this book inspires everyone to embrace their own magic. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Colonisation

Be aware that this novel features ageism, toxic workplace environments, Nazism, cults, occult rituals, violence with knives, harming one’s self for rituals, and people being crashed by large instruments.

knittingchaos's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Car accident