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A review by bisexualwentworth
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
3.5
I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved all of the vampire lore, especially the different vampire races.
The setting was great, too. Silvia Moreno-Garcia did a great job of creating a version of Mexico City that feels contemporary and real but with added dystopian elements including more cops, more surveillance, and more disease.
I loved Atl as a main character. She was flawed and complicated and interesting. She was casually queer. I would absolutely read another book focused on her family.
Unfortunately, I liked the other characters a lot less, and I felt like the number of points of view in this relatively short book made all of their backstories feel very surface-level and underdeveloped. I get that this book was more plot-driven and that focusing more on backstory might have messed with the pacing, but I still don’t feel like I got to know the characters as well as I should have.
The action scenes were fine. Kind of hard to pay attention to.
Why have I seen no one talk about the fact that this book has a relationship between an adult vampire and a human minor? Is Domingo not stated to be seventeen? Am I missing something? Cause that was super weird to me. I liked the inversion in the usual power dynamics in that relationship, but WHY was Domingo a minor? He could have been eighteen!
I listened to the audiobook version that was narrated by a man, and I can’t say I recommend it. He repeatedly mispronounced pretty basic Spanish words, and I cringed every time. I definitely would have liked the book more with a different narrator.
The setting was great, too. Silvia Moreno-Garcia did a great job of creating a version of Mexico City that feels contemporary and real but with added dystopian elements including more cops, more surveillance, and more disease.
I loved Atl as a main character. She was flawed and complicated and interesting. She was casually queer. I would absolutely read another book focused on her family.
Unfortunately, I liked the other characters a lot less, and I felt like the number of points of view in this relatively short book made all of their backstories feel very surface-level and underdeveloped. I get that this book was more plot-driven and that focusing more on backstory might have messed with the pacing, but I still don’t feel like I got to know the characters as well as I should have.
The action scenes were fine. Kind of hard to pay attention to.
Why have I seen no one talk about the fact that this book has a relationship between an adult vampire and a human minor? Is Domingo not stated to be seventeen? Am I missing something? Cause that was super weird to me. I liked the inversion in the usual power dynamics in that relationship, but WHY was Domingo a minor? He could have been eighteen!
I listened to the audiobook version that was narrated by a man, and I can’t say I recommend it. He repeatedly mispronounced pretty basic Spanish words, and I cringed every time. I definitely would have liked the book more with a different narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Racism, and Grief