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A review by boba_nbooks
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
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.
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