Reviews

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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mjewrites's review against another edition

3.0

I loved Mexican Gothic so I figured I’d give Silver Nitrate a read. The premise and setting was really interesting, I love a good throwback to the early 90s and Moreno-Garcia’s descriptions of life in Mexico are fascinating to read about. As a horror lover and film nerd myself, I loved the concept of a lost film with a spooky history, and the details about filmmaking and the Mexican film industry were so interesting. Those really shined through in the book and made Monserrat’s love for film incredibly palpable. Monserrat and Tristan were really well-written characters, I loved how their flaws were on full display and appreciated that they were in their late 30s for the story. When I first picked up this book it was very hard to get into the story but I knew from previous experience with Moreno-Garcia’s work that she tends to go for the slow burn. Once things got going I couldn’t put it down! However, I had some issues with it. First is the magic. Maybe my skills are lacking but it was difficult to comprehend the magic system in this book and the characters’ long, sometimes boring explanations or speculations about it just made it more confusing. The stuff about closing the circuit especially got confusing, which led to the plot feeling convoluted at times, especially when the characters were going back and forth about what to do, who is on their side, and what really happened with the spells and the film. And sometimes the dialogue and narration itself got a bit boring, I think some stuff could’ve been cut back. There were even times when things were unnecessarily repeated, especially when it came to talking about the magic. I think the story got a little bogged down by its own ambitions and lengthy narrative. I also didn’t like the romance at the end, it felt out of nowhere. I guess that can really happen with two people who have been friends for so many years, but it felt like there was hardly any buildup to it and then suddenly Tristan realizes he wants to be with Monserrat. It felt kind of forced in order to have a happier ending. But other than that, I did really enjoy the story and I liked its conclusion in regards to everything else. The action scenes were great. It’s evident a lot of research and work was put into this and Moreno-Garcia definitely has the ability to come up with interesting and unique plots. I’ll definitely check out more of her work and probably reread this at some point. But so far I still prefer Mexican Gothic.

seaclauss's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

quantumdude111's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

dbethke01's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

vengefuldime's review against another edition

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3.0

Really great atmosphere, premise, and action scenes. However, I had to get through quite a lot of dialogue that felt repetitive and slow to get there. It has a satisfying ending, but it somehow felt crowded, like it was trying to tell too much- despite that boring start. The slow burn didn’t exactly build the dread for me, but I did enjoy the growing magic and threat when the actual fights took place. I didn’t really care for the romance, but I do like the kind of description (as is in Mexican Gothic) of a love interest as flawed, maybe even ugly, but having no less of an emotional connection.