Reviews

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

moon_peach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It's very well written however Meche is a horrible person

nearly leading to Sebastian's death?? I get she was a teenager but i can't believe they end up together

I guess she was always going to end up a little messed up given how her parents are but jeez.

I kinda wish Daniela had been the main character I resonated with her having a chronic illness and having to navigate that but instead we have the wannabe Mean Girl Mercedes.

Again very well written but I was definitely not on Meche's side

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, and Grief

karis_lit's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

doreneemi's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

queenofglitches's review against another edition

I'm nearly halfway through and I don't care about any of this.

caaleros's review against another edition

4.0

“Signal to Noise” follows a group of three friends in Mexico City when they discover they can cast spells through music in 1988. The book goes between then and 2009 when Meche returns home after the death of her father. The story was addicting and I loved to see Meche process her past when she comes home. I loved to see the drama-filled reconnection with her former friends, and that was the thing that kept me reading at such a quick pace. I wanted to see how it ended!

In the flashbacks, Meche becomes more unlikable towards the second half of the book, but I always found her character to be interesting even if I didn’t like her. That being said, because she was so horrible in the past, and in the present seemed to blame her friends for what happened rather than take any responsibility, the ending really was not enough. Meche needed more of an emotional arc than she had. Because the emotional arc wasn’t there it was hard to believe that the ending of the story. Which is disappointing because the rest of the book was really good! I wish it was 50 pages longer to develop the ending more.

All that being said, this was another interesting and addicting read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ominousspectre's review against another edition

2.75

I love miss Silvia but I think I wanted this to be Silver Nitrate really bad but it was never going to be Silver Nitrate. It felt more like The Craft in a way, but less magic?

I'd hoped it'd dig into the darker occult stuff but this is a character driven story about the ills of teenhood. Which is good for some, just not for me! I don't care about teen romance drama heh. 

With this being her first novel, it all makes sense...and I can see the throughline to eventually writing Silver Nitrate. Did I mention I love Silver Nitrate?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Homophobia

bookishbel's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

imperiusrex's review against another edition

4.0

Young adult AND romance, and yet I loved it? What is happening here? There’s only one rational explanation: it’s a book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Only she can move me out of my normal reading comfort zones so effortlessly.

crimsoncor's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Fun two-timeline love story. You get a nice juxtaposition between Meche now and Meche then, and you can see how the same traits that make her feel like a strong adolescent protagonist do not age well. Books about music and magic are definitely up my alley, so really enjoyed all of that. I thought it was interesting that Meche never realized or had to deal with her complicity in her grandmother's stroke. 

senquezada29's review against another edition

5.0

I'd heard a lot of good things about Silvia Moreno Garcia so figured I'd start with her 1st book. I still consider myself new to these kinds of books in general, but I absolutely loved this one. The story was engaging and kept me turning the pages. The characters were deeply flawed and I didnt like the main character as a person, yet I was still very much rooting for them all. I related to the loneliness the 3 main characters experienced in their formative years. The romance was predictable, but not cheesy. I was hoping for them to wind up together. The music references were diverse and appropriate for the story's timeline and characters. The fantasy element was also just enough to make the story clearly a work of fiction, yet not too much to make it cartoonish. Overall it was just a very well balanced book with an engaging story. I'm anxious to read .ore of her books.