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sophiamoonlight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Sexual violence, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Gore, and Death
jodierose14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Police brutality, Death, Misogyny, and Blood
daniellekat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Bullying
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
What I liked:
- The cover!! Considering trying to find it as a print.
- The vibes, they do a great job of matching the cover. I love vampires and really liked the lore that is introduced in this book. Plus, the gritty, 'noir' atmosphere that makes Mexico City feel both futuristic and modern.
- The world-building; a lot of thought has been put into vampire traits and history, as well as the state of Mexico City. It did feel a bit surface-level at times, but it isn't a big book and I am perfectly happy with what is there.
- The Aztec inspirations, mythology and history were great to read.
- The plot, to an extent: it was fun and readable!
- The commentary of colonialism under a vampire lense.
- The dog!!
What I didn't like:
- The tone: this is an adult book, but to me reads quite YA with a lot of gore. The dialogue felt immature most of the time, the sex was fade to black, and overall nothing had the kind of nuance I would expect from a book directed at adult audiences. However, this is one of Moreno-Garcia's first books! I'm very excited to read more from her.
- Furthermore, this is classed under the 'horror' genre and I think I disagree with that. Vampires don't always equal horror, and this is gorey but I don't really get any other horror traits from it.
- I feel like Domingo should have been aged up at least a year to 18. He's 17 and I believe Atl is 22 or 23, which paired with the power imbalance of her being a vampire that could kill him in a heartbeat, made the romance just a bit icky.
- The development of the above romance. It felt like Atl switched from 'absolutely not' to 'i love him' within a couple of paragraphs and I would have liked either more buildup or a smoother transition.
- I didn't really connect with any of the characters. We had five POVs, and three of those were always very brief which didn't allow for any connection to them while also taking time away from Domingo and Atl. Ana was great until she just wasn't, for plot reasons, and I think Rodrigo's internal POV/motivations were unnecessary.
I also just really don't know how I feel about the ending!!
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death and Colonisation
maresuju's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Rape, and Trafficking
antimony's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, and Violence
One character's hand is amputated at one point, which is described kind of graphicallyemzhay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think the characters could have been stronger. Because of this I didn’t really care about the romance subplot, and honestly thought it could’ve been left out.
Graphic: Torture, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, and Police brutality
Minor: Death of parent
risaleel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Violence, Gun violence, and Drug use
achay91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Gore, Death, Cursing, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use and Confinement
bee87's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Bullying, and Grief