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jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Each one of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s books is unique from the others so they’re always a surprise. This one centers around vampires in a futuristic Mexico City.
Vampires are fairly well-known and definitely undesirable. Sanitation departments around the world keep track of what vampires are doing, and vampires are hunted by both police and each other as various species fight amongst themselves. Particularly deadly and violent vampires escaping from Europe, having been banned, are taking over the gangs and cartels, ignoring the traditions that have kept vampires safe from humans in the past. Internecine battles are destroying the Mexican vampires descended from pre-Columbian times.
As a take on colonialism and its destruction of natives and their culture, it offers easily recognizable parallels without being didactic. I found the first half of the novel slow and I wasn’t invested in the characters, but both plot and characterization picked up. By the satisfying ending, I’d come to love the two main characters. Worth a read for Moreno-Garcia fans.
Vampires are fairly well-known and definitely undesirable. Sanitation departments around the world keep track of what vampires are doing, and vampires are hunted by both police and each other as various species fight amongst themselves. Particularly deadly and violent vampires escaping from Europe, having been banned, are taking over the gangs and cartels, ignoring the traditions that have kept vampires safe from humans in the past. Internecine battles are destroying the Mexican vampires descended from pre-Columbian times.
As a take on colonialism and its destruction of natives and their culture, it offers easily recognizable parallels without being didactic. I found the first half of the novel slow and I wasn’t invested in the characters, but both plot and characterization picked up. By the satisfying ending, I’d come to love the two main characters. Worth a read for Moreno-Garcia fans.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Police brutality, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Colonisation, Death, and Addiction
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
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: Blood, Gun violence, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Homophobia, and Chronic illness
emmdashed's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Sylvia Moreno-Garcia paints a realized and captivating world in Certain Dark Things. All of the lore she created, this whole sprawling world of different vampires with all their physical and cultural differences were fascinating. However, this does create the issue of the book feeling a little too exposition heavy especially in the beginning. Kind of a Catch-22 she created: we need to know this world, but given that the book is so short creating the individual characters and story may have taken a bit of a back burner to explaining all the lore. At least it was well thought out, interesting lore that kept me reading.
The main POV characters themselves were fine. I didn't dislike them, but I didn't really fall in love with them either. Least favorite was Nick because he feels like a character we've seen too many times before: brutish and hot-headed, horny, rich boy. Atl and Domingo were alright, I liked them well enough, though I wasn't always sure I bought Domingo's blithe nature and immediate, absolute loyalty when there seemed little reason other than attraction. Ana and Rodrigo were interesting to me. Rodrigo really hit that banality of evil, 'I'm so tired I'll do awful things just to get out a little faster' vibe. Ana also had that scrappy cleverness that made me root for her even when she started doing some some morally gray stuff.(Honestly she got done dirty by this book. Justice for Ana) Favorite character by a long shot was Bernadino. Love that Old Honor Bound by Tradition Vampire shit, and he was just fun to read about ?? Also I just was really intrigued by Revenant vampire ideas.
The plot was also just Fine, not bad, but not incredible. Writing was very good, solid description of scenes and action without going too overboard. I could visualize everything, and enjoyed the words.
I really hope Moreno-Garcia revisits this world in the future. A lot of concepts were touched on that I would love to see more explored. More different vampires, more about the seedy underworld in and out of Mexico City, and more of those near future aspects like the weird illnesses, and the genetically modified animals. Maybe a story in the past too, Bernardino and Atl's mother's lives before this story would be super interesting.
Overall a solid book if you're okay with a lot of exposition and worldbuilding. I didn't connect with all of it the story but that's probably more personal preference than any real fault with the writing. Like I said hopefully she comes back to this world again!!!
The main POV characters themselves were fine. I didn't dislike them, but I didn't really fall in love with them either. Least favorite was Nick because he feels like a character we've seen too many times before: brutish and hot-headed, horny, rich boy. Atl and Domingo were alright, I liked them well enough, though I wasn't always sure I bought Domingo's blithe nature and immediate, absolute loyalty when there seemed little reason other than attraction. Ana and Rodrigo were interesting to me. Rodrigo really hit that banality of evil, 'I'm so tired I'll do awful things just to get out a little faster' vibe. Ana also had that scrappy cleverness that made me root for her even when she started doing some some morally gray stuff.
The plot was also just Fine, not bad, but not incredible. Writing was very good, solid description of scenes and action without going too overboard. I could visualize everything, and enjoyed the words.
I really hope Moreno-Garcia revisits this world in the future. A lot of concepts were touched on that I would love to see more explored. More different vampires, more about the seedy underworld in and out of Mexico City, and more of those near future aspects like the weird illnesses, and the genetically modified animals. Maybe a story in the past too, Bernardino and Atl's mother's lives before this story would be super interesting.
Overall a solid book if you're okay with a lot of exposition and worldbuilding. I didn't connect with all of it the story but that's probably more personal preference than any real fault with the writing. Like I said hopefully she comes back to this world again!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Blood, and Colonisation
Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Torture, Rape, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Sexual content
Expanding on the Adult-Minor relationship Atl is 23 (I think? Early-mid 20s) and Domingo is 17, which is the age of consent in Mexico, but not everywhere, so be aware if this is something that may upset you.meggs1005's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual content
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I thought this book was okay. It was well written but I didn’t feel a very strong connection to any of the characters. The action felt a little forced and I was honestly bored at times. It wasn’t bad, by any means, but it’s not something I would read again nor that I would recommend to anyone who isn’t a hardcore vampire fan. I found the details about the different kinds of vampires to be fascinating and wish I’d been able to learn more about that specifically. I liked Domingo a lot even though he felt kinda flat to me, very typical “I’m obsessed with vampires” human. I wish we knew a little bit more about him as a person. The same with Atl, whose background I feel we only got the lightest of sketches of to explain why she was on the run and in Mexico City. I would’ve liked a longer book or for this to be the first in a duology about these characters, Atl specifically but also other important characters & the different clans.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Violence, War, Torture, Grief, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
aardwyrm's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There's some law that books in certain genres have to claim to be reinventing or rulebreaking for some reason. This book does not reinvent vampires. It's a fairly straightforward if grim urban fantasy vampire-themed thriller. Like most of the author's stuff, there's a wonderfully built world and a lot of lush prose inhabited by characters who are rather flatly by the book with no chemistry. Fun to read. Good for Halloween?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexism, Police brutality, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Animal cruelty
stormywolf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.0
This month's pick for Maven's Vampire Book Club is a recent reprint following the author's wildly successful Mexican Gothic, which I admittedly haven't read yet. So, other than knowing that this author has gotten a lot of praise for her suspenseful and beautiful writing, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I'm not one who usually enjoys gritty stories (I'm a bit put off by the mention of "narco-vampires"), but a kick-ass vampire on the run with a charming human sounds like it could be fun, right? Right?
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, it took a while, but like the puppy that is Domingo, this story grew on me. It's definitely not for everyone, with dark and adult themes very much overwhelming the 'vampire romance' vibes, but so long as you're prepared for a somewhat gritty vampire noir, I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. The fast-paced writing and unique world made it easy to fly through, though you may, like me, need more time added to the end to fully digest everything, but luckily the newer version offers just that with its Encyclopaedia Vampirica, author interview, discussion questions, and more. So if you're in the mood for a stand-alone vampire book with unique lore, strong female characters, a bit of sci-fi punk, and a lot lurking beneath the surface, then try sinking your teeth into this one.
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, it took a while, but like the puppy that is Domingo, this story grew on me. It's definitely not for everyone, with dark and adult themes very much overwhelming the 'vampire romance' vibes, but so long as you're prepared for a somewhat gritty vampire noir, I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. The fast-paced writing and unique world made it easy to fly through, though you may, like me, need more time added to the end to fully digest everything, but luckily the newer version offers just that with its Encyclopaedia Vampirica, author interview, discussion questions, and more. So if you're in the mood for a stand-alone vampire book with unique lore, strong female characters, a bit of sci-fi punk, and a lot lurking beneath the surface, then try sinking your teeth into this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal death, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug use, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Sexual assault
Adult is 23, Minor is 17. Hate crime & Xenophobia is against vampires as a race. Dogs are injuredhanz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use and Kidnapping
sofipitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. I've been reading a LOT of vampire literature and when I tell you this is fresh take on vampires, it's FRESH. Moreno Garcia solves the age old question of what bits of lore apply to the vampires in question by simply having different vampire species that are endemic to different regions of the world. What a galaxy brain take. The lore of this universe is pretty extensive, but it doesn't overwhelm the story. The author isn't overly descriptive and yet the setting, alternating between neon-noir and gothic is lush.
I recommend this book HIGHLY
I recommend this book HIGHLY
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Colonisation
caidyn's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm so damn glad this book got reissued! It was a fantastic read that I (pun intended) devoured. The world was so rich and I loved being able to flip back and read on the lore this book incorporated. All in all, I'd read more in this world if possible!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Vomit, and War
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