Reviews with content warning for Racism - Silver Nitrate

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Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

66 reviews

thegothiclibrary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

Don’t play with magic you don’t understand. You’d think this would be common sense by now, but there’s always some skeptic willing to treat mystic rituals like a game—to their own detriment. Montserrat and Tristán learn this lesson the hard way in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest horror novel Silver Nitrate. Check out my full review: https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-silver-nitrate-cursed-films/

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cappuccino136's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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megan_harper's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first third was slower than other books I’ve read by SMG, but there was a lot of context to set in order to build a strong world.

Overall, I really liked the fact that the flaws in Monsterrat were used in the climactic scenes in ways that caused her to doubt herself. I also appreciate that while the tension between Monsterrat and Tristán was thrumming in the background, it wasn’t a central plot line and wasn’t overly romantic.

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ravennemain's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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bookiecharm's review against another edition

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4.5

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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

I'm stuck between a 3.5 and a 4 ⭐️ for this one. SMG's writing style is so unique, and I love that every single one of her books is so different. The discussions about Nazi occultism in this were fascinating and so socially critical, but it did get a little weird. That ending tho!!!!!!

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bchallis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.75

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cinderellasbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

A book about film, or in this case the literal power of movies, and it’s written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - sign me up!

Montserrat is a sound editor in Mexico City’s film industry in 1993. Her childhood friend and unrequited former crush, Tristán, is a soap opera star whose fame has declined following a tragic car accident that killed his girlfriend. When Montserrat and Tristán meet a film director who claims that his last movie was cursed, which thus led to his misfortunes, they offer to help him finish it. Pretty soon however, they begin to encounter some eerie outcomes.

I kid you not when I say that SILVER NITRATE scared the life out of me, but I loved it anyway. I have read my fair share of horror novels, but this one takes the cake.

The supernatural elements are creepy, especially as Montserrat gets deeper into learning more about the occult and their belief around the mysticism of performance and how that translates into film. I literally felt my body tense up reading those parts, along with one scene with Tristán and a haunting apparition and another with Montserrat being lured by a sinister character to “follow him into the night.” Chills 😵‍💫🫣

There are references to filmmaking, which I enjoyed, and aspects throughout that are inspired by movies in cinematic history, especially Mexican cinema. There is actually a video where Moreno-Garcia talks about two movies in particular that influenced SILVER NITRATE. Listening to her talk about the artistry behind film and how certain scenes are shot, performed, and sound edited gives you an idea of what she wanted to convey and share about film and cinema. It all comes through in her writing, which is so immersive that the whole novel itself feels as if you are watching a horror movie unfold on the big screen.

After reading SILVER NITRATE, it makes me even more excited for her next book that is also set in the film industry. This one though is sure to stay with me, even if I’m not usually into horror. Hereditary, Rosemary’s Baby, Evil Dead fans will devour this and movie lovers will enjoy it. Either way, you’re going to want to pick up SILVER NITRATE.

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sarah984's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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? No

3.0

I really liked the premise of this novel (literal movie magic!) but I found the execution so dull. Most of the characters' motivations are just straight up fed to you in exposition and neither of the point of view characters is especially compelling. None of the attempted emotional beats with them land at all because they don't feel like people with real lives and goals. The '90s Mexico setting was cool and there were a few good scares but overall not that great.

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