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A fun suspenseful read!
A small town in Baja California, a disenchanted young woman, a trio of strange American visitors, and a bunch of twists and turns.
My all-time favourite part of this novel is how visually engrossing it is. I can picture the characters and setting so perfectly, it’s like I just watched a movie. I can see the town and hear the 1970’s soundtrack perfectly.
Viridiana is a wonderful heroine. Young, flawed, clever, and adaptable, her arc is incredibly satisfying, especially once she begins to realize her own strength.
Some of the developments felt a bit too convenient, BUT did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of the story.
Would definitely recommend if you want a twisty crime story interlaced with a coming-of-age tale.
[note: This in no way affected my star rating, but I read the novel on my Kobo e-reader, and the first section had a number of formatting issues, mostly missing words and font changes. They’re minor, and didn’t bother me too much, but Kobo should definitely see about fixing them if they can.]
A small town in Baja California, a disenchanted young woman, a trio of strange American visitors, and a bunch of twists and turns.
My all-time favourite part of this novel is how visually engrossing it is. I can picture the characters and setting so perfectly, it’s like I just watched a movie. I can see the town and hear the 1970’s soundtrack perfectly.
Viridiana is a wonderful heroine. Young, flawed, clever, and adaptable, her arc is incredibly satisfying, especially once she begins to realize her own strength.
Some of the developments felt a bit too convenient, BUT did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of the story.
Would definitely recommend if you want a twisty crime story interlaced with a coming-of-age tale.
[note: This in no way affected my star rating, but I read the novel on my Kobo e-reader, and the first section had a number of formatting issues, mostly missing words and font changes. They’re minor, and didn’t bother me too much, but Kobo should definitely see about fixing them if they can.]
Listened to as an audiobook on Libby.
Not sure why I keep reading these books, but at least this one wasn't as bad as Mexican Gothic. This was a mystery of sorts, even though we know what happened the whole time. I think Viridiana's internal struggle and the connections to sharks throughout the book are the only reasons that I finished it (and the fact that it was an audiobook I could speed up to 3x speed).
Not sure why I keep reading these books, but at least this one wasn't as bad as Mexican Gothic. This was a mystery of sorts, even though we know what happened the whole time. I think Viridiana's internal struggle and the connections to sharks throughout the book are the only reasons that I finished it (and the fact that it was an audiobook I could speed up to 3x speed).
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
inspiring
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
I was almost sad to finish because I enjoyed it so much, the writing and the characters and the suspenseful atmosphere of it being so wonderful to read.
SMG has a way of writing women that is almost comforting. Our main character Viridiana in an 18-year-old woman who desperately wants off her little island, too intelligent to be spending her days watching sharks and waiting for tourists so that she can give them tours. She's both ambitious and directionless - wanting to travel and visit Mexico City, but unsure how she can ever escape this small town. I instantly loved her, her smarts and her awkwardness and her love to quote books and movies.
When she is given the opportunity to be a personal assistant/translator for some tourists, she is eager but apprehensive. It spirals from there - the tourists aren't what they seem, and suddenly one of them is now dead. But she's enamoured by the charismatic Gregory and fascinated by the elusive Daisy, so when they both said that the death was an accident she has no choice but to go along with the plan.
It's frustrating at times reading Viridiana be strung along by the foreigners, but at the same I can't blame her when I consider how magnetic and charismatic they must be to a small-town girl. That's not to say that Viridiana doesn't learn from them and their manipulative ways, and it's thrilling to see how she transforms from a naive girl to someone very aware of the power she holds.
All in all, yet another SMG book I adored.
Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment
Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Gaslighting
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Atmospheric. Reading this was like being in that tiny town, slowly dying. The stink of rotting shark corpses in the air. Really great read.
A great story, believably set in Mexico. Viridiana was a super character. I loved how she evolved through the story. I loved the symbolism of sharks and bezoars.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Even though I always pre-order Ms. Moreno-Garcia's new releases, I still eagerly grab up the ARCs so I can get to them a little earlier.
***
The setting of this story is a character of its own. The oppressive heat of Baja California, the stench of shark carcass on the beach, the too-modern design of the huge house where much of the action takes place. Yet the story is timeless, classic; the drama that unfolds during these weeks of Viridiana's life could have happened here or there, in 1820, 1920, or 2020. These kinds of villains have existed everywhere in every time.
Viridiana is not naive, necessarily -- she is eighteen and inexperienced, and wise enough to know it. After taking a routine translator job in her small town working for some wealthy and mysterious Americans, she finds herself drawn deeper into a plot of deception. As her world becomes darker and more violent, will she become the predator or the prey?
Much like the author's other works, the ending has stuck with me. I'm looking forward to someone else reading this so we can discuss what we think happened.
arc received from the publisher
***
The setting of this story is a character of its own. The oppressive heat of Baja California, the stench of shark carcass on the beach, the too-modern design of the huge house where much of the action takes place. Yet the story is timeless, classic; the drama that unfolds during these weeks of Viridiana's life could have happened here or there, in 1820, 1920, or 2020. These kinds of villains have existed everywhere in every time.
Viridiana is not naive, necessarily -- she is eighteen and inexperienced, and wise enough to know it. After taking a routine translator job in her small town working for some wealthy and mysterious Americans, she finds herself drawn deeper into a plot of deception. As her world becomes darker and more violent, will she become the predator or the prey?
Much like the author's other works, the ending has stuck with me. I'm looking forward to someone else reading this so we can discuss what we think happened.
arc received from the publisher