You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This book wasn't quite what I expected, although, maybe it should have been.
This book has a similar isolated small-town Mexico feel to it as [b:Mexican Gothic|53152636|Mexican Gothic|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575673549l/53152636._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73647361], but I actually think this is superior*. It's different, but I think the suspense is more prominent, because even though the stakes are relatively low - we know them, and we're never truly sure whether Viridiana can overcome them.
That small-t0wn atmosphere has a relatable air to it - young woman dreaming of escaping her hum-drum life, and I really like SMGs descriptive tones, she lends great depth and feeling to the surroundings. This is true for all her books, that I've read.
*It's a shame this book hasn't garnered the same amount of attention as her others, so far, maybe next year when it gets a fuller release, as I'm lead to believe!
This book has a similar isolated small-town Mexico feel to it as [b:Mexican Gothic|53152636|Mexican Gothic|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575673549l/53152636._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73647361], but I actually think this is superior*. It's different, but I think the suspense is more prominent, because even though the stakes are relatively low - we know them, and we're never truly sure whether Viridiana can overcome them.
That small-t0wn atmosphere has a relatable air to it - young woman dreaming of escaping her hum-drum life, and I really like SMGs descriptive tones, she lends great depth and feeling to the surroundings. This is true for all her books, that I've read.
*It's a shame this book hasn't garnered the same amount of attention as her others, so far, maybe next year when it gets a fuller release, as I'm lead to believe!
i really enjoyed this crime fiction. this was my 3rd silvia moreno-garcia read & i absolutely love the way she writes women characters. i am definitely a fan!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Untamed Shore is a character driven story with a rich atmosphere. Viridiana dreams of romance, of staring in her story instead of merely staying in the same town forever. Desperate to escape the path before her, her introduction to three tourists changes her life forever. They not only offer her glamor and a chance to witness a whole new life, but also secrets, intrigue, and danger. I was extremely interested in the promises of thriller, but Untamed Shore is more of a character driven mystery.
What you might expect of a thriller is delivered late in Untamed Shore. Beforehand, there is a subtle and ominous sense of danger. Additionally, Untamed Shore is more focused on Viridiana and how she reacts to the mystery element, not one of those stories where the intrigue takes over. We are not only asked where Viridiana's loyalty lies, but also what she will do survive. The image of sharks haunts Untamed Shore, asking what Viridiana's role in her own story is.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-untamed-shore-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/
Untamed Shore is a character driven story with a rich atmosphere. Viridiana dreams of romance, of staring in her story instead of merely staying in the same town forever. Desperate to escape the path before her, her introduction to three tourists changes her life forever. They not only offer her glamor and a chance to witness a whole new life, but also secrets, intrigue, and danger. I was extremely interested in the promises of thriller, but Untamed Shore is more of a character driven mystery.
What you might expect of a thriller is delivered late in Untamed Shore. Beforehand, there is a subtle and ominous sense of danger. Additionally, Untamed Shore is more focused on Viridiana and how she reacts to the mystery element, not one of those stories where the intrigue takes over. We are not only asked where Viridiana's loyalty lies, but also what she will do survive. The image of sharks haunts Untamed Shore, asking what Viridiana's role in her own story is.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-untamed-shore-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/
Viridiana is one of those heroines who is really not a great person but you kind of want to be her!
Should I ever need to be, I really wish I could be as badass as her. Or is it be more of a psychopath? I don't think she is an out and out psychopath but girlfriend took no prisoners. It was kind of amazing.
The shark was the perfect metaphor.
As usual, Silvia Moreno-Garcia does atmospheric really well. This is my third book of hers and none of them have been the same (well besides the clever use of colonisers being the bad guys) and none have been in the same genre. She has become an auto-buy author for me.
Should I ever need to be, I really wish I could be as badass as her. Or is it be more of a psychopath? I don't think she is an out and out psychopath but girlfriend took no prisoners. It was kind of amazing.
The shark was the perfect metaphor.
As usual, Silvia Moreno-Garcia does atmospheric really well. This is my third book of hers and none of them have been the same (well besides the clever use of colonisers being the bad guys) and none have been in the same genre. She has become an auto-buy author for me.
Check out this review and more on my blog!
I received an eARC of Untamed Shore from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
By this point I think we all know that I’m Silvia Moreno-Garcia trash, and I’m so pleased to say that her first thriller, and first non-speculative novel, is a novel I really enjoyed.
Set in Mexico in the late 1970s, Untamed Shore follows 18-year-old Viridiana, who longs to leave Baja California for Mexico City, where she can put her fluency in four languages to use in a job that doesn’t involve leading ungrateful tourists around her hometown or working in her mother’s shop. When three Americans arrive for the summer and Viridiana is hired as, essentially, a PA, she seizes the opportunity they bring her for excitement from the humdrum of her life, until the summer takes a dark, deceitful turn.
I love the way Moreno-Garcia writes about Mexico, and from the very first page of this novel the atmosphere feels sinister, oppressive, like something’s waiting to happen just around the corner. And when you sign up to read a thriller, you know something is going to happen. The heat seems unrelenting, and you can always count on characters in extreme weather conditions, whether they be hot or cold, to become irritable with one another. Maybe even dangerously so.
This is a thriller that takes its time, Moreno-Garcia never rushes things, and yet I read it in two days. It’s incredibly readable, but you won’t find the kind of thriller here in which a new dead body’s turning up every five minutes and the hunt is on to find the killer. This isn’t a whodunnit, we already know who, but a novel about class, consequences and learning to hold your own.
Viridiana, like all of Moreno-Garcia’s heroines, is such an interesting protagonist to follow. At times she’s a little frustrating – more than once I wanted to give her a shake and say, ‘dammit, woman, open your eyes!’ – but she’s also only 18 and, though very intelligent, isn’t particularly worldly yet, which means it’s so much easier for her to be taken advantage of. Especially by a group of Americans who can go anywhere and do anything because they’re wealthy and white.
By the end of this novel, though, I guarantee you’ll be cheering Viridiana on. There’s very little I want to say about the plot because it’s not a particularly complex one, and it doesn’t need to be, but there are little twists and turns throughout that I don’t want to ruin. Ultimately Untamed Shore reads like a coming-of-age novel in the guise of a thriller, and Viridiana’s growth from the very first page to the very last, whether for good or for bad, is so compelling. She’s ruthless when she needs to be, and I love her for it.
I worried that I might miss the elements of fantasy or sci-fi that I’m used to encountering in Moreno-Garcia’s work, but this novel has proven that I’ll read basically anything she writes – I’d probably read her shopping list, to be honest – and I’d happily read another thriller from her in future. If I wasn’t already excited for [b:Mexican Gothic|48366686|Mexican Gothic|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575673549l/48366686._SX50_.jpg|73647361] (spoiler: I was), I certainly am now!
I received an eARC of Untamed Shore from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
By this point I think we all know that I’m Silvia Moreno-Garcia trash, and I’m so pleased to say that her first thriller, and first non-speculative novel, is a novel I really enjoyed.
Set in Mexico in the late 1970s, Untamed Shore follows 18-year-old Viridiana, who longs to leave Baja California for Mexico City, where she can put her fluency in four languages to use in a job that doesn’t involve leading ungrateful tourists around her hometown or working in her mother’s shop. When three Americans arrive for the summer and Viridiana is hired as, essentially, a PA, she seizes the opportunity they bring her for excitement from the humdrum of her life, until the summer takes a dark, deceitful turn.
I love the way Moreno-Garcia writes about Mexico, and from the very first page of this novel the atmosphere feels sinister, oppressive, like something’s waiting to happen just around the corner. And when you sign up to read a thriller, you know something is going to happen. The heat seems unrelenting, and you can always count on characters in extreme weather conditions, whether they be hot or cold, to become irritable with one another. Maybe even dangerously so.
This is a thriller that takes its time, Moreno-Garcia never rushes things, and yet I read it in two days. It’s incredibly readable, but you won’t find the kind of thriller here in which a new dead body’s turning up every five minutes and the hunt is on to find the killer. This isn’t a whodunnit, we already know who, but a novel about class, consequences and learning to hold your own.
Viridiana, like all of Moreno-Garcia’s heroines, is such an interesting protagonist to follow. At times she’s a little frustrating – more than once I wanted to give her a shake and say, ‘dammit, woman, open your eyes!’ – but she’s also only 18 and, though very intelligent, isn’t particularly worldly yet, which means it’s so much easier for her to be taken advantage of. Especially by a group of Americans who can go anywhere and do anything because they’re wealthy and white.
By the end of this novel, though, I guarantee you’ll be cheering Viridiana on. There’s very little I want to say about the plot because it’s not a particularly complex one, and it doesn’t need to be, but there are little twists and turns throughout that I don’t want to ruin. Ultimately Untamed Shore reads like a coming-of-age novel in the guise of a thriller, and Viridiana’s growth from the very first page to the very last, whether for good or for bad, is so compelling. She’s ruthless when she needs to be, and I love her for it.
I worried that I might miss the elements of fantasy or sci-fi that I’m used to encountering in Moreno-Garcia’s work, but this novel has proven that I’ll read basically anything she writes – I’d probably read her shopping list, to be honest – and I’d happily read another thriller from her in future. If I wasn’t already excited for [b:Mexican Gothic|48366686|Mexican Gothic|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575673549l/48366686._SX50_.jpg|73647361] (spoiler: I was), I certainly am now!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i really enjoyed this crime fiction. this was my 3rd silvia moreno-garcia read & i absolutely love the way she writes women characters. i am definitely a fan!
“Sharks haven’t changed in millions of years. They know how to survive better than we do.”
The book begins by introducing you to a small town in Baja California named Desengaño, its shark hunting history and Viridiana’s place within it. The first couple of chapters introduce you to all the expectations placed upon her by everyone in her life. From her mother, her step father, to the mother of her ex boyfriend, everyone seems to have had an expectation for her to fill for them. It also the lack of expectations from her father who saved himself from the town where nothing happens, packed his bags and headed back to Mexico City and his occasional gifts.
Read the rest of this review over on HobbiesOverCoffee
When I saw that Silvia Moreno-Garcia was coming out with a noir mystery novel, I immediately knew I was going to have to check it out. Everything I have read by Moreno-Garcia has never failed to disappoint me and Untamed Shore was no different! The characters that she is able to create in her stories are such a wonderful blend of realism while simultaneously always giving me the feeling that something else is going on under the surface with them. Her novels are very character-driven and always manage to pull me in, even if there isn‰ŰŞt much action happening.
Untamed Shore is a slow burn mystery following a girl named Viridiana in her hometown of Baja California, Mexico. Viridiana is a bit of a dreamer, having spent her whole life reading, watching old films, and learning multiple languages hoping to escape from her small town. When a group of American tourists arrives for the summer, Viridiana begins working for them and quickly finds herself tangled in their complicated lives and unable to resist the allure of the two younger tourists. She soon begins to realize that the group is not everything they seem and darker questions begin to arise about their identities.
I loved the overall tone and feel of this story. It isn‰ŰŞt an explosive action-packed crime story, it‰ŰŞs the slow burn of a character allowing herself to trust unsavory characters until she realizes it might be too late. As the reader, we realize this is going on the entire time, and I was at times frustrated and at times completely understanding why Viridiana reacted the way she did. Many of us know the allure of trying to escape our small town. And Moreno-Garcia wrote Viridiana‰ŰŞs character expertly in this regard.
If you are a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia‰ŰŞs writing already, definitely check this out, because it doesn‰ŰŞt disappoint. And if you‰ŰŞre not familiar with her writing, but you enjoy character-driven, slow-burn novels with a noir vibe and expert prose, definitely pick Untamed Shore up!
Untamed Shore is a slow burn mystery following a girl named Viridiana in her hometown of Baja California, Mexico. Viridiana is a bit of a dreamer, having spent her whole life reading, watching old films, and learning multiple languages hoping to escape from her small town. When a group of American tourists arrives for the summer, Viridiana begins working for them and quickly finds herself tangled in their complicated lives and unable to resist the allure of the two younger tourists. She soon begins to realize that the group is not everything they seem and darker questions begin to arise about their identities.
I loved the overall tone and feel of this story. It isn‰ŰŞt an explosive action-packed crime story, it‰ŰŞs the slow burn of a character allowing herself to trust unsavory characters until she realizes it might be too late. As the reader, we realize this is going on the entire time, and I was at times frustrated and at times completely understanding why Viridiana reacted the way she did. Many of us know the allure of trying to escape our small town. And Moreno-Garcia wrote Viridiana‰ŰŞs character expertly in this regard.
If you are a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia‰ŰŞs writing already, definitely check this out, because it doesn‰ŰŞt disappoint. And if you‰ŰŞre not familiar with her writing, but you enjoy character-driven, slow-burn novels with a noir vibe and expert prose, definitely pick Untamed Shore up!