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saintmaud's review against another edition
4.0
my only complaint–the same I had with mexican gothic–is that smg doesn't dial up the craziness I really really want to see her go over the top with the horror and gore one day. also I feel the characterisation of the older actresses was sacrificed for the sake of momo & tristan and the general plot when it could've made the whole story more alluring.
but overall... so good I desperately want to watch a silver nitrate film now.
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Gore and Racism
Minor: Ableism and Vomit
cadence99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
felt like the character development was much improved from the books that I’ve read of hers in the past. I’d highly recommended it to anyone who can handle supernatural horror. A lot of if also felt very historical fiction heavy, with all the elements of old Mexican horror movies inserted throughout, and I really enjoyed that about it.
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, Colonisation, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Violence, Chronic illness, and Death
Moderate: Biphobia, Addiction, and Cancer
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Stalking, Suicide, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Animal death, Genocide, Vomit, and War
bkwrm1317's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
A bit different than other novels by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Silver Nitrate is an (of course) exquisitely researched and written novel, at its core, about folks who work in the film industry in Mexico, a film recorded on silver nitrate reel that was part of a magical spell, and a Nazi occultist. Our main characters, Montserrat and Tristán, childhood friends, both embedded in the film industry and starting to be looked over in their respective portions of the field (Montserrat, or Momo, in the sound editing world; Tristán in the acting world) as they start to get older and don't seem to cut it compared to younger, more attractive colleagues.
Perhaps most interesting in this particular Moreno-Garcia novel is the weaving together of the film industry of years past and Nazi occultists' obsession with film as conveyer of magic. Tristán and, especially, Montserrat, get themselves into lots of supernatural trouble as a result of messing with a film that contained the "unfinished" spell of one such dead Nazi occultist from Germany (this character, Ewers in the novel, is based on the real historical figure of Joseph Goebbels, former Chief Propagandist of the Nazi party (etc), and who was convinced that cinema was "one of the most effective propaganda instruments" (Author's Note).
As with all of Moreno-Garcia's works, the author also comments on historical and contemporary social issues like colorism and racism within México, love and the forms it takes, disability, homophobia and biphobia, and one could even read commentary of white folks co-opting spiritual practices of folks from the Global South into some of the novel, among others.
Spoiler ahead:
I hope folks enjoy this Moreno-Garcia novel just as much as her others. It felt a bit different to me (not at all in a bad way) from prior works of hers, so I'll be genuinely interested to see what more folks things once this book hits shelves in a little over a week!
CWs in more or less order of intensity/severity: some explicit detailed gore (of someone long-deceased, but would give this one as a more graphic warning; description is fairly brief), misogyny, death, ableism, cultural appropriation (done by the Nazi occultist because of course), biphobia, bullying (as flashbacks/references to childhood), addiction (specifically alcoholism and references to the alcohol intake of a character increasing, references to side effects of hangover, etc.).
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Death, Ableism, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny
Minor: Bullying, Alcoholism, Biphobia, and Addiction
dananana's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
Minor: Biphobia
scrubsandbooks's review against another edition
- 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
There was so much to love about this and so much I learned. First off, both MCs are bisexual disasters. I absolutely love that. Second, there is so much info about cinema without it feeling like a massive info dump. SM-G is able to weave it all into dialogue without any of it sounding like one long PSA. Third, occultism?? Horror cinema?? Runes and spirits and magic?? Need I say more??
The start was pretty slow... I feel like it didn't pick up until 30% through when you get to the meat of the plot, when the retired director who had dabbled in occultism with some Nazis tells the truth of the magic of film to the two MCs and recruits them to finish a film which would subsequently release him from a curse put on him for NOT completing it from the start. Not much of a spoiler but... they finish it. And then they suffer some consequences. The story after that had me absolutely gripped. What I always appreciate about SM-G's novels is that she puts in so much research into the subject based on real life issues as well as weaving in fantasy and magical realism that just hooks you and pulls you through all the pages. Her characters are always pictures as flawed but real and relatable and this applies to Monserrat and Tristan in this book too. This is an absolute instant-recommend for anyone!
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!
Graphic: Racism, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse and Blood
Minor: Medical content, Ableism, Biphobia, and Alcoholism
bookishparadox's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Murder, Death, Grief, Ableism, Sexism, and Alcohol
Minor: Classism, Medical content, Violence, Racism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, War, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
val_so_'s review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Murder, Grief, Misogyny, Car accident, Racism, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Xenophobia
Minor: Medical content, Ableism, and Biphobia