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Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

117 reviews

ashdawn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm not a huge fan of most vampire stories, but this was SOOOOOO GOOD. It combines so many different folk lore vampires (it also fascinates me how wide spread vampires are throughout cultures), with high action, and comentary on women's equality and colonialism. 

Kinda mad about the ending, even if it was a very good ending that makes so much sense for the characters. 

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marirene's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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ford_defect's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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


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aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0


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mxdegroot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Two hundred plus pages of waiting for plot.

This was just a drag from start to finish. It had so much potential, but the character development was either sudden and forced or non-existent, and the ending was horrible, especially since this is apparently a stand-alone.

I'm not saying Moreno-Garcia can't write. Her writing style is fine and I enjoyed the action scenes. The plot was just a drag, there was no development and it all ended in nothing.

February 1st, 2024 - February 7th, 2024

 “Nothing is easier." Elisa said. “It’s just another way to get killed.” 


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dreaming_cosmos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

The romance plot is very annoying, imo, but the rest of the story is compelling enough to get me through it.

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bookswithpao's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.25


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mengzhenreads's review against another edition

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dark 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

Gritty and gory neo-noir thriller about vampires. The world building in this story was totally insane and I was absolutely here for it. Gruesome in the best way.

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iamsammie27's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

3.5 ⭐ CW: Violence, blood, gore, violent/gruesome deaths, death of a parent, substance use, sex work mention, sexual content, colonization mention, dog fighting mention

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is neon-noir horror that gave me Bladerunner vibes, but instead of androids, vampires. I have found that this author is very hit or miss for me. I did enjoy parts of the novel, but it was just so slow for such a short book. It was also very gruesome, which is not my favorite thing. 

We follow Atl, a birdlike vampire on the run from a rival vampire gang. We get several povs from people either going after Atl or assisting her. Domingo is the sweet, naive one that should be protected at all costs. Atl appears to be a badass, but is really a spoiled vampire who made a grave mistake. I really didn't like Nick, the vampire from the rival gang. He was violent and misogynistic. 

As I said, this was incredibly slow and not much character development. I did like learning about the different types of vampires from different cultures. It was cool seeing Aztec culture represented through Atl. This was just fine. I'm wondering if I should continue to read this author. I really enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow, but that's about it so far. 

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