Reviews - The Seventh Veil of Salome

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1.65k reviews for:

The Seventh Veil of Salome

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3.94 AVERAGE

eepemma's review

4.0

adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

jazzzzzis's review against another edition

3.5

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a well crafted story but just not for me and not right now.

hkb333's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

gisselle1003's review against another edition

4.5

medium-paced

bigpaw's review against another edition

2.5

SMG's books always leave me with a feeling of "good, not great," and Seventh Veil continues this trend. This book leans on the lower end of "good" compared to some of her others, tbh. I find her writing a little more simplistic than I prefer, and always wish things went a bit deeper, dug in a little more, gave us a bit more complexity. The dialogue felt stilted in this one, the characters' feelings and motivations very surface-level, and the examinations of racism and sexism are a bit too on-the-nose. But god, the vibes are always so good, and I do love that SMG keeps giving us these autistic weird girl protagonists.

Looking at our three protagonists in this: Vera was probably the most compelling overall, but I wish we had gotten more of her as a character. Her story was compelling, but I don't feel like I really knew her, yk? Nancy was obviously meant to be a one-dimensional antagonist, but if you're going to dedicate a solid third of the book to her POV, I'm going to need more than that. I think there was a lot of potential there to explore the abuses Hollywood commits against all women, AND how white women perpetuate those same abuses against women of color. But Nancy was just cartoonishly evil, obsessing over Vera while being virtually unknown to her. Even when we're shown the way the pressures of Hollywood impact her, the way she has to sleep with men for roles and sell nude photos to get by, it's all framed in a way that's almost...shaming? I was just disappointed by the lack of depth in her character.

Salome's biblical parts were so nothing to me. I love courtly intrigue! But this made me feel nothing. And the supposed great romance between her and Jokanaan--absolutely nothing, sorry.

So yeah, this was a solid "it's ok" from me.

jeckehecke's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Knowing Oscar Wilde's version of this story quite well (and having seen it on stage in Stratford) I was quite excited for his early Hollywood take on the Salome story. While it is impressive how much research Moreno-Garcia put into this book and how very much alive Hollywood then feels, I was a bit put off by the amount of focalisers (mostly because I really disliked a lot of them). While the author mimiks the montage of the movie business in the way that the book works (which also fits with the time in which it is taking place), I would've liked to spend more time with our main character --- yet, her naiveté and questionable taste in men also annoyed me. Even though it was clear from the start that her story and that of Salome would soon mix, it was still quite satisfying to see. Overall an enjoyable book if you can stomach the frequent sexism, racism and whatnot.

theloungingreader's review against another edition

4.0

books set in old hollywood don't always work for me - the glitz and glamour, the parties, and the drama just don't always manage to capture my attention. however, the seventh veil of salome was different. maybe it was because our main character, vera larios, an obscure actress found in mexico, offered the perspective of an outsider looking in, or maybe it was because the novel incorporated the point of view of salome, who is the topic of the movie being produced in the novel. i love a book that interweaves storylines, and silvia moreno-garcia did it effortlessly here.

the novel is fast-paced - the chapters are relatively short and there are a handful of chapters from the perspective of the 'surrounding cast' - the director of the film, gossip magazine writers, and other actors in the studio. the plot is nothing overly intricate, but silvia moreno-garcia's writing is really what makes the reading experience memorable.