Reviews tagging 'Death'

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

45 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I purchased a copy of this book at a library book sale.
"Velvet Was the Night" follows Maite and Elvis in Mexico during the 1970's. Maite is a secretary who is barely scrapping by, and she is completely oblivious to the protests happening right outside her door. Her new neighbor, Leonora, asks Maite to watch her cat for her for a few days. But, when a few days turns into longer, Maite is thrust into a world she had no idea existed. Elvis has a violent way of getting what he wants, and when he is tasked with finding Leonora, he will stop at nothing to prove himself worthy to his boss.
This was a fantastic historical fiction, and the first historical fiction I have read that is set in Mexico. I did not even realize this story was inspired by true events until the author's note at the end, because this novel reads like an exciting, fictitious story all on its own. The fact that it is inspired by real events makes it all the more interesting.
Maite as a character was insufferable, but that kind of made the story progress in an interesting way. Maite has the habit of fabricating her life because her real life is not at all interesting and is in actuality kind of sad. Her whole motivation for wanting to find Leonora is because she needs the money Leonora promised her to pay for her car to be fixed. Even when Maite discovers that Leonora might be in trouble and is mixed up in some dangerous things, Maite is still really only motivated by money.
Elvis was such a complex, morally gray character. We all know what he is doing is wrong, and he should not be harming people in pursuit of truth, but he is also just this loveable guy that got mixed up in the wrong crowd in an attempt to survive. I really enjoyed his story arch and reading from his perspective.
This story, in spite of being a historical fiction, has some twists and turns that I did not see coming, and that kept me wanting to read more. Once I started, I could not put this book down. I was pretty happy with the ultimate resolution and where the story ended up.
I definitely recommend this story if you are looking for a peak into Mexico's corruption in the 1970's.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Death, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual content

merri217's review against another edition

informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

flaminggecko's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Classism

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

Probably my least favorite/liked book by this author. It's not necessarily bad, the story is interesting for the historical aspect and it being based off some true events that I didn't know about, but it wasn't really for me. Felt pretty slow for the majority of it. Some of the characters were interesting some of them I didn't care for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Death

alisonvh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The writing could be better, but the plot completely sucked me in. I devoured this book in just a few days when I was on vacation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Abandonment, Death, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

julierambaeck's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Never read a book with as many swear words... I thought the characters were incredibly annoying, the storyline was a bit weird, and the amount of times they said fuck was off-putting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Cursing and Violence

carolined314's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Deeply miserable people

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, and Gore

Moderate: Police brutality, Bullying, Alcohol, Stalking, Death, Body shaming, and Sexual content

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gun violence, Police brutality, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, War, Cursing, Death, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, and Medical content

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Sexual content, Murder, Police brutality, and Torture

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

sunbathingturtle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I almost abandoned this book because the first couple of chapters were so slow, but I’m glad I stuck it out; once the plot got going it was a page-turner. The characters were frustratingly mediocre but always vivid. The twists weren’t surprising, but the prospect of discovering how things were going to end was enough to keep me engaged. I found the ending immensely satisfying, even though a central mystery was left unanswered. If you enjoy political thrillers and spy films, this is a very fun read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Torture