Reviews with content warning for Blood - Velvet Was the Night

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

54 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.

Content Warnings

meskeets's review against another edition

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4.0

Content Warnings

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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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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kay_reads9's review against another edition

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adventurous informative fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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msradiosilence's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

TLDR; 4 rating, Maite is so funny, and I really liked this!
Content warnings at the bottom. :)

First and foremost: fuck El Mago. That bitch deserved it lol.

Listen, I like Maite and I like Elvis, but I am uncomfy with age gaps. That being said, I hope Maite and Elvis find happiness and if that’s with one another? Even better. After what Ruben pulled, Maite deserves happiness.

Speaking of Ruben,

the fact that Maite opened up and told Ruben about Cristabol and he still left her for the artist bitch??

Are you kidding me? I hope she leaves his ass again.

I thought this book was a different one (Certain Dark Things) but I was pleasantly surprised. I had a great time.

Rating: 4
Would I recommend? Yes, especially if you enjoy noir and complicated romances.

Content warnings: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Sexual content, Blood

Content Warnings