Reviews with content warning for Murder - Velvet Was the Night

I'm generally a fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books, but this noir pulp fictiontook some effort for me to get through. I had a hard time staying interested, there wasn't much of a hook to pull the story forward. The writing is solid and the backdrop of political unrest creates tension in most interatctions. I kept hoping for something to draw me into the story and it does...just at the end.

The characters really carried the book, especially Maite. At first I didn't like her because she was vapid and had odd quirks. But as I learned more about her and understood her insecurities, she started to make the events much more interesting.

I'm still a fan of SMG, but I'll probably stick with her fantasy books.

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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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bookmaddie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

Another dramatic, dark, but warm story from Moreno-Garcia! Great audiobook—my love for Gisela Chipe’s narration only grows.

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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

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alisonvh's review against another edition

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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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buer's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Velvet Was the Night is a historical fiction with a strong romantic bent, starring Maite and Elvis. Maite is a woman in her thirties who loves reading romance and listening to records in lieu of having the husband and children that her mother keeps pestering her about. When her neighbor, Leonora, asks her to cat sit while she is out of town, Maite acquiesces - only to find herself suddenly living a life akin to the ones she reads about in her graphic romances. On the other side of the equation Elvis is a young man who has always existed on the criminal side of things. He too loves records and books and he has a strong sense of ethics that drive him to sometimes make surprising choices. The historical events surrounding this story are true, but the main players are fictional, making for a pulpy thrill ride in the midst of a tumultuous historical time in 1970s Mexico City.

Both Maite and Elvis exist in shades of gray. Maite technically a law-abiding citizen, but she lies to her co-workers, despises her family, and has a penchant for stealing small trinkets from people she knows or works for. Elvis has a job that has him beating people up and threatening them constantly, but is profoundly loyal and has a strong sense of ethics that sometimes make it hard for him to do his job. Over the course of the story both Maite and Elvis become even more gray as they grapple with their personal ethics and their current lifestyles.

I personally found Maite to be a pretty obnoxious. She is incredibly self-deprecating and is constantly day dreaming about sex. She only wills herself to act when a man is a part of the equation. However I'll be the first to admit that in spite of me not liking her as a character, Moreno-Garcia did a great job of shaping action around a stagnant and unlikable main character and constantly throwing her into contrast against Elvis.

My usual disclaimer: I listened to this book rather than reading it, which makes it difficult to evaluate the writing. Gisela Chípe was a great narrator, although a few of her deeper voices felt a little cartoonish and I didn't love how ditzy Leonora sounded. She is easy to listen to for long stretches and is overall very engaging.

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