Reviews

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

beanjoles's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Mixed bag for me. I absolutely loved the lore and the strong character building. I want to know way more about these vampires and the world they inhabit! However, the plot lacked real tension. I wasn't particularly invested in Nick and Rodrigo vs Atl and Domingo, but I did enjoy all of these characters and their individual arcs. 

rosewater_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

rebelliousflare's review against another edition

DNF

jinxei's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 rounded up

Certain Dark Things was a refreshing take on the vampire genre. Set in a futuristic alternate timeline, the novel takes place in a neo-noir Mexico City. The world building itself was absolutely amazing and breathtaking and the violence definitely takes this far out of the YA genre it seems to be in for some reason. Seeing the different takes on types of vampires from other folklore was an incredibly unique experience as it's hard to find a vampire novel with even one different type than the standard let alone all of these.

While the setting, world-building, and diversity made this a gripping story for me, the plot fell short. The angst was heavy on every single character and the ending of the novel blindsided me completely.

calyxconcision's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this a lot. I liked the take on vampire mythology through the use of Mesoamerican - Aztec, specifically - history and culture. The small references to other vampire medium throughout the book were pleasant nods, such as the vampires in the book referring to their human companions as "Renfields", a nod to R.M. Renfield from Bram Stoker's, Dracula. The book talks about class through Domingo, postcolonial Mexico through both Atl, Nick, and Rodrigo, and police brutality through Ana. The ending is bittersweet, but it seems to be the one that would make the most sense.

The only gripe I have with the book is the romance feels a little forced and the two most major characters seem to have more of a brother and sister relationship, and I find it hard to read such a relationship between someone who is seventeen and someone who is twenty-three, slow-aging vampire or not.

psoglav's review against another edition

2.0

My rating: ★★✫

karinlee123's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

rose_ndrd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

nalanson's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

pickled_books's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

I really liked this book as an addition to the vampire genre! It was interesting to utilize some vampire-like folklore from other cultures. However I was a little disappointed seeing how many “types” of vampires she envisioned in the extras included in the back of the book, because very little of it was seen during the book. Overall the plot was really interesting, and I feel the story was ended well. I would love to see Silvia Moreno-Garcia come back to a lot of these ideas here & write more vampire books!