Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

21 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

garrettcz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

No spoilers:

I struggled with this book. I really liked the occult and mysticism elements. I really liked the history tie-ins and details. I liked some of the details about the film industry. 

I really disliked the characters. It felt like the author was going out of her way to make them unlikable and really awful to each other. 

I felt the story spent way too much time on really boring, mundane things and far too little time on the cool things like mysticism, occultism, and the horror elements. The story would sometimes dip into horror but the scenes felt way too fast so the atmosphere didn’t build up enough to where I really felt anything from them. I couldn’t get immersed in the spooky/horror scenes to really care and I didn’t care about the characters enough to really be engaged by the action scenes, so there never really felt like there was enough tension. 

Spoilers:

*********************************



I REALLY hated the romance ending thing. I saw it coming and was really hoping this wouldn’t happen. These characters felt like they really disliked each other and if romantic chemistry could be approximated with temperature theirs would be somewhere in the ballpark of absolute zero. Yuck. 

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

achay91's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing and Racism

Minor: Drug use and Murder

wenwanzhao's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Only Silvia Moreno-Garcia can get me to read horror. I’m not sure why, but I just like the way she writes. I think that she is able to do third person perspective in a way that’s intimate without being unbearable. I feel like the last third was starting to unravel, but the first two-thirds were genuinely extremely riveting and fun to read.  

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chloesnotscared's review against another edition

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Biphobia, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Racism, and Violence

erandle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Alcohol, and Colonisation

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This book is SMG at her core and I really liked the concept of the book! The only drawbacks were that it REALLY seemed like the story dragged on for too long at different moments and (like classic SMG) sped up super quickly at the end. I also felt like I didn’t get enough out of the main characters other than sho they are at their surface level. I think this book would greatly benefit from a sequel and building out this world more. 
The writing was spectacular and the fantasy elements kept me entertained. I just wish it was edited a bit better and a whole lot spookier (then maybe I could feel fine with not dive too deep into the characters?). 
However I will say the biggest win is having two messy/annoying bisexuals obsessed with horror (kinda) as the MCs. Huge representation win lol

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

saintmaud's review against another edition

4.0

my most anticipated read of the year because horror set around film is one of my favourite niches and combined with cults, the glamour of old hollywood, and crazy bisexual friends meant that it delivered. I love that this is set in mexico, I love how tired but persistent montserrat is, I loved her dynamic with tristan, I loves how exactly smg captured the allure of fictional films. 
my only complaint–the same I had with mexican gothic–is that smg doesn't dial up the craziness I really really want to see her go over the top with the horror and gore one day. also I feel the characterisation of the older actresses was sacrificed for the sake of momo & tristan and the general plot when it could've made the whole story more alluring. 
but overall... so good I desperately want to watch a silver nitrate film now.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore and Racism

Minor: Ableism and Vomit

savvylit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Silver Nitrate is an intriguing tale of occultism, cinematic drama, and lingering Nazi sentiment. Moreno-Garcia immerses readers in Mexico City during the early 90's. U.S. influence is spreading - Mexican cinema is drying up and American products are taking over the shelves. Montserrat is a brusque, cold - yet immensely likable - main character. Tristán is her perfect foil; he's charming and suave.

The mysterious sorcery at the novel's center draws from classic film techniques and Nazi views of "purity." Moreno-Garcia blends these two elements both skillfully and chillingly.

Ultimately, though, I felt that this novel was too plot-focused and could have used more character development. Montserrat and Tristán were appealing main characters - but that's what made me want more from them. More about them. Both of their perspectives seemed oddly predictable and surface-level. It made it difficult for me to feel their fear, which thus made it difficult for me to really appreciate the horror that was central to this story.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for the advanced copy of Silver Nitrate in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

jamieleepilk's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol