Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - 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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unlikelyplaces's review

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4.0

I’m not overly sure how to talk about this one. It’s really not my usual genre but I picked it up because I wanted to try this author’s work and I’ll read anything set in the 70s but I did really enjoy it.

This is a noir/mystery/thriller novel set in Mexico in the 70s during a time of extreme political control known as the “Dirty War”. The story itself follows a woman called Maite and a man called Elvis as they investigate the disappearance of a missing woman.

I loved the way the characters lives sort of circle around each other and interweave throughout the novel. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and am definitely interested in picking up more of their work.

My main issue with this was that I really couldn’t stand Maite. I don’t think she’s meant to be particularly likeable but I just found her a very irritating pov, especially early on in the novel. Once the story got going through I was hooked.

As I say, this is really not my usual genre so I don’t know how much I can say about how good it really is but I had a good time and learned about a period of history that I didn’t know about before so that’s a win for me.

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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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kay_reads9's review

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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

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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

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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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bookishdaydreams's review

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dark mysterious tense 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

3.25

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