Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Silver Nitrate

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:

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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

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narsere's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

This was a great read. I listened to the audiobook and loved the narration; it was super engaging and the story, while a bit slow to take off, built and built and built until everything came to a head in a bold climax with a very satisfying conclusion.

I always say I’m not a horror fan, but I think I’m constantly getting proved wrong. This book wasn’t even that scary! I loved Mexican Gothic (which in my opinion was much more disturbing than this one) so I knew I had to give Silver Nitrate a shot. While I’m no film buff, I still really enjoyed the connections and details to the industry.

I loved Monserrat and Tristan. I loved their banter and closeness that only knowing someone your whole life can bring. I also adored heroes that were 38 and felt like real adult humans that made real adult human decisions. I also appreciated how flawed the characters were.

As a note, there is a decent amount of discussions of Nazis and Nazism as they pertain to post-WWII in Latin America, and in particular the ideas of “Aryan superiority” and eugenics.

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wenwanzhao's review against another edition

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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.

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killerpancake's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

This book feels like an ode to Dario Argento films! Two film buffs find themselves in the middle of a weird culty magic that threatens their friendship and lives. This is a little slow at times but when the creep factor ramps up it was well done and I enjoyed it! It didn't blow my socks off but I had a good time with it.

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

It took me a while to get through this book, but I think ultimately I enjoyed it. The two leads with alternating perspectives are very different from each other and both have their own flaws and strengths.

I feel like turning their friendship into a romance in the very last chapter didn't quite work. I would have liked a little more development throughout to make it feel less sudden.

For a horror book, I would say the horror elements are fairly mild. I enjoyed learning about Mexican film and culture. The story is set in 1993, but the characters reflect on Mexico's past as well.

I got a little bored with the villain backstory and spending time with the older, somewhat underdeveloped characters that were there to provide threats, rescues, and exposition mostly.

I would recommend if you like the idea of niche horror movies, but don't actually want a book with really disturbing or gruesome scenes, and don't mind a slower pace that's more character focused.

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