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brothena's review
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
2.0
Book Club had mixed feelings re: Mexican Gothic (which I loved), and decided to read this as well (same author). Consumed on kindle.
I can't put a finger on why this didn't work for me, but I really had trouble staying focused on/ interested in this read and it took me a LONG time to get through it as a result. On its face, it's gothic-style horror and has ghosts, so I thought I'd be very into this, but it just did not feel as atmospheric as I wanted it to. Thought maybe I was in a funk, but it seems the rest of Book Club felt similarly.
curlybangsandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
krilves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
I really liked this. This author has become an auto-buy for me, but at the same time I’m not rushing to read everything by her - each book in its own time. I’d been looking forwards to this though.
I’m not somebody who cares about horror films (I don’t go out of my way to watch them) or the film industry at all, but it was clear that Montserrat, one of the two protagonists, loves it. There’s enough detail to let that passion though without the text becoming bogged down in pointless minutiae, rather it felt saturated, rich. Tangible. This is really where the book shone for me - the plot was a bit whatever (I don’t really care about nazi magic or curses, and while obviously I rolled with it for the story it just didn’t seem to matter what was driving the characters forwards so long as they were moving) but the early 90s setting, the late 30s-ness of the characters (hello I am also late 30s and vibing with these people in career dead ends), their relationships, shared history, love for one another, character growth - set against a tangible, gritty material world. Everything is so digital and fugitive today - I took my last photos on film in 2004. That’s. That’s 20 years ago guys. Montserrat does her TV job using film (in 1999 as a school project I made a mini film, on film, and did sound and cutting manually, on old machines. Shit like TikTok and editing video on one’s phone for instant upload to the internet feels unreal in comparison.) and it was so fascinating to me how *her* nostalgia went further back to silver nitrate film. The descriptions of how the light and dark came through on that kind of film compared to modern film. Reading, I was reminded of the scene in inglorious basterds where the film theatre burns down because the film is silver nitrate and highly flammable, I was reminded of how early supernatural seasons were shot on film and not digital, and that’s why it looks like that. These constant little jolts.
Montserrat and Tristán were delightful, flawed, fucked up protagonists that I just loved to pieces. I wasn’t expecting a romance when I started reading this and while they were clearly in love with one another (in this quiet, banked fire kind of way - they *love* each other and know each other so well they’re sort of past the passionate infatuation thing) I wasn’t expecting that to come to anything or be resolved. How it was resolved was my favourite thing! I’ve always been of the opinion that if you need characters to kiss or have sex to show that they love each other, you’re doing it wrong. And here, there wasn’t even a kiss, and yet the romantic resolution was one of the most satisfying I’ve read in a long time.
So ! I really liked this. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a way of weaving together subtlety and blunt force with characters so lifelike they seem to jump off the page.
I’m not somebody who cares about horror films (I don’t go out of my way to watch them) or the film industry at all, but it was clear that Montserrat, one of the two protagonists, loves it. There’s enough detail to let that passion though without the text becoming bogged down in pointless minutiae, rather it felt saturated, rich. Tangible. This is really where the book shone for me - the plot was a bit whatever (I don’t really care about nazi magic or curses, and while obviously I rolled with it for the story it just didn’t seem to matter what was driving the characters forwards so long as they were moving) but the early 90s setting, the late 30s-ness of the characters (hello I am also late 30s and vibing with these people in career dead ends), their relationships, shared history, love for one another, character growth - set against a tangible, gritty material world. Everything is so digital and fugitive today - I took my last photos on film in 2004. That’s. That’s 20 years ago guys. Montserrat does her TV job using film (in 1999 as a school project I made a mini film, on film, and did sound and cutting manually, on old machines. Shit like TikTok and editing video on one’s phone for instant upload to the internet feels unreal in comparison.) and it was so fascinating to me how *her* nostalgia went further back to silver nitrate film. The descriptions of how the light and dark came through on that kind of film compared to modern film. Reading, I was reminded of the scene in inglorious basterds where the film theatre burns down because the film is silver nitrate and highly flammable, I was reminded of how early supernatural seasons were shot on film and not digital, and that’s why it looks like that. These constant little jolts.
Montserrat and Tristán were delightful, flawed, fucked up protagonists that I just loved to pieces. I wasn’t expecting a romance when I started reading this and while they were clearly in love with one another (in this quiet, banked fire kind of way - they *love* each other and know each other so well they’re sort of past the passionate infatuation thing) I wasn’t expecting that to come to anything or be resolved. How it was resolved was my favourite thing! I’ve always been of the opinion that if you need characters to kiss or have sex to show that they love each other, you’re doing it wrong. And here, there wasn’t even a kiss, and yet the romantic resolution was one of the most satisfying I’ve read in a long time.
So ! I really liked this. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a way of weaving together subtlety and blunt force with characters so lifelike they seem to jump off the page.
sammyisobsessed24's review against another edition
2.0
This one just really didn't do it for me. The premise was interesting enough, but I didn't enjoy the characters much, and it just felt like a slog most of the way through.
annrose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
quinzelle's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
spookyoh's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Intriguing plot that didn’t veer so far into ridiculous that it pulled me out of the story, like a lot of thrillers do. I just really didn’t like Tristian and felt like he never really grew as a person or showed up for anyone other than himself.
Fun score: 4
Critical score: 4
Fun score: 4
Critical score: 4
binzpr's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
2.75
xabbiesx's review
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? Yes
4.25