Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

10 reviews

ninahuynh's review

dark mysterious 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

4.25

I found the writing in this book to sometimes be confusing. I like the direction Silvia Moreno-Garcia is exploring. It gives me sci-fi vibes, like those of the genres using

video games and film as a launchpad to another dimension.

I did not anticipate magic to be part of this plot, but I guess that works on par with her theme as Mexican Gothic, my first book from her, also has elements of magic, but with

mushroom

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Bullying, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Classism, Suicide, Addiction, Chronic illness, and Violence

mari1532's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

#ReadLatineLit hosted by @iamrainbou

I read this audiobook through my local library. 

Brief Summary: Montserrat, a brilliant sound engineer, is facing sexism where she is the only female sound editor. In addition to her struggles at work, she is trying to help her sister through her cancer treatments and be emotionally supportive of her childhood best friend, Tristán a charming but out-of-work soap opera star. However, Montserrat attempts to keep her life on track and her feelings for Tristán in check things are taken off the rails when she meets Tristán's mysterious neighbour Abel Urueta.

At first, Montserrat is intrigued by Abel as he is the director of a lost film that was never finished. As she and Tristán get to know Abel they learn that the film is shrouded in mystery because it's cursed. When Abel asks for assistance in removing the curse Tristán and Montserrat think no harm will come from helping him. That is until they start to see ghosts and shadows. Racing against the clock Montserrat and Tristán have to work together to untangle the intricate web of occultism that they've awakened.   

Thoughts: First, I want to make it very clear that this book deals with Nazi ideology and cancer treatment. Both of these things permeate the book and at times could be very difficult to hear, so if these are topics you do not enjoy reading, I would not recommend this book. 

Second, I did not enjoy the romance aspect of this book. In part because I did not think that Tristán was particularly motivated to be in a relationship, nor did I necessarily like the romantic dynamics between him and Montserrat throughout the book. In the end, it felt a bit like he was settling because he a. didn't want to die alone and/or b. experienced excitation transfer/trauma bonding due to what he and Montserrat experienced. I liked them much better as friends.

Third, the book was a bit slow to build to the climax, but I found the story interesting throughout. Moreno-Garcia's writing is so engrossing that I didn't notice how long it was taking to get to the end of the book. I also found the mystery, occultist angle kept the story riveting.

Finally, I think that Moreno-Garcia dealt with several very difficult topics throughout this book and managed to do so in a way that made Montserrat and Tristán interesting and flawed human beings. Morally grey characters are so hard to get right in a book and I felt that Moreno-Garcia did just that throughout the book. I also learned a great deal about the film industry in general and loved how Montserrat was such a nerd (I mean this with great love) about movies and the film industry. 

This is a good book that had me captivated until the end. I would recommend it.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Grief, Bullying, Cursing, Sexism, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Murder

Nazi ideology, Nazi occultism

lonerangerl30's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Racism, Blood, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, and Biphobia

javafenn's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I would actually give this book a 3.5 but rated it a 4 here because the 3.5 is my fault. I ad a lot of health issues this past year that caused me to take a very long time to read this. That said, I really enjoyed this book! I loved the magic and horror of it all. The description of Tristán’s dead girlfriend in his apartment was terrifying! The occultism and Ewer’s obsession with pure lineage was believable too! It felt like Moreno-Garcia did a lot of research for it. I also absolutely loved how the book ended! Momo was fighting the ghost of Ewer’s the whole book but it really felt like that ghost was herself. She was fighting what she thought was the worst of herself. Very relatable!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Classism, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Ableism

tamara_joy's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Classism and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Homophobia, Misogyny, Ableism, Medical content, Infidelity, and Cancer

erandle's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Classism, and Murder

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

r_o_s_e's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Colonisation, Classism, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Racism, Ableism, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Medical trauma, and Medical content

kk_gotit_goinon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was really great! Good spooky season read, right amount of tension without being too serious. Didn't love the ending but it wasn't bad that it ruined the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Medical trauma

sarasreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I think I keep hoping for the experience I had reading Mexican Gothic. I loved the slowly building sense of dread and how deliciously atmospheric and suspenseful it was. 

In this one, I didn't start feeling even an ounce of fear or excitement until almost halfway through. And I found there to be too much exposition to feel properly grounded in the story. The premise was fabulous, but like The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, it didn't live up to my expectations. 

I enjoyed this one a lot more than that book however. I'm still hoping to pick up one of hers that is as good to me as Mexican Gothic. 

This book completed my reading goal for the year though, so I'm really happy about that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Racism and Classism

bookishparadox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Grief, Ableism, Sexism, and Alcohol

Minor: Classism, Medical content, Violence, Racism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, War, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury