Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

12 reviews

nicolemhill's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an author I trust implicitly. It took me longer than usual to get hooked by this one, but she has never let me down before. I persevered. And about halfway through the book, the occultist hijinks took over my thoughts. I couldn't put it down, and I came to hold such affection for Montserrat and Tristán. 

Read if you like: horror films, Raiders of the Lost Ark, telenovelas, and women who don't take 💩 from anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Animal death

falchionm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Alcoholism, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Racism

heather667's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Grief, Gore, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: War, Genocide, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

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

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Content Warnings

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

booksybookbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Racism, Suicide, Death, Gore, and Violence

sofipitch's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

I'm comparing this relative to SMG's previous book and her two releases before this one, VWTN and TDODM were really just mid after Mexican Gothic, so this one waa refreshing in that it I actually did like it. Monserrat and Tristan were interesting and well developed characters (also fell into character archetypes I like so I am biased lol). Same with their relationship, old friends who have a tendency to take the other for granted. The plot itself was good just painfully slow at times. SMG said this was her suspense novel but there was a degree of maybe over-explaining in places that made it drag. Some of the beats or themes I got pages before so when it was laid out I felt again like it was slow. 

I really did love this as a love letter to stories, and more specifically movies. The choice to make Monserrat a sound editor was also 👌 my mother is a video editor so her descriptions of the work environment were spot on, and editing is such an undervalued part of television/cinema but really can be what makes or breaks a film. It was really cool to have that highlighted and acknowledged in a book about movies.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Grief, Blood, Violence, and Death

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

siobhanward's review

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

4.0

 Another reviewer described this book as "gritty" and I think that's an apt description - the story was creepy and well-told, although the beginning was a bit slow. I loved the idea of a curse surrounding a movie that was never finished - it feels like it should be an idea that's overdone, but it's really not.

The characters were great and I love how Moreno-Garcia unravels a story. This book had a great combination of creepy moments interspliced with action and character development. Definitely a fun read, and perfect for Halloween (even though at this point Halloween is three months away...). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Violence, Car accident, Gore, and Drug abuse

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.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gore and Racism

Minor: Ableism and Vomit

cadence99's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Overall I really liked this book- I
felt like the character development was much improved from the books that I’ve read of hers in the past. I’d highly recommended it to anyone who can handle supernatural horror. A lot of if also felt very historical fiction heavy, with all the elements of old Mexican horror movies inserted throughout, and I really enjoyed that about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, Colonisation, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Violence, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Biphobia, Addiction, and Cancer

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Stalking, Suicide, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Animal death, Genocide, Vomit, and War