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A review by hanarama
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Cw: gun violence, police brutality, stalking, murder, torture
The Good:
• Interesting historical setting
• Mystery unfolds over two PoV
• Beautiful cover
The Bad:
• Unlikable main character
• Mystery feels inconsequential
You Might Like This if You Like:
• Noir
• The 1970s
• Bad Times at the El Royale
I really wanted to like this book, and I feel like there was a lot of promise. This could have been a really fun noir mystery. The political unrest and the setting of 1970s Mexico City should have led to a twisting mystery. Unfortunately it was really held back by Maite as a main character.
Maite finds herself pulled out of the boring humdrum of her life as a secretary when her glamorous, art student neighbor, Leonora goes missing. Having agreed to look after Leonora's cat, Maite begins searching for her in order to return the animal.
Seriously, she brings up the cat constantly through the book as her reason for looking for Leonora. Even as things become more intense and dangerous, it feels like all Maite cares about are dumb romance comics and getting rid of the cat. It might have worked if Maite embraced the mystery as an escape from her boring life, but she didn't.
Additionally, Maite makes a pretty poor detective. It feels like she's constantly in over her head, or being pulled along by other, more invested people. She spends most of her narration fawning over men, comparing them to the heroes in her comics, or comparing herself to other women. Combined with her disinterest in the mystery, I'm really wondering why she's one of the leads. She's just frustrating, and her disinterest really makes it feel like the mystery isn't worth solving.
Elvis, the second PoV character is a criminal and part of an organization that hampers socialist groups. He's tasked with tailing Maite and finding out what happened to Leonora. On the whole, he's more likable than Maite, but is mostly uninteresting. He becomes weirdly fixated on Maite and fantasizes about her. Because I knew what was going on in Maite's head, this felt really pointless.
The Good:
• Interesting historical setting
• Mystery unfolds over two PoV
• Beautiful cover
The Bad:
• Unlikable main character
• Mystery feels inconsequential
You Might Like This if You Like:
• Noir
• The 1970s
• Bad Times at the El Royale
I really wanted to like this book, and I feel like there was a lot of promise. This could have been a really fun noir mystery. The political unrest and the setting of 1970s Mexico City should have led to a twisting mystery. Unfortunately it was really held back by Maite as a main character.
Maite finds herself pulled out of the boring humdrum of her life as a secretary when her glamorous, art student neighbor, Leonora goes missing. Having agreed to look after Leonora's cat, Maite begins searching for her in order to return the animal.
Seriously, she brings up the cat constantly through the book as her reason for looking for Leonora. Even as things become more intense and dangerous, it feels like all Maite cares about are dumb romance comics and getting rid of the cat. It might have worked if Maite embraced the mystery as an escape from her boring life, but she didn't.
Additionally, Maite makes a pretty poor detective. It feels like she's constantly in over her head, or being pulled along by other, more invested people. She spends most of her narration fawning over men, comparing them to the heroes in her comics, or comparing herself to other women. Combined with her disinterest in the mystery, I'm really wondering why she's one of the leads. She's just frustrating, and her disinterest really makes it feel like the mystery isn't worth solving.
Elvis, the second PoV character is a criminal and part of an organization that hampers socialist groups. He's tasked with tailing Maite and finding out what happened to Leonora. On the whole, he's more likable than Maite, but is mostly uninteresting. He becomes weirdly fixated on Maite and fantasizes about her. Because I knew what was going on in Maite's head, this felt really pointless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Stalking