A review by paulasnotsosecretdiary
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia tells the story of two lonely people who dream about having ideal lives as inspired by music ad books. Elvis is a hired strong man charged with disrupting civic protests during Mexico's unrest in the 1970s. He desires to have a "normal" life with a steady girlfriend or wife and a regular job. Romance magazines inspire Maite; she is plain and socially isolated. Her desire to live a life of mystery and passion stems from her impressive collection of books and records, which her mother critiques. Asked to look after her glamorous and intriguing neighbor's cat for the weekend, Maite is first willingly pulled into investigating her neighbor's whereabouts when she does not return. As Elvis and Maite's paths collide, both come to realize the people and lives they idolize are fictions that are less appealing than they thought. The character development and plot twists were the book's highlights, but I feel I need to re-read it again in the future as my focus was off. I read it during the rise of omicron and found it hard to concentrate on reading, and I feel I need to give the book another chance.
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