Review by the_good_enough_gatsby - The Seventh Veil of Salome

the_good_enough_gatsby 's review for:

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3.5

adventurous mysterious 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: No

This book chronicles two parallel stories of the Biblical Salome, and Vera, an actress in the 50s filming her debut movie based on Salome. The author has done a good job of setting up the atmosphere of both the golden age of Hollywood and ancient times. I loved being transported to both eras and it didn't feel jarring due to the plot parallels.
My favourite part of this book was the villain, Nancy. She is an absolute piece of trash and you can't help but hate her, but the skillful way with which the author paints her picture let's you peer deep down into her and see how she got to where she is. I am a big fan of portrayals of mean and messy women, it is very difficult to get right, and this one definitely deserves its recognition.
I also liked how all stories converged in the end.

Salome, Vera, and even Nancy end up losing the men that they were closest to. Salome and Nancy both had the love/hate feeling for their men. And Vera and Salome lost theirs through no fault of their own. Vera's struggles with her mother are also reflected nicely in Salome's relationship with her mother.

I usually reserve four stars and above for books that have a re-readable quality to them which is why this one is 3.5

Content Warnings