Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Silver Nitrate (2023, Quercus)
English language
Published 2023 by Quercus.
As always, a fun jaunt to Mexico by Moreno-Garcia, however this foray into "horror" was not my thing. The magical lacked the detailed complexity I would have expected from the author. She did write one of the protagonists, Tristán, masterfully as a total dick.
Film and sound nerdery, Crowley-esque occult magic and meatballs, what else would you want? I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read Mexican Gothic (which Father Christmas has kindly bestowed).
I want to like Moreno-Garcia’s novels so badly. I really want to. I think she is a good writer overall; where she fails, every time, is in the plotting and pacing of her work. This work is no exception. The general plot, which is somewhat similar to Gemma Files’ Experimental Film, is not uninteresting. But the pace of the story is so sloooooooooow. Literally hundreds of pages go by in which nothing really happens. This would have made an interesting novella, perhaps—but there just isn’t enough story for a 300+ page novel.
The characters themselves are truly awful—not just unlikeable antiheroes, but insufferable, obnoxious representations of people. Why should we care if they succeed? Why should we want them to win? You got me, dear reader, you got me.
And that’s pretty much it. Each novel by Moreno-Garcia just leaves me feeling disappointed, saddened by the wasted potential. Maybe …
I want to like Moreno-Garcia’s novels so badly. I really want to. I think she is a good writer overall; where she fails, every time, is in the plotting and pacing of her work. This work is no exception. The general plot, which is somewhat similar to Gemma Files’ Experimental Film, is not uninteresting. But the pace of the story is so sloooooooooow. Literally hundreds of pages go by in which nothing really happens. This would have made an interesting novella, perhaps—but there just isn’t enough story for a 300+ page novel.
The characters themselves are truly awful—not just unlikeable antiheroes, but insufferable, obnoxious representations of people. Why should we care if they succeed? Why should we want them to win? You got me, dear reader, you got me.
And that’s pretty much it. Each novel by Moreno-Garcia just leaves me feeling disappointed, saddened by the wasted potential. Maybe the problem is that, even though I really want to like Moreno-Garcia’s novels, I just don’t.
4.5/5
There was something about this book that was just so incredibly captivating. Something about how the mystical was woven through the mundane and slowly ramped up throughout the story. I really enjoyed the amount of detail put into everything, starting from the historic cinematography references all the way to audio technician work during the era, it was just all so rich and I really loved it.
The characters were both so good as well, each with their own troubles and hardships but still close friends through both good and bad. I loved the interwoven story and the progression of them understanding more and more what they have stumbled into.
The magic as well was just so interesting and strange. I wasn’t sure how well it would work in such a grounded novel and there were some instances that may have been a bit too much but overall the mysticism …
4.5/5
There was something about this book that was just so incredibly captivating. Something about how the mystical was woven through the mundane and slowly ramped up throughout the story. I really enjoyed the amount of detail put into everything, starting from the historic cinematography references all the way to audio technician work during the era, it was just all so rich and I really loved it.
The characters were both so good as well, each with their own troubles and hardships but still close friends through both good and bad. I loved the interwoven story and the progression of them understanding more and more what they have stumbled into.
The magic as well was just so interesting and strange. I wasn’t sure how well it would work in such a grounded novel and there were some instances that may have been a bit too much but overall the mysticism was well done.
Overall I really enjoyed it and will certainly be looking out for more books by Silvia!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the review copy!
