Silver Nitrate

Books | Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy

4.2

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

'Like its namesake, Silver Nitrate catches fire and doesn't stop burning until the end' The Washington Post'Perfection. No one punctures the skin of reality to reveal the lurking, sinister magic beneath better than Silvia Moreno-Garcia' Kiersten White, author of Hide'Wows you with its eerie atmosphere and deft blend of historical fiction, horror and black magic' The New York Times Book Review A breathtaking blend of Mexican horror movies and dark occultism from the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.Montserrat has always been overlooked. She's a talented sound editor, but she's left out of the boys' club running the film industry in '90s Mexico City.Then her best friend Tristán introduces her to his new neighbour - cult horror director Abel Urueta, who promises that he can change all of their lives, if only they'll help him finish what he claims is a cursed film by a Nazi occultist.Disbelieving, but with nothing to lose, Montserrat and Tristán agree to help. However, as they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and its obscure creator, the pair might find out that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies . . . Readers LOVE Silver Nitrate! 'Deliciously creepy . . . a well-crafted slow burn horror novel that hooked me from the start' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Smart, scary and complex . . . I loved this beautiful book' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Atmospheric, seductive, just wondrously creepy in the best way' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Creepy, chilling and action packed! One could not ask for anything better than this!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Absolutely wonderful! The author is such a great storyteller' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Love Silver Nitrate? Discover Silvia Moreno-Garcia's sumptuous historical epic, The Seventh Veil of Salome, available to pre-order now!

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More Details:

Author

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Pages

336

Publisher

Quercus

Published Date

2023-07-18

ISBN

1529418070 9781529418071

Community ReviewsSee all

"This was a really fun read. It felt slow, especially in the beginning, but by the end, I felt like I was running to keep up! There was also something so incredibly refreshing about the ages and wisdom (or lack of in some cases) of all the characters. A worthy read for sure"

Lize

"Absolutely amazing. First two chapters there is a lot of info which can be dull, but maybe necessary to set up the book, after that it's hard to put down!"

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Nena Colunga

"This was a super fun book. As someone who shies away from romance, I kind of wished this could have stayed in the realm of platonic love rather than romantic love, but ultimately the rest of the story was far more entertaining and much more the focus."

CaitVD

"This one definitely reads as a literary fiction with some spooky elements here and there and more towards the end. it is a bit slow at parts I definitely feel that there could have been quite a bit edited out it’s a slow paced story so I found that listening to the audiobook was more enjoyable so I could make it fast paced. I absolutely love our morally gray characters I love that there’s a real exploitation on the ins and outs of there friendship it was done so realistically and was so messy at times I ate it all up. I enjoyed the all brujeria talk as Latina myself it sound a lot like my witchy grandma lol there’s also some funny moment that had me genuinely laughing. it picked up around the 70% mark but I truly keept reading because I was more invested in our main characters then what was actually happening around them I don’t think this book would be for you if your looking for a lot of action this one is more laid back till the ending type but I absolutely loved the ending I loved this Goodreads review and had to include it bc it’s to accurate “oh this was GOOD. two bisexuals try to unravel a decades old curse while navigating strange new powers?? i was completely sold” "

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Gizelle Villalta

"⭐️⭐️⭐️.8 I thought this book was beautifully written, you really get to understand the relationship of Tristan and Momo which I enjoyed (although I wouldn’t say I liked the characters). I will say that the book, to me, felt very slow, yet I would still pick it up and read it. It started picking up about 55%-ish, but the real action wasn’t until basically the last 4 chapters. In the beginning, there was a lot of pop culture references of film history of Mexico/Latine people in these communities that I wished I would’ve known about or even heard about. It would’ve been a more enjoyable experience for me, but instead I was confused. But it would be a nice nod if you did know about these pop culture references. I was hoping for more scary scenes although that didn’t happen. These scenes gave me slight nervousness of what was going to happen and I though they were beautifully done. This book did have me believe that magic is real and that I can give it a try in my everyday life, which kinda blew my mind. Overall, I enjoyed this book and am excited to read more of her books! I just don’t know if I would reread this one."

F L

Fefe Luna (she/they)

"This book started slow, but the building climax was similar to how Momo slowly started to become enthralled with magic and the craziness that was woven into it. I loved this book as I loved Mexican Gothic. I love a good villain, and that seduction that they can have. The characters were well written and felt like people, and the progression of the “romance” was refreshing and fit perfectly."

Carley

"That was AMAZING. I am new to this genre and this was my first time reading anything but Silvia Moreno- Garcia. Honestly, I almost didn't read this book after finding out what it was about. I am NEVER interested in stories with ghosts or spells. I'm glad I read past what was a slow and confusing start for me, because after those couple chapters, I COULDN'T put this down! Loved the ending . So many unexpected twists and turns. This is my favorite book of 2023 yet! And I'm excited to read more books by this author !"

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Nena Obrien

"I really liked the dynamic between the 2 leads and their individual character development and thought that was the strongest part of the book. I also really appreciate that we got TWO bisexual leads without it being their whole deal or making them evil. The horror was horroring, since it’s rare for a book to actually unsettle me, but I was definitely chilled at the appropriate moments. Building anticipation is definitely a strong suit for this author. Of course, I loved the world building, but that might be bias since I’m a total sucker for 90s nostalgia, especially in non-American settings. Sue me. I do have some gripes with this book though. First off, I wish the eugenics based “mejorar la raza” magic system was more show, less tell, since I think covert racism is more common but rarely written about. Having racism and colorism explained to me as a dark-skinned POC just gets old after a while I guess. My other criticism is more of a minor nitpick, but I honestly think some of the minor villains were more interesting than the “final boss”. Overall: Solid book from a solid author. I look forward to reading more."

A K

Aditi Katta

"3.5 stars. This was an alright read. I think it was probably too long and would have been tighter as a novella or short story. Tristan was likeable, and Montserrat maybe less so. They were challenging to enjoy as a couple or as friends. I think their relationship distracted from the story. Cultists and celluloid spells. Interesting but only to a point."

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Paul Garcia

"kind of reminded me of night film, kind of reminded me of literally any spooky historical fiction, kind of great. it was missing something to make it truly unforgettable but i'd sub this for a horror movie as a recommendation any ol' day in october."

kelsey

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