Silvia Moreno-Garcia once again brings fresh insight and imagination to a stale genre, this time moving away from the slow burn of a gothic house into the gritty underbelly of a world populated by mythic races. Her unique story-telling style is well suited to this creative story, it is an interesting story, and a great cast of characters.

Thanks to Tor Nightfire for an advance Netgalley of this title, which was republished on Sept 7, 2021. I'm writing this review voluntarily.

A brilliant blood-soaked, neon-drenched noir novel about vampires and their human Renfields in futuristic Mexico City, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "Certain Dark Things" expertly combines a supernatural story with a narco narrative about the impact of colonialism.

Vampires have been outlawed in Mexico City, but that doesn't mean they're not lurking in the shadows. Young garbage collector Domingo, a homeless kid navigating the dangers of street life, runs into Atl--an Aztec vampire in hiding from another monstrous clan. Atl needs a way out, so she enlists Domingo's help. Soon, the young man is neck deep in menacing white European vampires, ruthless rival drug-dealing gangsters, and the cops who are on everyone's tail. Even if the couple is able to survive, what kind of life could they have together, constantly on the run?

"Certain Dark Things" is a rare, truly original vampire novel with elaborate world-building and lore that smartly addresses issues of race within the vampire community. Moreno-Garcia positions the traditional vampire--suave, light-skinned--as a settler colonizer, taking over the business and territory of POC vampires like Atl. It's fantastic to see this book in print again, as there's definitely an audience for it.

Actual rating: 3.5/5 stars

I love the way Silvia Moreno-Garcia wove together vampire lore, Mexican culture, current issues with really interesting characters.

The vampire lore sprinkled within the novel has to be without a doubt my favorite part. I love seeing different authors' takes on vampires. This one was one of my favorites, especially in combination with the Mexican culture.

The characters had such interesting personalities that kept me wanting to read as well. They were so complex and morally grey. I love how violent this story was. It was so gritty and dangerous.

The story for me felt just a bit surface level and I didn't care for the overall plot which hindered my enjoyment.

I read the old version (the one released before Tor Nightfire acquired it) and the new Tor Nightfire version, and liked it both times! I honestly have no idea if and how much the story was edited for the re-release (read them too far apart for direct comparison), so all I can say is that whatever the reason, whether circumstantial or because of different editing, I enjoyed the second read better.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is brilliant at world-building. There are ten species of vampires in CDT, and they all have different powers and weaknesses. I'm not generally big on vampires, but hers were so interesting that I found myself surprised by how much I wanted to learn about them. I loved how vicious they were.

I'm also not big on shipping characters, but found myself enjoying the dynamic between Atl and Domingo. Atl, specifically, has such depth of character. I loved her complexity. The way she struggles with who she is and what she's done. How she can be cruel at times to hide her vulnerability.

Overall, I enjoyed this story far more than I'd expect for a vampire book with a romance element, and that enjoyment is a testament to the author's skilled storytelling.

Thank you Tor Nightfire for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you ever thought that vampire mythology could use a little refresh, this is a great read. Vampire noir is the most frequent description given to the feel of this work, and it fits perfectly. We follow Atl, a vampire fighting for survival after her clan is wiped out. The story takes place in relatively modern day Mexico (where vampires seem to congregate due to lax laws on bloodsuckers), and Atl navigates a dangerous road trying to stay alive while dodging vampire clans at every turn.
Moreno-Garcia does atmosphere better than most writers, and this is no exception. Dark, creepy, and thick with vampire mythology. Must read.

I could not put this down. Moreno-Garcia has a way of world building. She took the age old story of vampires and made it fresh and interesting. She is someone who will be a automatic read for me.

Unique setting, and interesting take, but it took me forever to finish. I didn't feel fully invested, and as such the stakes weren't high for me.

This book was fantastic. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of those authors that just understands writing so well.

This dark and gritty telling of a vampire story has characters that are interesting, a backdrop that makes you feel like you’re there, and a story that sucks you in.

It’s fascinating how the author can jump from genre to genre in her stories and have them all be just as good.

Sparkley vampires need not apply. Certain Dark Things bring back the cold, aloof vampires of days past. Set in Mexico City, Moreno-Garcia shies away from the busy, bright streets into the back alleys and subway tunnels. It's a very neo-noir take, with gangs, drug cartel wars, and multiple sub-species of vampires. The relationship and dialogue between Atl and Domingo seemed awkward and yet, was still amusing. The lore and legend of vampires were unique and interesting but the best part was the world-building. It's gritty and dark with complex morally grey characters.

After this novel and MEXICAN GOTHIC, I’m convinced that Silvia Moreno-Garcia can’t write a bad book. CERTAIN DARK THINGS is a fresh and mesmerizing spin on the vampire novel. The book follows lonely Domingo as he’s swept up into the life and problems of the vampire Atl. It’s vividly written and has compelling characters.

As a side note, I also loved this book’s glimpse of Mexico City (a far cry from the media portrayals of Mexico we usually see in the US). I am eager to read Moreno-Garcia’s other work.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ebook copy.

As I've seen in her other books, Silvia Moreno-Garcia does a really great job world-building and executing a neo-noir aesthetic. It took me forever to read through this though. I was a bit bored for the entire first half and the plot didn't really pick up until 60% of the way. I also had a really tough time finding any of the characters likeable - all but one character were actually pretty annoying. I did appreciate the incorporation of many different types of vampire sub-species and lore and wished more of the sub-species that are covered in the back of the book made an appearance in the actual story.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia


Special thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an e-copy of this fabulous re-issue of Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.


Originally published in 2016, and now re-released with an absolutely ELECTRIC new cover and released by TOR, this edition has it all! After devouring the highly anticipated Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia last year, I immediately searched for her other works and though I did find more, it seemed hard to get my hands on them. Excited to find that Silvia Moreno-Garcia and her original take on vampires has emerged with this re-"vamp" of Certain Dark Things.

Silvia's world-building is incredibly rich and enchanting. I love her writing and how she jumps around genres from book to book. Keeps us guessing on what will she write next and how quickly can I get my hands on it?!?! Undoubtedly, Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an dark, gritty, yet fresh spin on Vampires that the genre desperately needed. She takes us Mexico City, where we meet Domingo, a teenage street kid, who survives by finding junk and flipping it to sell. He ends up befriending the beautuful Atl, a Vampire, and Cualli, her faithful dog. Atl is desperately evading not only gangs of humans, but worse, Necros, and she needs help navigating the city to escape. Necros are particularly nasty in that not only can they control humans with a single bite, but can poison even another Vampire, threatening the native vampires that have been here since the time of Aztecs.

This was a fun, fast read that was darkly inventive and exciting. So happy TOR gave us this edition and that Cover is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥Looking forward to reading any and everything Silvia Moreno-Garcia will grace us with. I'm definitely a fan! 5 stars from me!

I wasn’t enjoying it to begin with (should’ve DNF) then they killed the Doberman.

Never kill the dog - when will authors learn.

Gorgeous new cover though.

This was a different and fun read! I really love Moreno-Garcia's style of writing and will most definitely be reading more of her work! The plot moved quickly but still built up the characters in a good and believable way. The ending was a bit sad with all the death and moving away but I liked the open feel of the epilogue.

I absolutely loved this! Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a favorite author and this book did not disappoint!

I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

Certain Dark Things has multiple POVs, but really the story focuses on two characters. Domingo is a street kid who is collecting and trying to survive while Atl is an Aztec vampire whose run from a rival vampire gang. These two cling to one another as danger closes in on them.

There is so much to love about this book. I really fell in love with the atmosphere that Moreno-Garcia created. It was dark, but then she had characters that were a light, but then it would go back to being dark. Neo-noir is a really good description of this book.

Domingo and Atl’s relationship was wonderful. I loved their sunshine x grumpy connection and watching them grow with their trust in one another. It was a beautiful bond to witness grow and strengthen.

I loved getting all the background about vampirism and the culture. It really created this beautiful, rich world that I fell in love with.

This was such a good vampire book. Gimme more please.

Domingo is a young boy obsessed with comics and vampire lore living in a world where vampires are very real. Still, he is completely unprepared to encounter a walking, talking vampire, Atl, in Mexico City where the creatures are supposed to be banished.

I loved this book! I really wanted to give it 5 stars. The writing was gorgeous and the vampire lore was so interesting. However, the relationship between Atl and Domingo bugged me throughout the entire book. For that I have to take away a star. If their relationship hadn't gone the way it did, I would have rated it 5 stars for sure. It was gritty and creepy and a touch gory. Great vampire story. Definitely different from any other vampire book I've ever read. The lore that tied into Aztec culture was intriguing and made me want to read more.

There’s so much to enjoy about Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s vampire noir novel, that it’s a disappointment to feel so unsatisfied by the book as a whole. If you’d asked me at almost any point in the first three-quarters of the book, I’d have a ton good to say about it, from Moreno-Garcia’s novel take on vampire mythology to the blurring of cyberpunk and noir lines into the novel, from the view of a very different Mexico City to the dodging of easy parallels. But then there’s the ending of the book – or, more accurately, the lack of one – and it’s such a disappointing fizzle that I just can’t bring myself to have the same enthusiasm for the book that the rest of it deserves.

But let’s talk about the rest of the book, because there really is a lot here that I enjoyed. Certain Dark Things is the story of Domingo, a street kid who’s been surviving by digging through the trash and doing odd jobs to stay alive. It’s a weird world, mind you – vampire gangs are battling all around the country (though Mexico City has expelled all the vampires), for one thing – but Domingo is doing okay…until he meets the eyes of a beautiful young woman, who invites him home and asks to drink some of his blood. And quicker than you can say “Renfield” (a term that nicely gets repurposed here), Domingo finds him drawn into the life of Atl, whose Aztec-descended tribe has been decimated, leaving her on the run from some very dangerous vampires.

Even before I realized the book ended with a sort of mini-encyclopedia of vampire tribes and types, I was thoroughly impressed with Moreno-Garcia’s modernization of the vampire mythos. Each of her types wholly stands apart from the others, with not only distinct powers and abilities, but also with personalities and beliefs that make them instantly distinguishable from each other. Her allusions to other tribes (and those encyclopedia entries) only underline all of that, bringing this alternate world to life, and that’s before genetically modified animals or government agencies designed to monitor for the undead predators.

But just as much as it is a horror novel, Certain Dark Things is a self-proclaimed noir novel, and Moreno-Garcia does the genre right on the whole, starting with a woman on the run whose fatale qualities are evident even to the untrained eyes. Yes, Domingo may be too nice to do well in a noir, but that doesn’t really hurt the book that much – not when one of the fundamental questions is how far he’s willing to go in order to protect this woman (who’s far, far more dangerous than he could ever be). As Domingo gets in deeper and deeper, you can see the boundaries of society peeling back around him, plunging us into a world where human life is very disposable and where gangs have as much say over police procedure as any law ever could.

All solid so far…which makes it all the more disappointing when the book unravels in its final stretch. A compelling supporting character is checkmated out of the book in the most anticlimactic way possible, only to have their fate dragged out unnecessarily for multiple chapters. The book’s climax is perfectly okay, but I genuinely assumed there was more to come, as it felt really of a piece with the other set pieces, but no – that’s the end of the book, complete with a coup de grâce that feels so brief as to almost be an afterthought (and not worth the buildup that we’ve been given, especially since the reveal is shot a few pages earlier). And none of that even touches on the final chapter, which is an idea that could work on paper, but here feels less like an ending and more like an abrupt “well, I ran out of ideas” here, with a character choice that feels wholly out of place, and jars even worse against the epilogue that draws it all to a close.

It’s all so frustrating, because I was genuinely drawn into Moreno-Garcia’s rich, dark world, and found myself compelled by its characters (especially Bernardino, a reclusive, cat-loving vampire whose solitary existence is all but necessitated by his tribe). But ultimately, the end of the book is such a fizzle that I felt more frustrated and disappointed than anything else. Can you recommend a book if you know the ending is such a whimper? In this case, I just can’t.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia continues to knock my socks off, literarily speaking. Her Gods of Jade and Shadow was nothing short of breath-taking. Now she turns her wild and dark imagination to a vampire tale set in Mexico City. In this world, there are not one but many kinds of vampires, each with its own history, weaknesses, and predilection for bloodshed. Certain Dark Things tells the story of the perilous friendship between street-kid Domingo and Atl of the Aztec line of vampires whose family has been wiped out by the viciously violent narco-vampire clan. Atl is young and inexperienced in vampire terms and has led a carefree life, never having to make hard choices. Now she’s on the run for her immortal life. She’s the most beautiful woman Domingo has ever seen, and he can hardly believe his luck when she accepts his help. Atl’s only hope for a way to safety lies in fleeing Mexico, but to do that she needs documents available only through a secret and highly elusive vampire underground. Unfortunately, she soon attracts the attention of both crime bosses and a cop dedicated to exterminating her kind.

I’d classify this book as dark urban fantasy rather than horror, but it should appeal to readers of both genres. If you’ve never read Moreno-Garcia, you’re in for a treat.