I found out about this book earlier today and was instantly intrigued. I was so excited to find out my request had been approved so quickly. I couldn’t wait to dive in as I loved Mexican Gothic.

I was immediately engrossed with this book and couldn’t put it down. Normally I dread reading new books because it takes a while to get me engaged but that was not the case here! I couldn’t wait to find out how Maite and Elvis intersected and interacted. We follow them as they both look for Leonora who has gone missing while hiding some sought after information.

This book was fast paced and captivating. I am grateful to Netgalley and Random House for my advanced copy. Make sure to check this out for a super interesting read!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First off, I was so excited to get approved to review this ARC! Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favorite authors. Just like everyone else, I enjoyed Mexican Gothic. However, my absolute favorite book by her was her debut novel Signal to Noise, a YA fantasy book about the power of music. When I saw that this thriller also has a musical aspect, I couldn't wait to read it. Once again, thank you so much to Random House for sending me this ARC!

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an amazing historical thriller set in Mexico City in the 1970's. The story alternates between two main characters: Maite, who is almost 30 and unmarried, a fact that her mother bemoans, and Elvis, a rock-and-roll-loving gangster who has been assigned to track down Maite's neighbor. Although music is an important part of this book, I found Maite's love of Secret Romance comics to be both more interesting and endearing. Although she's single in real life, she enjoys the fantasy, action, and romance in comics. Of course, I can relate to that. Here is an excerpt from Chapter Two, when when we're introduced to Maite for the first time:

"Then came her current obsession: Secret Romance.
The latest storyline concerned Beatriz, a young nurse sent to a distant tropical island to care for an ailing old woman, who is torn between her passion for two brothers, Jorge Luis, a chivalrous doctor, and Pablo Palomo, a dissolute playboy nursing a broken heart.
She lived for those stories. She woke up, fed her parakeet, went to work, came back, put on music, and pored over each panel in the comic books; she gnawed at each word like a starving woman."

Maite is a great protagonist. I related to her love for comics, and I held my breath during her chapters as she, at first, seeks to return her neighbor's cat to her, and then later investigates her neighbor's mysterious disappearance. Instead of reading about action-packed romances, she finds that her life has changed, and she has become the protagonist in that type of story. The action ratchets up and up from there, leading to a gun-filled, blood-soaked conclusion, but with a happy ending. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this historical thriller, which is up there among the best of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books. If you're a fan of the author or of historical thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out Velvet Was the Night when it comes out in August!

One of the joys of reading novels by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the feeling that you are reading something unlike anything you've read before, even when you are familiar with the genre she's writing. In Velvet Was the Night, noir feels fresh and newly intriguing.

Set in Mexico City in the early 1970s, Velvet Was the Night follows two people searching for the missing Leonora and an item she's purloined. Elvis is part of the Hawks, a shadowy group of thugs that target "commies" and other political dissidents; his leader, El Mago, wants him to track down Leonora shortly after a Hawk mission goes awry. Maite, a 30-year-old secretary whose actual life is far less fulfilling than those of the romantic graphic novels she reads, agrees to pet-sit for her neighbor, Leonora, and suddenly finds herself hunting for Leonora when she doesn't return as planned.

The novel hits all the main characteristics of noir. Institutional corruption? Check. Morally ambiguous characters? Check. Lust and violence? Check. Dark and atmospheric? Check.

The femme fatale at the center of the plot is far less dangerous or intriguing than most other women at the heart of noirs, and that's the first sign that Moreno-Garcia is playing with the tropes of this genre. Maite is obsessed with serial romances, and at times, this reads like a romance she would enjoy, with two apparently fated characters drawing closer to a fateful meeting. It's also a novel concerned with belonging and loneliness, and the flawed people invited to fill the holes in these characters' lives.

The parallel story structure that flips between Maite and Elvis plays with perspective in interesting ways, and though the plot is chronological, an occasional "rewind" to shift perspectives makes the story feel more dynamic. And readers will want to spend time with both characters equally, which can be a tough feat to pull off.

All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. 4.5/5 stars.

I feel like I raced through this book because I couldn't wait to see what happened. I had no idea about the riots and massacres that occurred in Mexico City and other places in Mexico during this time. Maite, Elvis, Leonora, the Hawks. All fascinating and intricately woven. I loved that there was a playlist, and all the mentions of the songs which I knew (both the Spanish and English ones!) Very different from her other books I've read, Mexican Gothic and Untamed Shore but still in the same vein as her others. It felt familiar and different but I really enjoyed it.

Velvet Was the Night is more noir than thriller; it seems like an updated Raymond Chandler-esque book. The tone is persistently dark, even bleak, but the reader gets the sense that the point-of-view characters will come through. It is set during the 1970s, a decade in which the Mexican government used force against protesters, including students, communists and left wing dissidents. Paramilitary groups, like the Hawks in the story, administered the force, including death and torture.

Elvis, one of the POV characters, is part of the Hawks. A slum kid who envisions himself as Elvis Presley, he dreams of a better life but is unsure of how he can escape the one he’s in. Maite, the other POV characters, is a secretary who’s bored with her job and fantasizes about suave lovers who will help her escape her dreary existence. When Maite’s neighbor disappears, the beautiful Leonora, a rich wanna-be activist, Maite is drawn into the world of student revolutionaries and gangsters. Maite and Elvis share a love of American music and books, things that could hold their relationship together—if they ever develop one.

While I really liked Mexican Gothic, this book was just not for me. I did not feel invested in the main characters and that made the story drag on quite a bit. The writing style also did not work for me and didn't hold my interest.

4/5 stars.

content warnings: gang violence, gun violence, death, assault

(full review to be posted in August)

I am once again pleasantly surprised by how brilliant Silvia Moreno-Garcia is in creating a wonderful and immersive novel. I loved the noir aspect of it, interwoven into the plot and keeping the suspense and pace up the entire time. I was so invested in finding out how the story unfolded, and I loved both the main characters. Both Maite and Elvis are lonely characters searching for something more to life, and I liked reading both of their perspectives.

I'm not one for historical fiction, but I really adored reading this book. It touched on some interesting and important topics, and I appreciated the afterword putting a spotlight on the facts behind the event and the real horror that happened in real life.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy to review!

This was the first book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia I'd read (although I have Certain Dark Things and Mexican Gothic on my TBR!). I am a huge thriller fan and was excited to break into the noir genre and I'd heard only amazing things about Moreno-Garcia's writing. However, this one left me feeling a little bit disappointed. I liked the premise of the book--two characters whose stories come together. However, the story felt pretty slow.

This was definitely more noir than I was anticipating, but the mysterious missing woman was what kept me going. I had to know. That story line was written very well and wrapped up in a satisfying way. That and the LOCATION. I've never been to Mexico City, but reading this book gave me a beautiful picture in my head of the city. The atmosphere that was created was just wonderful. I'm hoping that her future books are a little faster paced and am by no means out on her future works. This one just felt a little flat.

I'm going to publish a review on my Instagram (@readingwithmarlow) in the coming weeks!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for giving me a copy to review!

This is probably a case of the book just was not for me plotwise, like i actually think the plot just didn't work for me. I've read the author's other noir books (Certain Dark Things and Untamed Shore) and loved them both so I know it probably isn't a genre thing. This is my 4th book by the author and I've loved all of her work, except this one sadly. It just felt... slower than her other books? Like it actually was hard to pick it up because it always felt like I was trudging through mud and this comes from someone who reads classics. So I'm used to different pacing.

I think for me a lot of it has to do with characters, I just did not care about our leads the way I had with previous works. And I'm fine with unlikable or characters you can't relate to. Just for some reason I couldn't feel anything for them and they didn't feel as "alive" as previous leads. And... not gonna lie I didn't like Elvis' POV at all, it felt like nothing ever really got done until the end just a lot of El Mago.

The atmosphere though? INCREDIBLE. You really do get a scope for Mexico City and the surrounding area, as well as a bit of history. The atmosphere created in this book is phenomenal and should be used as a guide in regards for creating a setting, its incredible how "in" you feel when reading.

I also kinda saw the big reveal coming, but I think that was just a fluke. It was a weird guess and I turned out to be right. And I do like the note it ends on, feels very appropriate all things considered.

While the introduction of the story was not what I usually read, I continued for a short time but stopped. It was not my cup of tea period.

Velvet Was the Night was a noir book, unlike others I've read. It kept a fast pace with the narration switching every other chapter between our two main characters, Elvis and Maite. Its plot, rooted in history, was gripping through the very end. I enjoyed the elements of noir throughout the book without it feeling like it was beating me over the head with it, like some noir books. I loved the one-sided relationship Elvis built with Maite and felt that the characters were well fleshed out and believable. I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Now that’s a nice story. Not at all what I was expecting, but a pleasant surprise. Great ending

In this hard-edge thriller set in 1970 amid the “Dirty Wars” of Mexico. The story follows, Elvis, a member of the Hawks, a criminal organization aligned with the Mexican government, and Maite, a 30 years old plain and introverted secretary who dreams of love and adventure. When Maite agrees to pet-sit her neighbor’s cat, she gets caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mice between the corrupt Mexican Government, the Hawks, and the political protestors of that era.

I found it rather easy to like Elvis, a young man growing tired of the violence and the thug mentality, but caught between his loyalties to the organization and his lack of other opportunities. He is an easy character to root for. Maite’s character is a little harder to like. She’s a very sad and insecure character, yet seems to lack any redeeming qualities when she is first introduced. However, I felt there was a lot of character development for her during this novel, and Maite acquires a new strength and self-awareness. The pacing is quick and the conclusion is very satisfying.

In 1970’s Mexico, Elvis is a gangster who doesn’t enjoy his job all that much anymore. Maite is a bored secretary who lives for the next edition of her favorite serial romance and makes up weekend plans so she’ll seem less pathetic to her coworkers. But when her next-door neighbor, the beautiful Leonora, asks Maite to watch her cat, then disappears, Maite’s search for Leonora drags her into the world of gangsters, a student revolutionary movement and even a KGB agent.

The best way I can describe this is to say that Silvia Moreno-Garcia has written a Raymond Chandler mystery for modern readers. This is a change of pace from her other books like Mexican Gothic, but is still thoroughly delightful.

I loved both of these characters and wanted them to come out the other side of the intrigue in one piece. Maite’s willingness to step out of her comfort zone - from art collective to murder scene to being tailed by secret police - made her intriguing. She wanted more from life than she’d found yet and grabbed her chance to enter a different- albeit extremely dangerous- world. Even though we know Elvis is a bad dude who beats and kills people, his loyalty to his friends and his longing for a more normal life makes him an interesting character.

A great read for lovers of historical suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How does Moreno-Garcia write elegantly in more than one genre? What a TALENT she has! I'm normally not one for historical fiction but this one did it, I loved it. It was beautiful and heartbreaking. This story did get a little boring at the end, but that's probably my own fault and taste for everything not historical fiction. Silvia, you did it again.

VELVET WAS THE NIGHT tells the story of a daydreaming secretary who winds up putting herself in the middle of an investigation of a missing girl, who happens to be her neighbor. The story was very slow to develop and we spend a good chunk of time just going back and forth between Maite and Elvis with very little story development. It’s not until 82% into the book were we start getting somewhere with the storyline.

I am a big fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s work and while I did like this book, it wasn’t my favorite. The writing felt very utilitarian and I wasn’t able to get into a groove with it so I kept having to kind of force myself to push through it? It might have just been me but I will definitely be recommending this book to people who enjoy crime/noir books.

I did love the fact that this book took place in Mexico City in the 1970s.

Velvet Was the Night works well as noir fiction.

Told in dual perspective, the story itself vacillates between Maite, a thirty-year-old secretary who has a penchant for fantasy and adventure, for a love comic called Secret Romance, and Elvis, who loves music and is a member of the Hawks, a crime syndicate that works against political activists and the Mexican government. They both find themselves looking for the missing Lenora, only at different ends. For Maite, locating her has to do with them being neighbors and the fact that she has been stuck watching her cat. For Elvis, it's about finding dangerous photos she supposedly had in her possession at one time and preventing them from being shared. Exposed. They end up circling each other as a result, their lonely hearts calling out, trying to survive in the new perilous situations in which they find themselves embroiled.

The setting, the plot, the 1970's Mexican political atmosphere--it's all squalid in a way that muddies the line between right and wrong, good and bad, and I like how the characters toted around serious flaws as well as the way emotional gravitas and loneliness set the tone.

Maite never believes she's good enough for anything or anyone, for instance. She's also relatively ignorant about the Dirty War until she's plunged into the center of it. Awareness explodes before her eyes the further she progresses in the plot, alerting her to the bald realities of her country.

Elvis is technically a criminal, but loathes violence and killing, finding solace in things like vinyl records, words of the day, and old movies. His major flaw is stuckness. He can't seem to escape the clutches of his current job and carve out his own life for himself.

Both protagonists are intriguing enough. I rooted for them to succeed, to escape from danger, even though I wasn't drawn in by them entirely. The setting and emotional gravity was what gave this book most of its pulse, in my opinion. It provided the dark, thick murkiness anything noir needs.

Though not my favorite of Moreno-Garcia's works, I appreciate and applaud her divergence into this new genre. It's further proof she can whittle a good story out of anything.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

*Review to be posted to blog on publication day: 8-17-2021

Loved this thriller. I haven’t read any of authors previous books but I have already started looking to get another! Kept me on edge of my seat until last page,

This was so interesting, and I learn something new about Mexico and their secret war.
It's a dual POV. We have a two lonely protagonist.

First is Maite, She just turned 30, she loves music, reading romance comics and she doesn't like her job or her family. And we have Elvis, also a music lover and part of Hawks, a political group against the Mexican government.

When Maite's neighbor disappears, she decides to find her, its not an easy task, Maite will attract danger and one of those dangers is the gang to which Elvis belongs; he will be in charge of watching her.

The author builds very real characters, both are lonely people, they seek to fit and connect with someone, you can feel their loneliness and their longings.
The story is slow but fluid, it is built little by little and that allows you to know a little more about the historical context and the danger that the protagonists run.

The story feels like an old movie. I love the written style, you can see the streets of Mexico City, savor the food or run for you life.

Review Dates: Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub and B&W: Aug 17

Why I kept falling in love with the book covers of Silvia Moreno Garcia’s! Isn’t this one gorgeous? Mexican Gothic’s cover is still my favorite but this smoky, mysterious vibes of the cover and author’s name made me dive into this one by going blind!

First of all: this is not paranormal, gothic thrillers just like some of her previous work! This is political thriller-historical fiction- emotional lonely hearts of broken people story!

The story takes places in 70’s of Mexico, centered on high tension political area because the incidents enacted by PRI Mexican Political party! Elvis is member of Hawks : a group is unofficially works for government during the Dirty War as Maite is clerical worker who hates her job, loves reading romance lovers, listening to records, thirty, single.

Both of their paths cross as they try to find missing Leonara ! Their intentions to find her are totally different. Maite wants to find her because she’s her roommate, Elvis wants to find her because she is supposed to keep dangerous photos that shouldn’t be revealed! As you can imagine they have been dragged into very dangerous situation by looking for the girl.

Even though this action packed, intense political thriller, it’s also a book about two lonely hearts try to survive in the wild, dangerous jungle. Especially Maite’s evolving, changing, awakening to see the realities of her country, her self discovery were well developed.

I normally enjoyed the author’s paranormal thrillers more but she meticulously succeeded to form a good story and showed us she could perfectly write in different genres.

I loved both of the characters. The pacing was still intriguing. I never get bored till the end. That’s why I’m giving my whirlwind, exciting, powerful, fast pacing, four viva Mexico stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine/Del Rey for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.