Wow! What a book. I went into this book without any knowledge of what it was about, just familiar with Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s previous book, Mexican Gothic. I was initially disappointed there was no sci-fi/fantasy element to the story but eventually the characters Maite and Elvis drew me into their world and before I knew it, I couldn’t put the book down.

As Silvia states in the afterward, this is a 70s, noir, pulp fiction tale based on some real happenings in turbulent Mexico City. It is very indie-cinematic, and reminds me of a 21st Century missing girl amateur detective thriller. As always. I love to see how Silvia works with new genres.

This is a lush noir set in Mexico during very dangerous and unsettled 1970s, when the government and other entities worked to disrupt protests, protect the corrupt, and punish dissidents. In this mix we find Maite, who hates her job, is depressed about her life, and loves records. By agreeing to cat-sit for her neighbor, she finds herself completely ensnared in various operations to find and protect or destroy photographs that could be used as evidence to bring down major figures. This is a book rich with description and complex, conflicted characters, and I loved ever minute of it. It would make a fantastic short series; Netflix, are you reading?

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has created another awe inspiring book. I admit, this slow burning historical noir style book may not be for everyone. I find the author's use of dialogue and multi character perspective perfect. Chapters transition seemlessly from Maite to Elvis while both are at the same scene. The characters felt beautifully developed and the story line requires focus to follow the twisting plot to find the illusive Leonora. Major bonus of this book is the Spotify play list. It's hard to NOT be transported to 1970s Mexico City when both reading and listening together.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballatine for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this author and everything she rights so I knew this would be no exception. She delivered. I loved this story! I’d highly recommend it to people and I think people are gonna love it!

How could I have missed the days of the "Dirty War" in the 70s? After reading this story filled with violence, sex and revenge from the dark side, it feels like I'm a little more up to speed.

The Hawks was a Mexican government group that attacked, tortured and killed student protestors on the left side of politics. One of the main characters was Leonora, an art student and activist who asked her neighbor, Maite, to take care of her cat for a couple of days. Little did Maite know that she was now inside one of her favorite books: Secret Romance which gave her a taste of danger. The big question was: what happened to Leonora as she disappeared after a few days while strange men made their way into her apartment looking for photos.

The book was much different than the author's previous one: Mexican Gothic. I found it to be at a slower pace but at the same time engaging with the historical part opening my eyes. There were a lot of references to Maite's passion for books, comics and music. It shows when life is crazy on the outside, it's what keeps us going. One of her friends pointed out, "Change should come peacefully. We need.a more educated nation, we need to come to agreements." The book leaves the reader with much to think about.

My thanks to Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Random House books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy to be released on August 17, 2021.

This was my first book by this author and I was not disappointed at all. It was engaging and very enjoyable for me to learn more about Mexico’s history throughout reading this novel .

I’m am a big fan of learning about new subjects through books that I read. I will definitely read more of this author in the future. The ending didn’t make sense to me, but I still enjoyed this book for what it taught me.

This book comes with a playlist! My dream. SMG does it again. The captivating smoky atmosphere and mixture of half-likable characters made this book such a fun read. The political/historical thriller components gave agency to the characters' development and a necessity to the complex plot. I particularly enjoyed that none of these characters were objectively likable. They all had things that made them "bad" but we got to know them on a deeper level, their motivations, and understand why they were the way they were. Moreno-Garcia does a great job of paving an almost palpable atmosphere in her books and then building a solid plot on top of it.

4.5 stars, I just wish the end was carried a little further.

Thank you to NG and Random House Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Moreno-Garcia can write any genre: horror, romance, and even noir.
The plot of VELVET IS THE NIGHT is tantalizing and the book is as much of a page-turner as MEXICAN GOTHIC (although admittedly the characters are not as engaging.)

Thank you so much for the digital review copy!

I picked up this book because I thoroughly enjoyed Mexican Gothic. However, Silvia’s newest novel is a very different flavor. Velvet Was the Night is about Elvis, who works as a thug and is on a mission to find a mission woman, and Maite, a boring secretary who finds herself also searching for the missing woman. This book, though the plot is interesting enough on its own, is extremely character driven. Elvis, despite his line of work, has a loud conscience and a lot of depth. I found Maite to be very unlikable, though I was most intrigued by her. There is something almost childish about Maite’s insecurities and longing for love and adventure. Though I wanted to know how everything would wrap up, I was mostly pressed to keep reading because I enjoyed being in the characters’ heads.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I got about 2/3 of the way through this book, but I never felt connected to the main characters. I loved Mexican Golthic, but I think this era and the violence of it didn't appeal to me in the same way. No fault of the writing, which is still very good. Just not my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Mexico City in the 70s; political unrest and activism infiltrate city life, thus affecting the young lives of the characters in this Noir novel. At the heart of the story are Elvis and Maite, strangers who are simultaneously on a wild goose chase throughout town looking for Leonora's implicating photographs. Leonora asks neighbor and resident pet sitter Maite to watch her cat, then Leonora disappears. Elvis is a peculiar criminal who dodges spies, agents and hitmen in the quest to find missing Leonora on his boss's bidding. Neither Elvis nor Maite actually know Leonora, yet she pulls them in to her orbit. Their paths ultimately cross in a diner where they have an instant connection when the other pops a coin in the Jukebox and selects songs the other sings from across the room. Take away the task at hand and you'll find two characters who have their own way to escape the political climate. Both enjoy listening to records; Elvis prefers rock n roll to Maite's love songs. Maite daydreams while reading her favorite comic book Secret Romance and hopes to find love so she can act out her favorite scenes in her own life. You would think with all the action - missing person, scavenger hunt-like search, political turmoil, violence, etc. - the story would be fast-paced but it moved slow for me. The characters themselves brought just enough flavor and depth to keep me intrigued. If you read this, listen to the corresponding Spotify playlist to hear the novel come alive!

i received an arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

dnf @ 24%

as much as it breaks my heart to do this (i love gods of jade and shadow and mexican gothic), this book is not the one for me.

it's putting me in a terrible reading slump, and i'd probably give it 1/2 stars if i finished. better to leave it unrated and unfinished...

Honesty...

I had this whole review written out. Which is normal for me, because I usually type up my thoughts as I read. I was about 75% of the way through this book, and I had my mind absolutely made up about Maite. I thought that she was a mean girl, I kept waiting for her rough edges to smooth out, for her to grow, for her to realize that she was living in adventure like she imagined in her romance comics.

And then the last quarter of the book threw me. I tried to rectify what I had written, and I eventually deleted everything I had said, because this book truly surprised me.

This book was the definition of a slow burn. At first I thought it was a lot of words for not a lot of action. But really, what the author was doing was forcing you to live in a political climate where you couldn’t trust the person sitting next to you. It was truly nerve-wracking.

If you chose this book to read because of Mexican Gothic, just like I did, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised. They are nothing alike. And it was brilliant.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

I loved the writing in this book and look forward to reading more from this author! The writing was so detailed and vivid and I felt like I was sitting next to the characters throughout the story.

It was an interesting story, not exactly what I imagined it to be! I went into the book without knowing much about the setting and time period and I think that made it a little difficult for me at first. I think what I learned from this text is that the "noir genre" is not exactly my cup of tea. It was a little slow for me and I was hoping for a bit more action. That being said, it was very well written and still a good read, just not my favorite. :)

Thanks NetGally & the publisher for the early release. :)
#VelvetWastheNight #NetGalley

Thank you Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Netgalley, Ballantine Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this noir ARC! I can’t say enough with how captivating the cover is and think the cover artist did an impeccable job! This is a beautifully told story of Maite and Elvis as their lives intersect because of Leonora. Leonora is Maite’s neighbor who asks her for a favor to watch her cat while Leonara is away while Elvis is tasked with tracking down Leonora. Elvis falls for Maite from afar and it was interesting to read about his inner struggles with what he had to do for his job. The main intrigue was figuring out who Leonora was and what happened to her. There’s some gruesome parts and it takes a little bit to pick up but once it gets going you find yourself at the end already! I knew this was a historical fiction going into it but after reading the afterword from the author I really appreciated her shedding light on this period of history even more!

⟾ 3.5/5 stars

⟾ CW: violence, mentions of blood, death, gun use, violent language, murder

the cover of this book is gorgeous and it's definitely part of why i requested it on netgalley.
"velvet was the night" is a historical noir mystery set during the 1970s, in mexico city. the book is told in two POVs, maite's and elvis'.

the beginning of the book was so slow that i considered DNF-ing it, but im glad i kept reading. i definitely like the chapters about elvis more than those about maite, mainly because i dislike her character.

however, i did not connect with any of the characters and that made me enjoy the novel a lot less, since it's very character focused. i loved the parallels between them, mainly how lonely they both were, albeit in rather different ways.

elvis was a really interesting character and it was interesting to read about his inner conflict regarding the violence his job entails. on the other hand, maite was insufferable. she was always the victim and while i do understand she got the short stick of the deal, she never tried to redeem herself. she never tried to do good, but she expected everyone else to take pity on her. she did get a bit better at the end of the story, but i still found her obnoxious.

the plot was a plus, since it was enjoyable to read about this conflict going on, but it developed so slow. it had some moments where it picks up and it gets interesting, but overall it fell a little flat. the writing is where this book shines. i loved the descriptions and how the author managed to create two very unique voices for maite and elvis. the story flowed really nicely, writing wise.

overall, i'm glad i got the chance to read it and i'll be definitely checking out other novels from this author!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for offering me an ARC in exchange of an honest review!

Fantastic read that I ended up parceling out to make it last longer. Takes two sides of the noir genre that typically don’t intersect - the young woman drawn into a situation bigger than she knows and the old hand on the edge of changing times, and draws them together chasing the same woman. One of the unintentional hilarities is that one is chasing her because of some photos of a student/government clash she may have, and the other is chasing her down to give her cat back and get paid. I know vague strokes about this period in Mexico, but this story makes me want to find out more. A love of music and words draws our two mains together, and the female lead is also deeply into romance comics. There’s some real fantastic passages here, most that I feel spoil the story so I’m not going to share them. Just trust me and pick this up when it comes out. You’ll be in for a treat.

This was my first experience with author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I'm told that this is a different genre from her earlier work. I write in the Historical Fiction realm, so I was eager to learn the background of this novel—the story behind the story can be so fascinating.

To discover that there was CIA and Mexican government involvement in a calculated and violent attack upon a gathering of youth protestors in 1971 was astonishing.

Unfortunately, I could not fully connect with the characters in the foreground as much as I was interested in the background history.

This novel has a few delightfully quirky moments but overall fell a little flat for me.

Despite not being overjoyed with this particular one, I still intend to give her other books a try.

I'd like to thank the author, NetGalley, and Randomhouse / Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Velvet Was The Night for an honest review.

Thanks to @netgalley and @delreybooks for an advanced copy of this book. I enjoyed it. Although, it did take me until about a quarter of the way through before I got into it. The two main characters are not immediately likable. In fact, they are both quite unlikable. I always think it’s a good author that can make disagreeable characters relatable.
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The story is set in Mexico City in 1970’s. It’s this small moment in time where the Mexican government was hiring thugs to beat and kill student protesters. It was all in the name of preventing the spread of communism but really was just oppression. The book covers a few days time starting with a protest and following a few citizens that are caught up in the tragic events. The story is fiction but based on real events.
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There are two protagonists. The first is a young man named Elvis. He is one of the hired thugs. He is clearly not likable as he is beating and torturing people for a living. As the story progresses the reader sees how he is a young man looking for direction and opportunity. He takes the wrong paths but you have some sympathy for his earnestness.
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The second protagonist is a woman named Maite. She is 30, unmarried, working in an office job that she hates, has few friends, spends too much money, and generally dislikes herself. At first Maite is pretty insufferable. She lies, steals, whines, and doesn’t offer much to the world. As her character develops the reader sees that Maite is trying to breakout of the gender roles that she finds stifling. She maybe goes about it in an obnoxious manner but you do feel for her lack of options.
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These two get involved in the disappearance of a young woman and are both trying to track her down before the government tracks them all down.
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Heads up, there is some language. Overall, it’s a quick read about an interesting period of time in Mexico’s history. This will be released 8/17/21.