SILVIA DOES IT AGAIN, I know it’s just a reprint but I was so excited for this arc and it didn’t disappoint. Intriguing, captivating, and immediately able to hook. The writing style is so classic and easy to understand. The characters are well developed and the story makes sense in the oddest of ways. Thank you for the opportunity to read!

I really enjoyed this book! It's a great read, especially for music fans and lovers of all things 80s, but it also has YA angst, magic, and romance to boot.

This is the second book that I've read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. My main criticism of Mexican Gothic (2020) was that I couldn't get a feel for the main character (Noemí), but that is absolutely not the case for Signal to Noise. The book is written in the 3rd person and mainly follows Meche (our MC) but Moreno-Garcia gives us little snippets from at least four other characters to flesh out their perspectives as well.

The story is told in a dual timeline: 1988 and 2009. I love this structure because we get to see the trio of friends (Meche, Sebastián, and Daniela) as they were at 15, where they've ended up in their mid-thirties, and we're putting the pieces of the story together as we go.

You should definitely listen to the music as you're reading this book, so check out this public playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/64UhZuibxl4FBep1FpWwrZ?si=ca8bd8ccc67944bc

Thanks to Rebellion for sending me an e-arc on NetGalley in advance of the reprint! Glad this book is getting the love it deserves.

Signal to Noise is the third book I’ve read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and it just confirms my feeling that I want to read all her books. Signal to Noise is about Meche’s return home to a place she left a long time ago angry with everyone. It is about friendship, magic, and music. I loved uncovering exactly what had happened between Meche, Sebastian, and Daniela all those years ago, and how their relationships would play out in the contemporary moment, following the death of Meche’s father.
One of the things I love about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s work which is highlighted in Signal to Noise is the way she creates characters. Her characters are often flawed in a way that feels entirely and heartbreakingly normal. Meche is exasperating, but in a way that rings very true. I also loved that Meche was so-so about reading, and the continual reminders of acne.
Signal to Noise uses magic in an intriguing way. I initially thought that the way magic worked could have been deepened a bit, but ultimately the uncertainty of the process mirrors so many other kinds of uncertainty that it fits well into the world of the novel.
I felt like Daniela, the third of the trio was sidelined a bit. Meche seemed to acknowledge this eventually, but so much of the teenage drama was about Sebastian and Meche, and I wish there had been a bit more sustained reconnecting in the later timeline with Daniela as well.

I thought the writing was beautiful, the characters rich with life experience, pain, pleasure and growth, and the moments based in the 1980s were wonderful to read.

Signal To Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
is a Historical-Fiction/Sci-Fi Fantasy that begins in a present day timeline. Meche is reluctantly returning to the Mexico City neighborhood of her childhood for her grandfather's funeral. She has nostalgic 1980's flashbacks to good and bad times with her friends Sebastian and Daniela. The trio is creating their own culture of magic using dark story sources from Shakespeare to National Geographic, their favorite grandmother's muddled memories, and any quirky phrase in a book or song that has imaginary possibilities. Oh, and it's the 80's, of course, so the spellbinding musical resources to layer in seem to be everywhere on radios, walkmans, and turntables. In the 80's timeline you will navigate street life, school life, and 'strange' family lives. Escaping with friends is the default survival strategy- but the end goal for Meche seems to be experimenting with ways that magic can passive aggressively solve those everyday problems that become more and more overwhelming. The growing power of magic seems to be turning her to the dark side. Yes, her magic is getting out of control.. The storytelling has the YA feel of an easy flow, a quick pace, and plenty of teen coming of age interactions. The undercurrent of a friends vs more than friends relationship straddles both timelines between Mech and Sebastian. So does the mystery of who Mech's father really was and who the friends and their old neighborhood have become. And yes, the hurts that remain from something unspoken that happened…This story confirmed my musical belief that there is a song for everything!

I enjoyed several clever writing strategies in the book, including parallel jumps between up to three ongoing scenes in the same timelines (like movies do), and regular switches from one scene to another for the same character (or different characters) with zero transition but context clues that anchor your location moving you forward in time around in space at a quick pace. Fresh and youthful with a mystical urban feel. I received an ARC of Rebellion Publishing's new edition of the prolific Moreno-Garcia's debut in exchange for this fair review.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book*

"Signal to Noise" is Silvia Moreno-Garcia's first novel which is now being republished. It takes place in Mexico City, in 1988, when our protagonist Mecha, an unhappy and complicated girl, and her friends are just teenagers and discover magic. The other parts of the novel take place in 2009 when Mecha returns to Mexico City after two decades. While the novel is about teenage angst, it is also about one's love for music, it is quite the love letter to the music of the 60s, be it jazz or rock. I knew I had to love this novel when I found that King Crimson is the perfect music to hex somebody and that (cheesily enough) Procul Harem is the perfect music for a love spell. I loved that part of it and the magic system was interesting too. I even enjoyed the quite complicated and often useless fights between characters and I enjoyed the ending. Mecha is not a character I really liked, but I could understand her anger, her fear, her helplessness and how this dark part of her grows when she finds that magic gives her power. The novel is not overly innovative, but nice and entertaining. 4 Stars

It is Mexico City, 1988. Meche, short for Mercedes, loves music, a passion inherited from her father. This is the time long before iTunes, Spotify, or MP3 players. It is all about the vinyl, and her beloved portable record player. Meche is an awkward fifteen year old teenager, unpopular with few friends, and her parents' marriage is falling apart. She throws herself into music as an escape, and discovers magic. Her friends Sebastian and Daniela help her discover the extent of her powers. But then it all goes terribly wrong, and friendships shatter. Meche flees town, never to return, she thinks. However, nearly two decades later, her estranged fathers funeral drags her back, and she has to face up to what happened all those years ago.

This story is told through multiple storyline approach. The primary is set in the 80’s when Meche and her friends are coming of age, trying to find themselves and where they fit in the world, and how to cope with all the changes that life brings. The other is then twenty years later, with Meche’s return, and trying to cope with the anger she still feels. I was a bit conflicted reading this one. While on one hand I enjoyed the coming of age, mixed with the discovery of magic and how its power was found, I found the intense anger still felt by Meche twenty years later a bit confusing. She was a successful woman, with an excellent job, living a great life, yet still held onto resentment that one would imagine would have faded somewhat over the years.

As a story about love and hate - and how sometimes it can be hard to separate one from the other, it was written well. The characters are well developed. Some become a tad annoying - Sebastian I am looking at you!! But the emotions felt, the growth, the life portrayed was all done very well. I always enjoy reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s work, and while this was perhaps not my favourite to date it still did bring Mexico to life, along with three teenagers just trying to belong.

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

This novel is not a typical pick for me as there are some fantasy aspects, however, it had a well written main character who I found so relatable, drawing me in. I had tremendous empathy with the struggle she had to keep positive relationships with her family and friends while coming of age. I originally selected this book because of it’s integration of music and mention of mixtapes as that was so integral to me growing up.

Thank you for this book in exchange for my honest review. I love Sylvia Marino Garcia‘s writing style and this book was incredibly engaging. In Signal to Noise, Sylvia does a terrific job of pulling her readers into the story as if they are another character. The cultural aspects of this book are enthralling as well.

I enjoyed the book thank you NetGalley for the chance to review for my honest opinion
I would recommend this to my book club

Very different from the other books I have read by this author. I got a very '90s, The Craft vibe although it was set in 1988 and it seems like there will be a "happy" ending. The relationship between the main characters did feel similar to Mexican Gothic.

Of the ten most well-known novels SMG has published (I’m not as familiar with her anthology work), I have read seven, including just now “Signal to Noise.” I think her writing is beautiful, her characters passionate, and her attention to detail makes every story interesting. And I wholeheartedly enjoyed “Signal to Noise.” I’m a sucker for soundtracks like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Baby Driver,” where it’s an eclectic collection of 70’s and 80’s music, and this book felt like that kind of soundtrack in written form. Plus magic because why ever not? Teenage angst aside, I liked the main characters and was invested in the story from start to finish.

Great coming to age noval. You connect with the characters right away. Made me remember why I disliked kids in middle school. Definitely recommend.

Wow! What an amazing book!!
Would love to read more from the author.
Thankyou netgalley for the Arc!

I really ended up caring about the characters in this ( Meche, Sebastian and even Daniela). They are sort of a bunch of outcasts in 80s Mexico, and discover magic linked with music. It would fall under SFF but really also is an emotional story about friendship and family , and wanting to fit in.There is also their perspective 20 years later interspersed. I found this very immersive and also gave me a feeling of nostalgia, and enjoyed this more than I expected to. Thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an copy of this republished book in exchange for my honest review. I love SMG’s mind, and this debut is no exception. A retro magic filled tale that kept me hook from the first line.

Signal to Noise is the debut novel of Silvia Moreno- Garcia, which is being rereleased in September 2022. This is a coming-of-age story filled with music, popular culture references, and magical realism.

It is the story of Meche (aka Mercedes), an awkward, unpopular teenage girl in Mexico in the late 1980s. Meche, along with her equally unpopular friends, discover magic and the ability to cast spells using vinyl records.

There are dual timelines. The first is set in the late 1980’s, and the second is twenty years later. The two timelines are beautifully interwoven. The 80’s timeline is filled with the discoveries of Meche and her friends while they transverse adolescence, love, heartbreak, magic, and growing up. The later timeline reveals what happened in the 80’s that forever changed their relationships and lives and if they can move forward.


Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, I want to start this off by mentioning that this ARC didn't have any indication on when a chapter started or ended, and that made reading this kind of annoying. Obviously I assume this book DOES have chapters and isn't one long body of text with a thousand paragraphs, so I'm not holding that against the author or publisher.
Alright, on to the review.
The cover of this book is stunning, and the premise really made me want to read this. I'm a huge music lover so I absolutely loved the music is magic element of this. I also really loved the setting; Mexico in 1989 was really cool to experience.
Meche is such a strong character, even with her flaws. I found myself relating to her at times and finding her generally interesting. Again, the magic element was a really unique and cool touch.
I love alternating timelines and piecing together what happened over time, but I found it kind of odd that we didn't get many details of what happens in the 20 years in between the timelines.
Also, I just really didn't like Sebastian. Meche was so developed and strong as a character and Sebastian just...wasn't. I also thought it was odd that Meche seems over the main conflict that separated her and Sebastian before we even find out what it was.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I still recommend to any music lovers that want a unique coming of age romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Witchy and Wonderful

First of a huge thank you to the author Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Reprint Publishing for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley.

“Mexico City, 1988. Long before iTunes or MP3s, you said "I love you" with a mixtape. Meche, awkward and fifteen, discovers how to cast spells using music, and with her friends Sebastian and Daniela will piece together their broken families, and even find love...

Two decades after abandoning the metropolis, Meche returns for her estranged father's funeral, reviving memories from her childhood she thought she buried a long time ago. What really happened back then? Is there any magic left?” - Reprint Publishing.

There are books that come into your life at just the right time. Books that describe events that are happening in your own life. For me, Signal to Noise was one of those books. Much like the main character Meche, I too am in the process of cleaning out the home of my father who passed and whom I was estranged from. So instantly I understood the headspace our main character was in during the 2009 portions of the book. Meche having to confront not just her relationship or lack there of with her father but how that affected her childhood and past mistakes and relationships rang absolutely true to me.
The portions of the book taking place in the 80s were my favorite part. There we get to see Meche and her friends as teenagers who are tired of being at the bottom of the high school pecking order and looking for anyway to change that, even if that something is witchcraft. I loved how the magic system was based around music. If I had any wish it would be that even more time with the magic system and how it all worked. Due to the focus being more on the teen’s relationships and how they start to change, we are often left with minimal explanations of how the music and magic are actually tied together. This is definitely unfortunate as it seems like a fascinating concept for a magic system.

If you love contemporary fiction mixed with a glimpse at the 1980s and some magic sprinkled on top, this is definitely a book to add to your TBR.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I was initially captured by the cover art and then intrigued by the line "for fans of Stranger Things." That's me. I'm a fan of Stranger Things. So I hurriedly applied for the ARC and was delighted to receive it just a few days later!

Set in dual timelines, one in 1980s Mexico City, so this is where the Stranger Things reference is. Mainly the 80s music. The book contains an epic playlist of music across every chapter. I enjoyed the magic system. I wish Meche were nicer, she comes off as bratty at times. I really enjoyed reading from a different voice. Siliva Moreno-Garcia is Canadian-Mexican, which is a new-to-me voice. I liked learning a little about the Mexican culture as well.

Bottom line, if you like light magic, the 80s and music, give this book a try! Especially if you love music. That for me is what truly made it stand out. Honestly, I hope this becomes a movie or tv series, I'd binge it in a heartbeat.