Vera's story left the taste of blood in my mouth. A tragedy was promised and delivered. She wouldn't succumb to the insecurities her mother heaped on her over a lifetime, nor would she settle for a half-love. Because of this strength, she was set to embark on the pursuit of becoming so much more than she'd dared dream before and with a full, real love . . . for a moment she was poised to have it all. 

Nancy's spiral into embittered madness was told so perfectly that I didn't hate her. Her rage was too long ingrained, and her self-destruction too well documented to not see the inevitable. I was left wondering how she didn't suffer more severe consequences as she truly deserved though. Was Benny that loyal to her in the end that the extent of her role never fully got out? This question keeps the story turning in my mind.

The last woman from this tale: Salome. Or rather the dream of her story in a story. To borrow words from Vera, Salome's tale felt as if a note was missing so the melody couldn't be whole. I kept waiting for the moment that would solidify her chosing the inevitable. In my opinion that unmistakable and defining moment never came. But I'll say no more to avoid spoilers aside from that moment when she last meets her love's eyes stuck with me.

There are other POV that gave the story a tell all, tabloid feel but it did muddle the pace in the beginning making it unclear when the meat of the story had started. I did love how it made introducing our heroine fashionably late though.

A co-worker and I sigh a lot at each other about how much we love Silvia Moreno-Garcia's books and how there's seemingly nothing she can't do. I cannot wait for this co-worker to read Salome and sigh some more with me. I was riveted the whole time, pushed along by the subtle sense of unease underlying each scene. I have a fondness for Old Hollywood and it's captured so well here, seedy side and all. I will be recommending this to everyone, just like everything else I've read from Silvia.

Holy smokes, Silvia Moreno-Garcia did it again. This book is luscious, dramatic, and layered and delicious like honey cake. I'm a huge SMG fan, and while I didn't like Silver Nitrate (3 stars for me), Seventh Veil seems to take all the movie-making goodness from Silver and combined it with the drama, romance, and darkness of Velvet was the Night (another 5 star read for me).

The POV rotates between the characters making the movie of Seventh Veil of Salome, little interviews in the time after making the movie, and the actual characters of Biblical time living out the mostly factually accurate drama. The many POVs and how they weave together is incredible! The history and the making of the movie are a stunning mirror image of each other--but in unexpected ways! Salome and the Salome actress, Vera, are complex, beautiful characters that rang so true to the story SMG was painting.

Much like Velvet was the Night, this book is sooooo musical! You can all but hear the piano and the harp, vinyl spinning, and a radio cackling.

I was nervous going into a story recorded in the Bible, as I'm religious, but according to her note at the end, it's more inspired by the painting. With that said, I didn't find anything offensive to the Biblical telling or John the Baptist.

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, and I'm very thankful to NetGalley and Del Rey for an e-book to read and review honestly and voluntarily.

In 1950s Hollywood, it seems that every other movie is a sword-and-sandal epic, often with Biblical stories at the center. At the moment, every actress wants to play Salome in the titular film, so many are shocked when an unknown Mexican immigrant named Vera lands the coveted role. But while drama unfolds onscreen, bigger issues unravel behind the scenes, with jealous rivals, overt racism and misogyny, and family drama.

I'll be completely honest: I didn't particularly enjoy this book. It was a decent look at the 1950s Hollywood, but the alternating chapters between real life and the movie were a bit awkward (as in, it wasn't clear that it was the movie and not a historical Salome being featured) and I found it hard to root for any of the characters. Read Nghi Vo's Siren Queen for a better book about old Hollywood.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia excels at historical suspense. There's always something a little different and exciting—one might be fantasy, one might be sci-fi, one (okay, several) might be horror. This one is two historical suspense stories for the price of one! A great, intriguing mix of tenses and perspectives, with interview-style epistolary sections, adds to the drama and suspense. Every time there's a new Moreno-Garcia novel, I know I am in for a page-turner. One of the most dependably excellent authors currently working.

Silvia Moreno Garcia is an auto read for me. I enjoyed this book, but I didn't LOVE it. I really loved Vera's story and the old Hollywood glamour of it all. I got very bored with Salome's story, and wished that those chapters were more gripping. I liked how the two stories interwove in the end, so I wouldn't want them cut, but I wish that they were more engaging. Vera's story is so well done. You get all those old Hollywood vibes, and it's just so well characterized and written. The atmosphere is 100% perfect. I FELT like I was in old Hollywood. The plot was well developed, and I was eager to find out what would happen next. I would give Vera's story a 5/5. Unfortunately, I just didn't feel like Salome's story was as well done, and it loses a star for me. I still really enjoyed this book. Not Moreno Garcia's typical horror genre, so don't go into it expecting that.

Thank you to Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Del Rey via NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia hits it out of the park every time. “The Seventh Veil of Salome” follows two young women, Vera in 1950s Hollywood and Salome in the 1st century BC. I was enthralled by both characters and their journeys. I couldn’t put this book down.

This author is a master at her craft. She blends the two storylines perfectly and utilizes a wide array of perspectives to tell us the story of Vera. The uncomfortable undercurrent of suspense brought about by one supporting character gives this novel a breathless quality. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time wondering how it was all going to play out. I can’t wait to read more from Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Each of her books somehow seem to be even better than the one before.

Heart racing, heartbreaking and insightful, Moreno Garcia has done it again. There’s no genre she can’t write.

As an avid fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I will automatically pick up each of her books and chances are very high that I will love the book. Like all her books, The Seventh Veil of Salome was expertly crafted with several layers of themes and parallels that made each POV interesting. I liked the documentary style of Vera's story against the backdrop of the story of the movie she stars in as Salome. Each character felt well developed and fully dimensional, and it was hard to put the book down to do other things! Overall this was a solid story, and the author's clear love of film and music shone through. A huge thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for my thoughts!

Loved this blend of historical and women's fiction! It felt different than her other works I've read (Mexican Gothic, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau), so I was a little surprised when I began. Once I got into the story though, I read it quickly. The Golden Age of Hollywood, the role of women in film, the story of Salome....just all-around great! But, I also haven't read a book by her that I've disliked.

I love the mysteriousness of Salome and the narratives crafted around who she might have been. These story is told in several parts all intertwined together. The "present" where an upcoming actress has been plucked from a dentist's office to play the part of Salome in a technicolor movie highlighting the perilous opulence of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The past where Salome struggles with her passionate love for a preacher that is a dead man walking and the parts others demand she play vs. what she wants for herself. Then there's a few extra POVs that come together in a documentary-style segment that goes along with the present narratives, building up to this incident that is talked about in the end in past tense. While I understand and appreciate what Garcia was going for, it's a difficult method to tackle in book form only, and it fell a little flat for me. This could also be because I had an ARC that the formatting didn't clearly delineate these sections and that led to some confusion between the parts. The climactic ending didn't match the build up to it. It was told in multiple POVs that went back and forth between the characters involved which did give it a fast pace, something that happens in the blink of an eye, but it also killed a lot of the tension that had been built up before. Overall, I loved the narrative and Vera and Salome, and I really loved the author's note in the back breaking down some of the creative choices!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-book ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

I have enjoyed everything I have read by this author, some more than others, but I enjoy all of her books. This one was different, but still a well developed fast paced read. I'm not a huge fan of alternating POV's in books, but I didn't mind it in this one. The time frame and topic were interesting to read about and I felt myself falling into the story.

Though this wasn't a favorite of mine, I'll rate 3.5, rounded up. When the audiobook is released, I plan to find that and give the story a listen, see if I missed anything. :)

As expected, Silvia Moreno-Garcia knocked it out of the park again! She adeptly weaves the story of Salome from the film creation of this novel with the life of Vera Larios, a Mexican woman randomly chosen for the role of a lifetime. I found Vera and her family so interesting. The dynamic between mother and daughter is very strained, but her relationship with her cousin is very sweet. I also love the little friend group she finds on the film lot, especially Marla. Nancy is simultaneously one of the worst characters but also very fascinating the way her mind worked. Delulu city over there. I also think Moreno-Garcia did an excellent job creating the story of Salome as something rich and complex. Those sections were written so descriptively and really transported me into that story.
The way Moreno-Garcia is able to craft this story in a way that reads like I am watching an episode of E True Hollywood Story is astounding. I was hooked and loved the shifts between characters like I am watching a clip from an interview. The levels of parallels are masterful, but I can't say much more than that without spoilers.
If you like Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing, but especially her slower, noir stories, I think you would really like this one. I also think people who like to watch true crime documentaries or even loved E True Hollywood Story back in the day might also really enjoy this read.! I actually am really excited to do a reread with the audiobook later on since it does appear to be a full cast audio.

Beautiful story , Silvia Moreno- Garcia is an artist at writing. The Seventh Veil of Solome is a period piece set in 1950s and Is full of glamorous drama and salacious tears..... so glad to have the opportunity to read this !!

4 stars

In this newest effort, Moreno-Garcia takes readers back into historical Hollywood - and to the much earlier time of the titular Salome - to learn about the ways in which three women's lives intertwine.

When I discover that SM-G has a new book on the horizon, I can't read it fast enough. While I am always guaranteed to love the concept, the execution does not always work for me. It's a true treat to experience the variety through which this author story tells, and even when I want something a little different, I'm still typically pleased with the end result. This one is among my favorites in terms of both topic AND style.

Two women - Vera and Nancy - have distinct backgrounds but similar goals, and the comparison of their trajectories, both of which are intriguing enough on their own, is a highlight of this novel. As is typical in her writing, SM-G adeptly reveals the ways in which intersectional identities impact her characters' outcomes. The narrative feels authentic to its historical period, but it also has a strong undercurrent of modern sensibility and cultural adeptness. The through line for both women and for the narrative overall is in Salome's story. I LOVE how SM-G integrates this element. In doing so, the connections between all three women's struggles and aspirations, the distinctions brought on by their circumstances, and the ties to women's experiences throughout history come through in a meaningful way.

This novel contains some of SM-G's best skills and proven motifs, and I am confident it'll stand as a favorite among her fans. It's certainly already taken that position for me.

Genuinely, I would read Moreno-Garcia’s shopping lists. While some of her more recent releases haven’t been my favorite I will always read her work because I love her mind so much. Luckily this title hit the spot for me. There were some interesting intersections between this title and with her work The Beautiful Ones: messy relationships and unexpected fame being a couple. I really liked the thoughtful handling of the characterizations and the novel structure flashing between different perspectives. I would recommend this title to fans of old Hollywood, the X trilogy, and Daisy Jones and the Six.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master of noir fiction with exotic settings and imaginative plots. As we saw in “Silver Nitrate,” we already know she’s a fan of old Hollywood and knows the influence of Mexican cinema. In this novel, there’s no signature supernatural elements, but the character of Salome is already shrouded in myths — some Biblical, but more through the depiction of the femme fatale via modern playwrights and screenwriters.

This novel immediately puts us in the old time Hollywood system, with a screenwriter, Joe Kantor, trying to revise a sword and sandal script whose title is the same as the book. Two timelines develop: The narrative of Salome is interspersed in a descriptive style (not as the screenplay, but presumably the storytelling of the screenwriter) and then supplemented with the multiple POVs of the main and supporting characters making the film in the 1950s — but primarily hard-hearted ambitious party girl Nancy Hartley who is thirsting over the Salome part; and Vera Larios (stage name) the Mexican dental receptionist discovered while while a casting agent was on vacation. Nancy and Vera are trying to get the part that Yvonne de Carlo and Joan Collins couldn’t, and also possibly vying for the same suitor. Lots of delightful name-dropping occurs (old timers Clark Gable and Hedy Lamar here; up and coming James Dean and Marilyn Monroe there).

Ms. Moreno-Garcia has such an incredible talent for mesmerizing historical fiction — she always whisks you away to a time and atmosphere that totally envelops your imagination. This is a story about the casual mid 20th century racism towards Latin actors and the mean Sunset-Boulevard-level rivalry among all the performers It’s also the tale of how women were ruthlessly used in Hollywood. Thought-provoking and enthralling, this is definitely another 5 star effort from the author.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No eye colors are described at all.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Not much beyond yellow tulips, but the time of year is never established so it must be spring or that bouquet could not exist.

Thank you to Random House/Del Ray and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

⭐️: 3.5 / 5

Publication Date: August 6, 2024

I want to thank Random House and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Some of the coolest aspects of this story, were the two stories being shared. The first that of Salome and the second of the actors, actresses and other characters that take part in the creation of a feature film inspired by this story. Additionally, I appreciated the authenticity in presenting racism that was evident during that time in American history.

As for my reservations, I found the extra points of view to be a bit jarring particularly because the main story that we follow is in their present, but there’s a few POVs that are sprinkled in which are reflecting on the past. Particularly, I was disappointed by the decision on the second to last POV. I felt that if it had been one of the primary characters it would have been more impactful.

Overall I started to enjoy the story much more after the half way point. From there on out I couldn’t put the book down. There’s lots of drama in this, from relationships to jealousy to family. I would still recommend this to readers looking for a change of pace because this had a dash of historical fiction with part of the dark side of the movie industry.

Would recommend for those who are fans of
- Multiple timelines
- 1940s/50s Hollywood setting
- Character driven stories
- Biblically inspired

⚠️ violence, racism, colorism,

I am still screaming about the ending. Like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Shocked but not shocked.

I enjoyed this book a lot, I liked the pacing. I liked the dual timeline. I liked how we got to see the story of Salome while at the same time the actors in old Hollywood. I did like the old Hollywood messiness parts. The struggles of being a minority in Hollywood. How back then you had to be seen to be someone.

This book also had the mixed struggles of the differences in culture, there are so many layers that I can't actually remember all of them right now.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Seventh Veil of Salome is set in 1950s Hollywood and tells the story of three women. Nancy Hartley a struggling bit player looking for her big break, Vera Larios an up-and-coming Mexican actress who just landed the role of Salome, and from Salome herself.

The book is structured like a tell-all documentary, shedding light on the tragedy that unfolds during the filming of The Seventh Veil of Salome. In addition to the three perspectives, there's also interjections from other characters in their lives and their interpretation of events, which adds another layer of suspense as the tragedy is slowly unveiled.

I'm a fan of all of SMG's novels, as they always beautifully capture the atmosphere and setting. This book is no exception, immersing the reader in the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Golden Age of Hollywood. You witness the ruthlessness of Nancy, who is desperate for stardom, and the unease and self-doubt of Vera who is thrust into the spotlight and forced to deal with the racism that is pervasive within the industry and society at large, as well as the overall exploitative nature of Hollywood.

This book has it all, including another Spotify playlist from SMG. I was on the edge of my seat in suspense until the very end. It might be my favorite SMG book yet!