Velvet Was the Night

Velvet Was the Night is historical fiction and noir, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia does it well. At the start of the book you're a little confused as to what is really going on, and if you aren't familiar or well-versed with the music and the historical facts being tossed at you, you might scoff at the book in disappointment. Silvia adds a playlist to this wonderful book, and I would recommend you give it a quick listen on Spotify.

This book isn't Mexi...read more

3.5 ⭐️

Velvet Was the Night takes place in Mexico during the 1970s, also known as the time of the Dirty War. In this time in history, the Mexican CIA used paramilitary groups to attack, torture, and kill protesters and activists.

Elvis is a member of a paramilitary group but is not affiliated with the type of organized crime and is called a “marshmallow” by other members of the group for not participating in the violence. Maite is a self-sufficient youn...read more

I found this started quite slowly and was also very different from what I expected having read Mexican Gothic. Silo is Moreno-Garcia writes beautiful prose and this got me past the first five chapters where my dislike for the main characters was most present. Both Maite and Elvis grew on me and the last third is great. The ending is nicely concluded while leaving a future oath open.

What a nice experience, I chose this book willing to know a bit more about the Mexican culture, and received as a present a interesting misterious and dramatic scenario, just like a Mexican telenovela should look like. What surprise me the most was rich music experience brought to the story that if you listen to them as present it enhances all the scenes, even when you are not reading the book. I am not sure about the genre but i for sure would ...read more