Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Read for my book club in June 2022 and it was not my favorite book I’ve read by Moreno-Garcia.

This Book is About:

A few members of a local group of thugs in Mexico during the Dirty Wars and a woman named Maite who is a bored kleptomaniac who get mixed up in a political scheme with college protesters.
Maite agrees to cat-sit for her neighbor and gets an alarming call about bringing her cat and a box to a random store in a hurry. Finds out that her neighbor is one of the political radicals going against the government and gets thrown into a whirlwind of surveillance, murder, and kidnapping.
Elvis, one of the thugs under El Mago’s watch, is searching for Leonora (Maite’s neighbor) and for a roll of film that she is supposed to have possessed.
There are several people who get killed and others who go into hiding, some twists & turns, and other characters that are just annoying.

What I Liked:

The afterword actually gave a lot of information about the Dirty War and Mexico during that time period.
The entire book did a good job of illustrating how Mexico was during that time, how the singing clubs and music was outlawed and seen as political.
The twist near the ending and where the rolls of film were the entire time.
Musical references throughout the novel and how they brought Elvis and Maite together, even though they weren’t “together”.

What I Did Not Enjoy:

The nicknames of the different people under El Mago. I understand the necessity of it but it just took me out of the book every time I read them.
Maite was an annoying bored liar. Who only had interest in anything happening cause it fed into some fantasy of hers or she would get money out of it. There was almost no substance to her.
Ruben was an unlikely hero of sorts but mostly unlikeable. Especially at the end when Leonora comes back on the scene.
Wish there was a mention of tension in the air in the hospital, whenRuben admits he is back with Leonora. As if they spoke and went over all of the lies that Maite told in the time they spent together.

Overall Thoughts:

Was listed as a historical noir, but I feel like there wasn’t enough anticipation or tension through the entire book. There were some at times, but it was not enough for me to keep engaged in reading. Had to push through.
Wouldn’t have even thought about finishing it if it wasn’t a book we were reading for book club.
Most of the characters were annoying, self absorbed, or just unmemorable.
Even though it wasn’t my favorite, I still enjoy other books written by Moreno-Silvia and will read other things by her as well.

Comments

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