I love that Silvia Moreno-Garcia took such a different take on vampires! It's creepy and spooky and modern and feels very different than anything else out there.

I really like this book. There are many kinds of vampires, and the main character, Atl, makes me want to learn more about Aztec vampires. The author’s use of point of view is mostly seamless. I thought being in everyone’s thoughts throughout the story added dimension.

The setting of Mexico City is unfamiliar to me in the real world, but I think the description of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexico City is wonderful. The vampire mythologies are thought out. There is a subtlety to the characters that balances out some of the emotion and action. The storyline is good, even if a tiny bit predictable at times – which isn’t a bad thing. There really isn’t anything to not like about this book, so go buy a copy and enjoy!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

I will be posting this review on my website EveHallows.com.

#CertainDarkThings #NetGalley

I read and enjoyed Mexican Gothic, so naturally I was excited to read Certain Dark Things.

I experienced an inability to engage with the protagonist in this book. Azl is not an interesting character. The world building with all the different types of vampires is very cool - in fact I don't understand why the glossary of vampires is at the back - it should have been in the front! It would have helped quite a bit at the beginning of the story. But back to Azl - she's a different and cool version of a vampire I've never seen, and she has a tragic backstory. But her personality is flat as hell. Domingo could do better.

With her personality being so flat, I had a very hard time being interested in what would happen to her and therefore struggled to finish the book. The only reason I did was that I needed to find out what happened to poor sweet Domingo.

In addition, the plot didn't tie hard enough to the fantasy. You could have taken the vampires completely out of that book and still had a relatively decent crime drama. I wished them being vampires had more involvement in the plot - instead they are just regular if long-lived drug lords.

The ideas were there for this to be the next great vampire book, but it just didn't go far enough.

Everything about this novel was amazing. I am honestly beyond words. Vampires, rival gangs, rich folklore. IT IS SO GOOD. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has done it again.

I randomly picked up an ARC of Gods of Jade and Shadow because I thought the cover looked interesting and discovered a gem. Now I wait impatiently for each book Silvia Moreno-Garcia puts out and am never disappointed. I loved Atl and Domingo! Is there any genre she can't write?! Her books are so different but excellent each time.

A refreshing and original take on vampires, filled with vivid characters in a rich setting.

The story is set in Mexico City, where Atl is a vampire on the run from a rival clan, and Domingo is a garbage picker who lives alone on the streets. Unlike other books where the urban setting can seem somewhat arbitrary and interchangeable, Certain Dark Things is imbued with cultural texture that comes to life so that the setting here is almost like another integral character. The sights, smells, and feel of Mexico City all feel important.

The characters are painted with the same kind of life to them. The villains are harsh and lack any redemptive qualities, and the heroes are people we want to see triumph. But even here the main characters are a study in contrasts. Atl is by nature dark and violent, while her companion Domingo lives lightly and is surprisingly unjaded by a life alone on the streets. Even knowing Atl can't help but be herself, Domingo also can't help but be who he is.

The tension in the characters works well and is cleverly done as we see both Domingo and Atl change, but also remain exactly the same.

When Domingo — a charismatic Mexico City street kid — meets a fugitive named Atl who also happens to be vampire royalty, he’s immediately smitten. Atl, under more conventional circumstances, wouldn’t bat an eye at Domingo. But starving and short of allies, she needs to feed — and she needs a guide through Mexico City’s seedy futuristic underworld. An underworld Domingo knows like the back of his hand. The two strike up an uneasy bargain. What follows is a whirlpool of sci-fi drama, romance, and gory violence.

if it sounds familiar, that’s because “Certain Dark Things” was released once before. Despite a chorus of critical praise that included a “Best of 2016” nomination by NPR and a Locus finalist position, it was dead almost as soon as it was born.

Thanks to publishing house restructuring, the book only sold a small batch of copies before vanishing from shelves and becoming near-impossible to find. This earned its cult status among vampire enthusiasts

However, in 2020, Silvia Moreno-Garcia — went on to release the bestseller “Mexican Gothic.” Capitalizing on her newfound popularity, Nightfire is dusting off the coffin and bringing “Certain Dark Things” back to life.

It might sound a little “Twilight” — and honestly, it is. But where Twilight tells a shallow vampire love story that glamorizes abuse, Moreno-Garcia instead uses the opportunity to discuss race, class, and colonialism. The vampires themselves are inventive thanks to a heavy reliance on Aztec myth.

It shows, however, that this novel was written before “Mexican Gothic” and the prose can feel a little clunky at times — but you can still see the charismatic glow of the novelist Moreno-Garcia will grow to be. Overall, it’s good, lowbrow fun for fans of lighthearted sci-fi and romance adventures.

Certain Dark Things is the story of Atl, a member of an ancient vampire clan born out of the Aztec empire and its ancient religious practices. The youngest of her mother's two daughters, she has just survived the brutal drug war centered slaying of the majority ( and possibly all) of her proud and storied clan. She lives in a modern world where vampires were outed in 1967 and cities like Mexico City have declared themselves vampire-free zones despite the very high population of vampires in Mexico and South America as a whole, many of these ten clans having handily centered themselves at the top of crime and drug syndicates who wield power over human and vampire lives alike.

Despite the ban, Atl finds herself hiding in a Mexico City occupied by so many differences- among them sanitation squads who hunt and destroy vampires, brutal poverty, and complex threats from police officers, a crime group called Deep Crimson, and other vampires. Atl is surviving by the skin of her teeth with no other company than her dog Cuilli until she meets Domingo by chance and things begin to happen which drag both Domingo and herself into a major conflict with the Necros clan which murdered her family, an old enemy of Domingo's named Jackal, Deep Crimson itself, and a police officer pulled into the fray by both her need to protect her daughter from this violent modern world and a past that included slaying vampires.

This is a richly detailed noir laced with urban fantasy elements, a strong clan-centered vampire crime world, new and interesting vampire lore and diversity, and so much of Mexico's own cultural heritage. If I could compare it to any other vampire fiction I would say think of Nancy A. Collins' Sonja Blue and Nancy Baker's Creed duo which began with The Night Inside, possibly also elements of Vampire: The Masquerade which was also heavily centered on the interplay between differing vampire clan and types (All three of these were also major standouts in the genre and well worth your time. ). Vampire fans and fans of the noir are very likely to enjoy this original take on the old tropes and find themselves a new favorite in Certain Dark Things. I certainly appreciated it's characters, complexities, and layers after many years of having been a reader and writer of vampire fiction.

Sylvia Moreno-Garcia is proving to be a saviour of sorts.
Bringing a fresh perspective and energy to the bloodless vampire subgenre, Certain Dark Things springs into the night, sinks its teeth deep in and drags you through a glittering night filled with unsavory characters and danger in every pocket of darkness.
Cheers to Tor for resurrecting this title for the Nightfire imprint.

This book took me so long to finish for whatever reason and I still really enjoyed it! Certain Dark Things is an interesting take of vampires. I really wasn't a fan of the romance in this book but did enjoy the wild ride of an adventure that we were taken on.

Thanks so much for providing me with an arc Tor!

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection and will recommend it to students.

This book started a bit slow, but in a good way. It built the characters, set the plot, the conflict. It built a believable world where we all know of the existence, and eradication, of vampires. Silvia was remarkable in how easily she weaved a complex story around strong, defined characters. I loved the anecdotes, the history, the folklore. I especially loved how she uniquely defined several different vampire bloodlines and their respective strengths and weaknesses while weaving her story.

This was a brilliantly executed and fun story to read.

Thank you @netgalley and @tornightfire for the access to this great book. #CertainDarkThings #NetGalley
NetGalley

I love me a good vampire story and this re-imagined version of it is just fantastic. Only reason I put 4 stars out of 5 is that I wanted a little more of an arc with the characters. There wasn't a lot of growth. Wonderful story nonetheless.

These comments are for an advanced copy of the upcoming 2021 rerelease of Certain Dark Things, which was sent to me in exchange for a review.
I went into this book blind and I don’t know exactly what I was expecting from Certain Dark Things. But I’m pretty sure I wasn’t expecting a vampire crime noir that reads like a narcocorrido. Which, as you might imagine, turns out to be incredibly fun, if a little slow in the beginning (maybe the first quarter of the book). The world is very well-conceived and interesting—I just wish the book had been longer and more throughly explored the relationships between humans, vampires, and the cartels of Mexico. And that we had been able to spend more time with Atl and her clan. Domingo, one of the human characters, is more interesting as a trash-collecting street urchin than anything else, and I see him more as a stand-in for the audience (to learn as we learn and ask our stupid questions) than as a character in his own right.
If there is one major knock on this novel, it is the pacing. The first quarter is slow, the middle feels just right, and the last quarter is a little too rushed. I think fans who find this by way of Moreno-Garcia’s incredible Mexican Gothic might be a little disappointed in that this is less literary—and while they both might qualify as horror, they really are different genres. But this novel stands on its own and really is a pulpy joyride. For those that are looking for a vampire novel, this is an incredibly interesting treatment and but adds a narco-noir feel that is welcome and refreshing.
This is an excellent reprint of a novel that is a ton of fun and really gets those imaginative juices flowing.

This book was amazing! Garcia is a master weaver of stories!! I loved the fact that the vampires stemmed from all different cultures! And when this book releases I will absolutely purchase a copy.

I really enjoyed this book, and I was happy to have early access. I enjoy young adult and fantasy genres, and was pleased with the unique take on a vampire story. I enjoyed the setting of her novel, the characters (particularly All and Domingo), her descriptive language, and the overall plot. It is a story narrated from multiple perspectives and I thought that they blended well together as the book progressed. I definitely preferred chapters narrated from Domingo's and Atl's points of view, but the other characters' helped to create a well-rounded story.

I really enjoy Moreno-Garcia's writing and I can see why this one has developed a bit of a cult-ish following. That said, I'm glad to see it's being reprinted! Big thank you to Tor Nightfire for sending this one my way.

Action-packed, intensely readable, and way more fun than I imagined a neo-noir vampire tale could be. The characters are enjoyable, the world-building is well done, it's just a really good, fast paced read - definitely would recommend this to anyone interested in Moreno-Garcia's work (noting that this is not similar to her other works, but the writing is always fantastic) or to readers who enjoy a bit of fantasy/horror.

One of my favorite vampire novels, ever. I am so excited this is getting new life! If you like well written horror and vampires, this is the book for you. IF you enjoy sparkling vampires....maybe it is not.

I'm not a fan of vampires, but after I read Mexican Gothic I figured any book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia would be worn reading and entertaining.
This one was just that!
It's adventure, danger, forbidden love, and dark backstreets of alt- Mexico City.
There is lots of blood and death, sort of like a Tarantino film, except I like her characters way more than any of his movie characters!
I enjoyed the nod to Aztec history and myths in connection with Atl's character. I also enjoyed the nod to the effects of colonialism as well as the effects of US deportation policies (I saw parallels in the story with the expulsion of vampires from Europe and the US that led to them ending up in Mexico and creating gang wars with other vampire clans and drug cartels.)
Very entertaining!

Reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia is always fun ,you don't know what awaits you, but it will original.
Something that I love about the author is how she mixes different genres, in this case, is urban fantasy, with crime (in the style of Noir movies), action and morally grey characters.

This a new story about vampires and what characters. The author is inspired by the different versions around the world and of course she creates a Mexican kind, mixed with Aztec mythology; that was so fascinating.

Atl its a young vampire, she is a Tlahuipochi, the Mexican vampire, her ancestors served the gods before colonization and they have unique features that make them different from the pop culture vampires. When her family is killed for another vampire clan, she runs to Mexico City, the only place without vampires; the rest of the country is divided by bands (mafia) of vampires, all-powerful and some of them want to hurt her.
In the city she meets Domingo, he is human and young and a bit naive, they will make an alliance and also start a friendship.

The story is very cinematic, you really are in Mexico City and be careful, because you are in danger, both humans and vampires are hunting you.

I liked the characters, but my favorite part is all the mix between Aztec myths with the vampire folklore.
If you want something different, this is your story, its page turner and read fast.