This dark gritty novel plays out against the backdrop of Mexico's "Dirty Wars" when student demonstrators and social activists were protesting government abuses and corruption at all levels. The demonstrations were violent and bloody and of some duration. Maite, a naive secretary and dreamer, is inadvertently caught up in the turmoil when she agrees to pet sit for her neighbor Leonora to help make ends meet. When Leonora calls and asks for her cat and a camera be brought to her Maite is relieved. However Leonora fails to appear and she discovers several factions are searching for the camera and its contents. Out of her depth and unsure who to trust Maite begins her own search for the missing student journalist. I found this book informative covering a topic I knew little about. Although the characters were well developed I found them unrelatable.. I felt the ending to be unsatisfactory and Leonora should have been more than a shadow figure throughout the story. Overall a solid read.

This wasn't my typical read, I wanted to switch things up a bit with my ARCs, so I started this one and it was interesting to say the very least. I didn't like it, didn't hate it. I'm happy to have been given the opportunity to read this book.

It just moved a bit too slowly for me, I prefer my thrillers to be faster paced. I didn't mind the characters or dialogue, I was just kind of bored.

Velvet Was the Night is suspenseful from the first page. The story centers around Maite, a day-dreamer living a bland life swept into the thrilling, dark world of political intrigue after agreeing to watch a neighbor’s cat for a couple of days. One thing leads to another, and Maite ends up being followed by Elvis, a “Hawk” who takes an interest in her while trying to find her neighbor, Leonora, and the political photographs she took. Maite realizes real life is far from that of the lives of her favorite characters in her romance comics that fills her days with meaning and hope.

Sylvia Moreno-García has blown me away with a story that is rich with Mexican culture, but doesn’t shy away from the grittiness of the conspiracies and corruption in politics. She takes her time building her worlds so be patient, it’s worth it! It took a little past halfway for me to see where the characters' storylines were going to cross, but when things took off they really took off. Sylvia Moreno-García also includes a playlist at the end of the book, as well as a note about the real historical events that inspired her story. (The Corpus Christy Massacre and the Dirty War.)

Velvet Was the Night is a riveting noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of a missing woman that brings them together. If you loved Mexican Gothic, you will love Silvia's new book. Don't expect many similarities though because she'll keep you guessing all the way through.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is becoming one of my favorite authors: she don't miss! Though not magical realism or horror, this book swept me away. A spiritual successor to Untamed Shore, I hope she continues to write books like these.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia can spin the most dramatic stories! In "Velvet Was the Night" the suspense builds from the first page. .Set in 1970's corrupt Mexico City, we meet Maite who lives for pulp publication Secret Romance, which fills her days with meaning and hope. She is totally immersed in the stories she reads there. Maite's across-the-hall neighbor Leonora, actually has a fascinating life and when Leonora asks Maite to feed her cat, but then disappears. things heat up.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia does not any kind of formula; if you loved Mexican Gothic, you'll also love this book, but don't expect many similarities. She'll keep you guessing all the way through.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I received this as an e-book ARC and after reading it I’ve rushed to pre-order my hardcover.
Sylvia Moreno-García has blown me away again with this this story that’s rich with Mexican culture but doesn’t shy away from the grittiness of the conspiracies and corruption in politics.
This story is about Maite, a day-dreamer living a bland life who is swept into the thrilling, dark world of political intrigue after agreeing to watch over a neighbor’s cat for a couple of days. When one thing leads to another, Maite ends up being followed by Elvis, a “Hawk” who takes an interest in her while trying to find her neighbor, Leonora, and the political photographs she took that everyone seems to want to get their hands on. This is when Maite realizes real life is far from that of the lives of her favorite characters in her romance comics.

I loved every last bit of this story. Sylvia Moreno-Garcia takes her time building her worlds so to the impatient, I say: “wait for it!! It’s worth it!”
It took a little past halfway for me to see where the characters storylines were going to cross and boy was it worth it. When things took off they really took off. I tend to be able to pick up on clues, but a few of the spins at the end of this book were wild! This author still surprises me and I love every second of it.
SMG also includes a playlist at the end of the book, as well as a note about the real historical events that inspired her story. (The Corpus Christy Massacre and the Dirty War.)
I highly, highly recommend this book, and do think it is worth a read no matter what walk of life you hail from.

In a corrupt and volatile Mexico of the 1950s Elvis works for as an "enforcer" taking some pleasure in his record collection. Maite has a dead end job as a secretary, her pleasures are romance novela comics and records. Their worlds are far apart but that changes. Maite's neighbor, Leonora, goes missing and they each begin a search for her. Will their world's collide? The author is very good at evoking a time and place. The charater develope is excellent. Once I began reading about these two people I was driven to read to the end.
I think this book is a gem for book group discussions.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has quickly become my new favorite author. Velvet Was the Night is a fantastic noir set in 1970's Mexico City. It's about a shy secretary named Maite who lives for Secret Romance, where she can escape into stories of passion and danger. She also has a very enviable neighbor Leonora, who's a beautiful student. When Leonora disappears, Maite can't help but get involved.
This book was so good! I loved the bits about Mexico in the 70's! Terrific writing and the tory is so intriguing and so much fun! Thank you so much!

The definition of Noir is a genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism and moral ambiguity. Moreno has repeatedly emphasized that this book is a noir, not to be confused with the gothic or fantastical elements her other books are known for. Like many I wanted to read this book after 1st reading Mexican Gothic and have been super curious to see what this turned out to be after reading the synopsis.

I absolutely adored the retro Mexico setting and vibe with it’s gritty scenery, rainy days and overall feelings of desperation. I could definitely picture everything so clearly I felt like I was watching a movie. Picture moody music playing in the background, with characters smoking on a warm night.

The two primary characters of Maite and Elvis are pessimistic and bleak but unlike many other characters we see more in them, therefore we root for their journeys. They are both full of vices and questionable morals, Elvis as a part of a government sponsored group that roughs up agitators and Maite steals and lies to make her boring life more exciting. The more we see them we see their similarities and how their need for more out of life seems out of reach.

Enter Leonora, Maite’s younger neighbor who asks for a quick favor that pulls Maite into a larger fight between the government, KGB and dissenters. Maite is naïve on purpose but craves adventure that her romance comics don’t fulfill and so she must rely on others to navigate this new world.

Be prepared for lots of investigating, interviews and inner thoughts. In other words if you are not already a mystery lover this might feel a bit too slow for you. This is a mostly character driven story and if you don’t appreciate Maite and Elvis you might not appreciate the book.

I personally enjoyed this story immensely as it kept me intrigued and wondering how it would all end. I loved the atmosphere just like I loved the atmosphere of Mexican Gothic but the characters and plot are vastly different from that so don’t try to compare those parts of the book. I am definitely a fan of her writing and will be picking up more books by this author. Lastly I applaud that in writing this she is also calling attention to a real world issue of Mexico looking the other way when people go missing, especially the protestors.

Like other books I have read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic) I felt the characters were developed fully, especialy Maite and Elvis. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next. I was not familiar with this period in Mexican history so that was also interesting to learn about.

Moreno-Garcia’s new book couldn’t be more different from her last book, Mexican Gothic, both in plot (a political thriller versus a mystic horror story) and in characters (a dull, unlikeable woman versus a pretty and charming one), but I enjoyed it all the same. This was a quick read, and the plot was engaging enough that I stayed up late to finish it. Moreno-Garcia has a talent for creating interesting characters. Maite, the aforementioned dull woman, was so unlikeable, yet I still looked forward to her chapters; Elvis, the hired political thug, was somehow turned into the romantic hero—and the character I liked the most. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book and I look forward to reading both Moreno-Garcia’s next offering and her backlist.

This is a rather different genre than some of the other books Moreno-Garcia has written & I appreciate her versatility. If you're looking for a story set in the tawdry burnt oranges & avocado greens of the 70s, you'll find it here. The main characters may not be traditionally "likeable," but their longing to make their lives more extraordinary will resonate with many readers. The spotify playlist that goes with it is such a great bonus (and really helpful for jogging my memory of some of the songs).

Velvet Was the Night is, as with pretty much every Silvia Moreno Garcia book I’ve read, a highly accomplished and engaging novel. I truly believe that Silvia Moreno Garcia could write any genre she wished to and every one would be amazing.

The book follows two POVs: Maite, a secretary who ends up caught up in a missing persons case, and Elvis, someone who is also looking for the missing student, albeit with different aims in mind. It’s a twisty-turny thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat as it becomes a race to find Leonora.

Let me start with what I loved about this book, because I don’t quite know how to articulate why I’ve rated it 3.5, lower than all of the other books I’ve read by this author. Firstly, there’s just how alive Silvia Moreno Garcia makes the world she’s writing in. Whether it’s been fantasy, historical, or horror, I always feel like I’m right there with the characters when I’m reading her books.

Part of that is also to do with the characters she creates. After reading a fair few books where I’ve felt the characters are ones you can sum up in a word or two, the ones here jump off the page. They’re not what you might conventionally call good people—they’re a lot greyer than that—but they’re compelling. You won’t always like them, but you’ll want to keep reading about them.

I think, if I had to give a shot at explaining just why I’ve rated this like I have, I’d say that perhaps there was just something missing for me compared to her other books. The others have stayed with me long after I’ve finished them—I am, on some level, always thinking about the sharks of Untamed Shore, for example—but I didn’t have that here. I can’t quite articulate it more clearly than that.

But on the whole, I very much enjoyed reading this one. It’s one you should definitely be on the lookout for this August, whether you’ve read anything by this author before or not.

(Although, Ms Moreno Garcia, if you could stop including such large age-gap relationships in your books, I would be most appreciative.)

I will start with this: the cover is beautiful and what initially attracted me to the book, and the synopsis also piqued my interest. The story takes place in 1970s Mexico during the “Dirty War” when the PRI-ruled Mexican government and the guerrilla groups were facing off during a time of political unrest. I don’t know much about Mexican history, especially this piece of it, so I was excited to see it incorporated into a book. Plus I love me a multi-POV story.

And that’s where the charm ends for me, unfortunately. I’ll probably be in the minority here, but this book just wasn’t my cup of tea. It felt painfully slow in parts (even with a decent amount of action), I didn’t connect with the characters and felt it lacked character development, and the historical/political elements in the book weren’t explained well enough, so without the World Wide Web to fill in the gaps, I would have been confused. Also, the synopsis plays up the relationship between Maite and Elvis, and their storylines were separate from each other for practically the entire book. It felt a bit misleading.

Maybe noirs just aren’t my thing, but I don’t think that’s the case. I do think a lot of people will enjoy this novel, I am just not one of them. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

A wonderfully written historical noir thrilled set in 1970s Mexico City that just wasn't quite for me. And I fully believe that's a me problem, not anything at all wrong with this book. I picked up Velvet Was the Night more for my love of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and everything she writes than for the premise. It was a really well written historical thriller, and I think people who are more into thrillers and historical intrigue will probably love it. I wish I could've been among them. Moreno-Garcis's writing is gorgeous as always.

I do enjoy Silvia Moreno-Garcia books. She has a way with words for sure! This one was just a little too slow for me. It felt like moving through molasses at times. The words were fabulous and atmospheric, but I just wanted to go a bit faster. I think this is something that many readers are going to savor and enjoy, it just didn't work quite right for me.

I wanted to love this book so much. The cover, the synopsis, 1970 vibes...it sounded like the perfect book. Maybe it was the writing style but the constant repeating of Maite not having enough money for her car and wanting to live in her comics and Elvis having sex with a girl in a cult and wanting to prove himself. It became very monotonous. It was also challenging to follow the political talk not having any background knowledge of Mexican politics or history. I wish the story had been more thrilling and more of a true historical fiction.

First of all, the cover is so eye catching! This book is described as a noir. It is heavily character driven and is based around the political unrest in 1970s Mexico City. First we have the disappearance of Leonora, who is Maite’s neighbor. Maite is in her 30s, down on her luck, and her family considers her a disappointment. She is in desperate need of something happening in her life to jolt her back into living. Elvis, our other narrator, is a criminal who gets assigned to watch Maite in hopes she’ll lead them to Leonora whom everyone assumes as a valuable roll of film. As a noir suggests, all the characters are morally grey and I didn’t find myself rooting for them or caring that deeply about them. Silvia Moreno Gracia has a beautiful writing style though, that draws you in. I did find the premise very informative and I learned about a time in history I hadn’t heard of before. The release date is August 17. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review this! I’m giving it 3.5 rounded up.

This book has a great historical atmosphere and explores a time/place that most American readers are probably not familiar with. I really felt for Elvis and his struggles (though the other protagonist, Maite, was a less sympathetic character for me, probably in part because of the negative way she sees herself and because I was constantly waiting for her to kill the poor cat who is probably the character I was most worried about in this whole book! Ha! Other cat lovers may rest easy, she does not kill the cat.) This is a slow burn thriller/mystery but the stakes are high, the twists do keep coming, and the ending was fabulous. Well worth reading.