Review | Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Certain Dark Things

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My Rating: 

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Here in the city, heavily policed to keep the creatures of the night at bay, Domingo is another trash-picking street kid, just hoping to make enough to survive. Then he meets Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers. Domingo is smitten. He clings to her like a barnacle until Atl relents and decides to let him stick around.

But Atl's problems, Nick and Rodrigo, have come to find her. When they start to raise the body count in the city, it attracts the attention of police officers, local crime bosses, and the vampire community. Atl has to get out before Mexico City is upended, and her with it.

I received an eARC of Certain Dark Things from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Check out my review of Signal to Noise here!

Certain Dark Things has probably been my most anticipated read of 2016 after I adored Silvia Moreno-Garcia's 2015 debut, Signal to Noise, to the high heavens. If you've been following my blog for a while you're probably sick of me talking about it. With Certain Dark Things not being released until October I was waiting impatiently for it until it happened to pop up on NetGalley and I was lucky enough to receive an eARC four months early. Naturally, I started reading it immediately.

And? I really liked it. Like, a lot.

After loving Signal to Noise as much as I did (and still do) one of the things I was most excited about was Moreno-Garcia's take on vampires, and I'm so pleased to say she did exactly what she hoped I would: she took existing tropes, played around with them a little, and created something completely, wonderfully different. She weaves vampirism into Mexican folklore and Aztec history so brilliantly, creating several different subspecies of vampire in the process.

One of these vampires is our heroine, Atl, who fills me with joy. Atl is more of an anti-heroine than a heroine, the kind of protagonist I feel as though I've rarely seen without a penis. Maybe I'm just not reading enough of the right books (which is probably the case, what with there being so much to read) but I don't meet characters like Atl often enough. She's not always likable - in fact she's probably not the kind of person I'd want to have as a friend because I think it'd be a very one-sided friendship - but she's compelling, and throughout Certain Dark Things I was always eager to see more of her and learn more about her.

Our other protagonist, Domingo, was also a lot of fun. Moreno-Garcia has taken something of a stereotypical character - a geeky 'nice guy' who doesn't have much luck with the opposite sex or any other aspect of his life - and made him genuinely nice. Did I find Domingo annoying? At times, yes, but he never felt like a cardboard cut-out, and it was really refreshing to read a book in which the main character is homeless; I don't know about you, but I don't come across homeless protagonists all that often.

I enjoyed the relationship between Domingo and Atl, but it was also ultimately the reason that I gave Certain Dark Things four stars instead of five. I was a little disappointed that there was a romance between the two of them, purely and simply because, to me, there wasn't really any chemistry there beyond Domingo thinking Atl was stunning and Atl thinking Domingo was useful. Perhaps that is all their romance is - not every romance has to be the biggest love story to ever rock the world - but I loved their chemistry as friends, and throughout the first third of the novel I got excited that I might be reading a book about friendship rather than love. In some ways I was, but I adored the chemistry between Meche and Sebastian in Signal to Noise (and I know I shouldn't be comparing the two, because they're completely different novels) so I couldn't quite invest in this relationship as much.

That being said, this book is still bloody wonderful. It's the first time I've read a vampire novel that's made me feel like I'm reading something new, something fresh, and I love how in parts it's gritty and nasty and dark. There's an ensemble cast at work here, from our heroes to our villains to all the people that get caught in the cross-fire, and I think what I loved most about Certain Dark Things is that it's a story about a few hectic days in one city, like someone has taken a snapshot of this new, bloodthirsty Mexico and turned it into a book.

If you haven't read any of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work yet then I don't quite know what you're doing with your life, she's a fantastically fresh voice in the world of speculative fiction and Certain Dark Things is proof of her creativity. It's being released this October, just in time for Halloween, so pre-order your copy now and meet the vampires you never knew you needed.

This Week in Books | 22/06/16

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

Now: I was thrilled to receive an eARC of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel, Certain Dark Things, from NetGalley. If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I adored her debut, Signal to Noise, and with Certain Dark Things not being published until October I'm so excited to have the chance to read it early. I've only read the first few chapters as I wanted to finish another book first, but I'm aiming to read it this week. Look out for my review nearer the publication date!

Then: I've now officially read some Gail Carriger, an author whose work has been on my TBR for a long time, and I really enjoyed Soulless. More than anything it's just a lot of fun; it was an easy, enjoyable read, just what I needed, and I'm looking forward to continuing on with the series. Look out for my review of Soulless next week!

Next: Unfortunately Longbow Girl has fallen to the wayside now that I have Certain Dark Things in my life. I'm really looking forward to carrying on with it, I want to read more time travel books, I just want to read Certain Dark Things first.

What are you reading right now?

Second Novels I Can't Wait For!

I never used to be much of an author follower. When I was younger the only author whose work I'd consciously seek out was Jacqueline Wilson, and while I've often read books by the same author, whether they're in the same series or not, I never used to be too interested in checking out an author's backlist. I don't know why - maybe for no other reason than that there are so many authors in the world I want to read as many as I can, or maybe for no reason at all. Maybe I just never used to notice.

Now, though, I'm a lot more eager to seek out an author's other work if I enjoyed one of their novels. Last year I read four debut novels that I adored and all four authors have a second novel coming out this year, three of which I've already pre-ordered and I'm eagerly anticipating, so I thought I'd share them with you for no other reason than that I think these authors deserve attention.

Hannah Kent's 2013 debut, Burial Rites, was the first book I read last year and it was exquisite. Emotional and haunting, Burial Rites is a fictionalised account of the last months of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. It's historical fiction at its best, and if Hannah Kent can write so fantastically for her debut I can't wait to see what awaits in her second novel. Kent recently announced that her second novel, The Good People, will be released in October; it's more historical fiction, this time set in 19th century Ireland with the possibility of some Changeling folklore. I can't wait! I don't think it's actually coming out in the UK until 2017, but I'm going to try and get my hands on a copy this year if I can because I want it in my life. Check out my review of Burial Rites here.

If you were following my blog last year then you probably got sick of me talking about Silvia Moreno-Garcia, but when I enjoy a novel as much as I enjoyed her 2015 debut, Signal to Noise, I have to rave about it. Moreno-Garcia is also releasing her second novel in October, Certain Dark Things, and I'm so excited to get my hands on it! Also set in Mexico City, it features drug lord vampires. I'm sold. Check out my review of Signal to Noise here.

Published in 2014, Jessie Burton's debut, The Miniaturist, basically took over the publishing world and it's no surprise why. Like Burial Rites, The Miniaturist is historical fiction written so beautifully it's hard to believe it's Burton's first novel. Thankfully her second novel, The Muse, is coming out at the end of this month, so I don't have to wait quite as long for it! The Muse is also historical fiction, set in England in the '60s and Spain in the '30s - I listened to Burton read a couple of extracts from it here and I'm so looking forward to reading it. Check out my review of The Miniaturist here.

Becky Chambers' debut, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was another of my favourite reads of 2015, and easily one of my favourite books of all time. It's definitely my favourite sci-fi book - it's the kind of sci-fi I've always wanted. In October Chambers is releasing A Closed and Common Orbit, which is set in the same universe as The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet but isn't a direct sequel, and I'm hoping to love it just as much. Check out my review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet here.

Are you looking forward to any of these releases?

My Most Anticipated Releases of 2016!

Okay so I already talked about some of my anticipated releases this year in one of my Top Ten Tuesday posts, but I'm not usually the kind of reader that has ten books I desperately want to read. Today I'm going to talk about the select few 2016 releases that I am dying to get my hands on right this very second. There are six in total, and I want all of them now.

The Muse by Jessie Burton

In at number six is Jessie Burton's second novel. I finally read her debut, The Miniaturist, last year and I thought it was exquisite, so I can't wait to see what her second novel is like. Mostly I'm just looking forward to more of her gorgeous writing style.

As I Descended by Robin Talley

At number five it's Robin Talley's third novel, As I Descended; a modern day lesbian retelling of Macbeth, which just so happens to be my favourite Shakespeare play. When I made the decision to number these (it was so much easier to put these in an order than my top three books of last year) I surprised myself when I realised Talley wasn't higher on the list. I think she's a brilliant voice in YA and I loved her debut, Lies We Tell Ourselves, but unfortunately I didn't like her second novel, What We Left Behind, all that much, so I'm hoping her third novel is much better!

Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember

More LGBT+ YA at number four, and the only debut on my list. I've been eagerly anticipating this book ever since I first stumbled across it; I'm a little bit obsessed with unicorns so I'm really looking forward to reading this. 

A Tyranny of Petticoats ed. by Jessica Spotswood

Another dash of historical fiction on my list at number three with an anthology I'm so excited for. These are all historical fiction stories with leading ladies, featuring authors such as Marissa Meyer, Robin Talley, and Elizabeth Wein. I've already preordered this one and I can't wait!

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Yet another short story collection at number two, and another one I've already preordered. I love The Lunar Chronicles and I can't wait to complete my collection with this book, even though it's going to be difficult to say goodbye to these characters.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

We're finishing how we began: with a second novel. At number one, my most anticipated read of 2016, it's Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel, Certain Dark Things. Unless you happened to shut your eyes every time you clicked on my blog last year then you'll know I adored Moreno-Garcia's debut, Signal to Noise, and I've been keeping an eye on her to see what she'll release next. It's been a while since I last read a vampire book, and this sounds so good. I can't wait to sink my teeth into it (hurr hurr hurr). Needless to say I've preordered this one, but I have to wait until October before I can read it. How will I cope?






Which books are you most looking forward to this year?