Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Review

 

"You made a haunted house out of your own flesh and bones."

Silver Nitrate is the latest horror novel by Mexican-Canadian author, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Set in the 1990s, we follow two horror movie buffs as they uncover a lost film, a power-hungry cult, and a secret plot to reanimate a Nazi occultist who died in the 1950s. With dark magic seeping into their minds and uprooting their lives, Montserrat and Tristán might just have to embrace the darkness if they want to get out alive. 

It's no secret that Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an excellent horror writer. While that's not all she's good at, I've only read her horror books, so I can't comment on her other work. I reviewed Mexican Gothic when I read--and loved--it last year. After that grand success, I was eagerly looking forward to this novel. It was on my most anticipated list and everything. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite live up to the hype, for me. 

The biggest thing I enjoyed about Mexican Gothic was the atmosphere. Moreno-Garcia managed to make me feel so uncomfortable in my own skin while I was reading that book. The descriptions and imagery were immaculate, so much so that I needed to avoid mushrooms for a good few days after reading. I know it's unfair to compare an author's works, but I was hoping for that same kind of atmosphere in Silver Nitrate...and I just didn't get it. I don't know if it was a me problem (if I just read it at the wrong time) or if the vibes genuinely weren't vibing. 

To me, this read more like a slasher (a la My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones) than a horror. Despite there being magic and ghosts, I didn't feel any sort of spook factor. I read this while home alone and didn't get any chills whatsoever. And I'm a big scaredy-cat, so you know that something just wasn't clicking with me. Aside from the lack of atmosphere, I also felt like the pacing was way too slow. I read this on my e-reader, and kept checking the page count every half-hour or so because surely there couldn't be that much left. And yet it took me nearly a week to complete this novel. 

It's not all bad, however. There were some things that I enjoyed. I thought the two protagonists, Montserrat and Tristán, were both very well developed and had strong personalities. It didn't take long to figure out exactly who these characters were. Also, they both had some sort of disability: Montserrat had some sort of childhood leg injury (it was never specified what happened) and walked with a limp and had chronic pain, and Tristán was partially blind after a car accident and reconstructive surgery. These issues never hindered the story, but they were also never swept under the rug. I thought that was very well done. 

I also appreciated all of the social commentary this book provided. As I mentioned above, this novel deals with a Nazi occultist, so naturally there would be some discussion of subjects such as eugenics, racism, and classism. Silvia's Author Note at the end of the book explains it much better than I ever could: 

"There is a common phrase I grew up with in Mexico: "mejorar la raza." It translates to "better the race" and means you should marry whiter, more European-looking people, so, although there was no Wilhelm Friedrich Ewers in the 1950s in Mexico City, he might not have been unwelcome."

Overall, there were some things that worked, and some that didn't. And of course, this is only my opinion. I still recommend Silver Nitrate to horror movie fans, occult history nerds, and whoever wants a little summertime spook in their lives (even though this takes place in winter).

I gave Silver Nitrate a CAWPILE score of 6.29, which comes out to 3.5 stars.

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I was so disappointed that I didn't love this book, and also very glad I got it from the library before spending 30 dollars on a hardcover copy. And while this might not have lived up to the expectations I had for it, I'm still planning on reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia's other books. 

Have you read Silver Nitrate yet? What did you think? Let me know in the comments, or DM me on Instagram (link in sidebar under the heading "More Media").

Until next time, friends!