100 Books Challenge: Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Review

Gritty crime drama. Noir style mystery. The cartel. Vampires.

If any of those things piques your interest, Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is definitely the book for you. I’m a sucker (ha ha) for vampires; at least once a year I revive my vampire obsession and rewatch the Twilight movies and consume every kind of vampire media I can find. I bought this book last summer during the height of one of those vampire relapses but I didn’t read it until recently. I actually brought it with me on vacation, because everyone knows that drug dealing vampires on the run in Mexico City makes the perfect beach read, right?

Certain Dark Things tells the story of Domingo and Atl. Domingo is a human teenager living on the streets of Mexico City. Atl is the last remaining member of her vampire clan that goes all the way back to Aztec warriors. With Domingo’s help, Atl attempts to flee the city, which has outlawed vampires, and escape capture from a warring vampire clan.

I haven’t read Moreno-Garcia’s other more well-known book, Mexican Gothic, (it’s definitely on my list) but if it’s anything like this book, I know I’m in for a treat. Moreno-Garcia has such a way with world building. I felt like the Mexico City she created was real; I believed the way she had explained the existence of vampires and their place (or lack of) in society. I felt truly captivated. I liked how the author was definitely making commentary on very real issues too: racism, classism, the lasting effects of colonialism. It was all very obvious, but it worked, you know?

As far as the story goes, I was hooked. It was an easy read once I got started, no doubt because of how descriptive it was. Honestly, it was giving HBO miniseries. You know when you read a book, and you can just tell, “Someone’s definitely looking for a movie deal here”? That feels like an insult somehow, but I mean it in the best way when I say this book read like a TV show. I mean, I’d watch that show.

The book had a few different storylines, primarily that of Atl trying to escape the city with Domingo’s help. But we also get a few other points of view; Rodrigo is a human vampire helper, also called a Renfield. He woks for the Godoy family, and is with the patriarch’s son, hunting Atl down. It should be noted that the Godoy family is the reason Atl is the last of her family and why she’s on the run in the first place. With orders to capture, torture, and kill Atl, Rodrigo is more focused on ensuring that Nick doesn’t expose himself as a vampire in the middle of the most dangers city where a vampire could be (which isn’t made easy when he kills people on the street).

The other point of view is that of Ana Aguirre, vampire-killing detective on the city’s police force. Oh Ana. How I wish I heard more of you. Honestly, Ana’s was my favorite point of view to read except it was so damn short! I understand the sense of urgency Moreno-Garcia was trying to portray but I wish I could have heard more from Ana, who had been commissioned by a local gang to track Atl down. (The human gangs hate the vampires almost as much as the vampires hate each other, since they infringe on the human drug trade.) I felt like the suspense of “will she catch them?” wasn’t big enough for me. As much as I liked the character, the book would probably have remained the same without her, but she was such an interesting character that I don’t want to accept that she’s expendable. If someone listens to my TV show idea, I demand and least 3 full episodes of just Ana trying to track down vampires to keep her teenage daughter safe.

Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, everything flowed really well and this is one stand alone book that I wouldn’t mind if we got a sequel or a followup short story. It definitely succeeded in awakening my yearly vampire craze so don’t be surprised if I review some more vampy books this summer!

The Stats:

Book: Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Page Number: 238

Age Range: 17 and up

Readability: Easy read, lots of buildup and tension

Overall Score: 7.5/10