I am in a vampire mood y’all. Like bring back all the paranormal, I’m ready for it! And Certain Dark Things is a fabulous neon noir addition. What I loved is how the world comes alive and this one has multiple vampire types! Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized.
Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.
Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Certain Dark Things is action packed from start to finish. The world building had to be my favorite aspect. Talk about a world with multiple types of vampires? I seriously think a series or more in this world would be so cool. Even as I was learning more, I was always intrigued by this vampire hierarchy and world. It delivers a healthy dose of danger and realism. Because, even in their neon noir world, there’s all these myths and romanticism of vampires. All these lies and superstitions. Not only that, but we get a vampire character, Atl – who is seriously badass – and a human, Domingo.
Another element I enjoyed are the characters. There’s not only Atl and Domingo but other characters as well who we see through. And actually one of my favorites Ana – who feels very much like a very reluctant Van Helsing type of character. Speaking of characters, I enjoyed the dynamic between Atl and Domingo. There’s so much I want to discuss, but I don’t want to spoiler the trajectory of the story. But without spoiling, what I enjoyed is watching them explore and play with their differences in identity, expectations, and lives.
I think one of my only complaints is that I would have liked more space for character introspection. I felt like we knew a bunch of characters, but I wanted some time to sink into them, get to know them deeper, so that we could see their growth and decisions. But overall, in Certain Dark Things you get sucked into the action, the bullets flying, and the vampire culture. And if you love vampires, this is a must read.
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Find Certain Dark Things on Goodreads, Amazon (US)(UK), Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.