Signal to Noise
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
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Pub Date 10 Feb 2015 | Archive Date 5 Feb 2015
Rebellion | Solaris
Description
Mexico City, 1988: Long before iTunes or MP3s, you said “I love you” with a mixtape. Meche, awkward and fifteen, has two equally unhip friends -- Sebastian and Daniela -- and a whole lot of vinyl records to keep her company. When she discovers how to cast spells using music, the future looks brighter for the trio. With help from this newfound magic, the three friends will piece together their broken families, change their status as non-entities, and maybe even find love...
Mexico City, 2009: Two decades after abandoning the metropolis, Meche returns for her estranged father’s funeral. It’s hard enough to cope with her family, but then she runs into Sebastian, and it revives memories from her childhood she thought she buried a long time ago. What really happened back then? What precipitated the bitter falling out with her father? And, is there any magic left?
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781781082997 |
| PRICE | US$9.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Althea M, Book Trade Professional
I picked up this book because I'd read one of Moreno-Garcia's short stories in the 'Dangerous Games' anthology, and really enjoyed it.
From that one previous experience of her writing (a modern Lovecraft tribute), this book wasn't quite what I expected - however, it won me over.
Alternating between scenes set in 1988 and twenty years later, the novel introduces us to Meche.
In 1988, she's a teen in Mexico City. Her family doesn't have much money, and she's an unpopular, nerdy girl. However, she's got two friends, Sebastian and Daniela. The trio often seems inseparable. And she's got her music, a world which her dearly beloved father introduced her to.
In 2009, Meche is a successful computer programmer based in Oslo. After years away, she's visiting Mexico and the old neighborhood after her estranged fathers death. To the reader, it's at first inexplicable why she's so very strongly opposed to seeing either of her old friends - and what happened to the relationship between her and her father.
As the book progresses, the answers are gradually revealed. It all has something to do with a discovery of witchcraft: objects of power and wishes come true. But more, it has to do with the long, slow process of growing up; about decisions and regrets. Choices have consequences; some things, once broken, can never be mended. But some things, perhaps, can.
The magic here is powerful and believable, integrated seamlessly with daily life. However, although the magic is an integral part of the story, the kernel of the book is about love and hate: interpersonal relationships.
Moreno-Garcia's writing is excellent, and she excels at drawing fully-rounded, complex characters. Mexico City came to vivid life under her pen. If I had to point to one thing I would change, though, I'd say I wished I was given a little bit more a a grounded sense of what Meche's life in Oslo is like - we don't actually see Norway at all in the books, so it feels a bit dreamlike when she talks about living there: like her family members that have never left Mexico, we can't even really imagine it. Perhaps that's intentional, though.
This is a young author to watch - I expect further great things from her.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. As always, my opinion is my own.
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