Silvia Moreno-Garcia's first novel in some ways feels like a dry run for her later book Silver Nitrate. Quirky female protagonist, her male best friend she has a complicated relationship with, learning to use pop culture to cast spells. In this earlier iteration though, instead of movies they learn to use music to cast spells. The heroine still gets in just a little too deep. This one lacks the Nazi occultist ghost element, and the mentor from a previous generation takes a different and more benign form. Of course, I am doing the book a disservice by making it sound like they are basically the same story. They share elements and even some themes, but they are by no means even close to being identical.
Signal to Noise was for me the more emotionally raw of the two books. Perhaps it is because of the main character having just lost her father who she had not spoken to in years. I recently lost an estranged parent myself, so this may have resonated with me more than it might for most readers. I've also had friendships that were broken due to issues of trust. And I was a kid in the late 80s when the flashback portions of the story are set, although instead of Mexico City I was in the southern US. Most of the social dynamics seemed exactly the same. I just didn't recognize some of the musical artists mentioned.
And once again the author impresses with her knowledge of pop culture in this regard. She really seems to know her music history. She name checks groups and artists from a wide swathe of genres. As I mentioned, there are several artists named I wasn't familiar with because they were famous in Mexico but not in the States. But the ones she does talk about and even in places quote range from Nine Simone to The Doors to Blondie. She has a playlist of curated songs from the book on Spotify and Youtube. As a music lover I love hearing or reading people talk about great music almost as much as I love talking about great music. (Neither, of course, are as good as just listening to great music, so go find those playlists.)
Besides great tunes the author also seems to have a knack for bringing to life the feelings of disaffected youth. What it is like to be part of the "outsider" clique. What it is like to find out someone you love and admire may not actually be such a great person. What it is like when you start to develop feelings for someone who is the most awkward person to have feelings for. What it is like to want to be part of the "cool" circle while also wishing you could take your revenge on them. And of course this is the crux of the story, as protagonist Meche and her friends learn to use records to cast spells, making both of these desires attainable. But in magic there's always a price, and in life things rarely work out as neatly and painlessly as we'd like. Signal to Noise isn't as dark on the surface as Silver Nitrate, but the themes are much heavier. It's a solid read, especially if you're a music nerd who likes to dig into characters who aren't always likeable. Because that's another truth miss Moreno-Garcia doesn't shy away from. Sometimes we're not good people who simply make mistakes. Sometimes we are assholes, who are selfish and petty. But we always have a chance to turn it around.
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