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Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Goodreads Author)

3.74 · Rating details · 86,351 ratings · 15,494 reviews

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a gl ...more

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Hardcover, 301 pages

Published June 30th 2020 by Del Rey

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Silvia Moreno-Garcia - author

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Dec 18, 2019 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it it was amazing

Yessss! Congratulations! This book won the Goodreads Choice Awards by beating king of the authors ( yes, with so many votes it beat Mr. King’s It Bleeds) !🎉🌈💕🎈🥳🥂

Hell yeah! This deliciously terrifying, gothic adventure will be adapted to Hulu limited series! I cannot wait to binge watch! What an amazing news!🥳🥂💃🏻🕺🏼

OMG! I had no brain right now! The author stole it! I wish she would have put some bravery into my heart because I think I’m not gonna sleep at least for a week and I already brought ba ...more

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May 12, 2020 Silvia Moreno-Garcia added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: speculative-fiction, adult, suspense, gothic, fantasy, fiction, mexico, horror, historical

FAQ

Is there a playlist?
Yes, go to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/233...

Are there other goodies?
Paper doll PDF: http://www.randomhousebooks.com/wp-co...

Book club kit PDF: http://www.randomhousebooks.com/wp-co...

Is the town in the book real?
It's inspired by a real town which is called Real del Monte/Mineral del Monte and which was a British mining town and has a very particular kind of architecture. It's nicknamed Little Cornwall. Yes, there is an English cemetery there. Photo: https: ...more

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Jul 16, 2020 Kim ~ It’s All About the Thrill rated it it was ok

Shelves: botm

2.5 stars...Yeah I know...this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. As soon as I found out this would be a BOTM, I grabbed it, I dropped everything I was doing to read it....and well that didn't work out so well.

The premise was amazing. The cover was even more amazing. SO I dug into this book and I waited for it to pick up. I waited, and turned another page and waited....and waited...... Finally I turned to my fellow reviewers at page 200 to see..umm does this pick up? They said ye 2.5 stars...Yeah I know...this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. As soon as I found out this would be a BOTM, I grabbed it, I dropped everything I was doing to read it....and well that didn't work out so well.

The premise was amazing. The cover was even more amazing. SO I dug into this book and I waited for it to pick up. I waited, and turned another page and waited....and waited...... Finally I turned to my fellow reviewers at page 200 to see..umm does this pick up? They said yeah wait for it...Okay so it did pick up- at page 250. So the last 50 pages of the book was crammed full of weirdness.

Noemi is living the good life. She is living off daddy's dime and a socialite in Mexico City. Her father makes it clear that she needs to do him a favor and head out to a remote estate that her cousin Catalina is living with her recently acquired husband Virgil. He wants her to check in on her because- well it appears she has lost her mind. She is sending letters home of people living in the walls, claims her husband is poisoning her among other bizarre statements. Sounds intriguing right??? Well I thought so too. I was all in...

Yet when Noemi gets to the estate she is hardly allowed to spend any time with her cousin. She is not allowed to freely roam around or do anything she wants. So why doesn't she just leave? Or take her cousin? Instead the first 250 pages was spent with her mulling around the house and having vivid nightmares. Sure it was creepy but there was no plot. I failed to connect to ANY of the characters because, there just wasn't enough information put forth about them. Trust me, I can take weird. I LOVED Ninth House! I would have given that book 10 stars if Goodreads would let me. That was dark, creepy, weirdness and I loved it.

Personally for me, this book took just too long to take off. When it finally did, it felt like a ton of stuff was jammed into the last 50 pages. It was so bizarre and out there- it just wasn't for it. Don't let my review sway you because there are alot of fantastic reviews out there about this one. ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 Cindy rated it really liked it

An atmospheric Gothic horror novel that goes the extra mile with featuring women of color as the protagonists and incorporating race, colonialism, and eugenics as part of the horror. I enjoyed Noemi's flighty and outspoken nature as well; she’s easy to root for as she stands her own against the antagonists. ...more

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Feb 13, 2020 chai ♡ added it

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2021, ya-thriller-mystery, ya-historical, poc-rep, trope-friends-to-lovers, to-review, ya-horror, 2020-releases, trope-slow-burn

Reading this book was such a jarring, slippery, and wrong-feeling experience. I feel strangely violated, but also impressed. Review to come (after I emotionally recover).

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Nov 27, 2020 Kat rated it really liked it

this really was some gothic excellence, omg

pls allow for a small list of all the things that made this story SO GOOD imo

- the setting!!!! high place’s aesthetic of rotting decadence was exactly the kind of atmosphere i LOVE
- the main character, noemi!! she was headstrong and capable the whole way through. truly a delight to read about
- i didn’t think i would, but i really enjoyed the historical setting! the 1950’s is not a time that i’ve read a lot about, and it was quite interesting. & the way ...more

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May 08, 2020 Chelsea Humphrey rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Chelsea by: Random House Reader's Circle (RHRC)

Shelves: from-publisher, netgalley, recommended

"I pray I'll see you again. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me."

WHEW. You think you know where this book is going, and then it goes there. Mexican Gothic begins in such an unassuming way, where you think you're walking into a traditional haunted house story, and then everything shifts to pull you under like a riptide that doesn't loosen until you turn the final page. Before I dive into my review, I think it's fair to note that the majority of this book is atmospheric, character dri ...more

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Oct 20, 2020 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2020-releases

Due to popular request... I'm attempting this one! ...more

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Jul 30, 2020 Melissa ~ Bantering Books rated it really liked it

Hmm. How best to describe “Mexican Gothic?”

I guess I would say it’s –

A little bit H. P. Lovecraft.
A little bit Alfred Hitchcock.
A lotta bit creepy old house.

Yes. Mexican Gothic is part mystery. It’s part Gothic suspense. It’s part horror. Maybe even part New Weird. (Maybe.) And all its various parts are expertly and seamlessly blended by the skillful words of Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Set in 1950s Mexico, the novel follows the young socialite, Noemi Taboada, as she travels to High Place, an old mans ...more

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Jul 02, 2020 daph pink ♡ rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: people who are ready to get scared the shit out of them

Shelves: cover-fetish, genre-horror, genre-gothic-fiction, 5-star, genre-mystery-thrillers

Congratulations on winning GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS!

5*I AM SHIT SCARED* Stars!✨

there was something so charming and beautiful about the cover that drew me towards it! (I mean just look at this stunning cover and think how beautiful it will look in your bookshelf)

I honestly don’t like Gothic books, it’s like my second Gothic book (after a failed attempt to read Wuthering heights for like 1000 times.) and ohhh boyyy I freaking loved it. Like a 5 star rating is less to describe how much I loved this Congratulations on winning GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS!

5*I AM SHIT SCARED* Stars!✨

there was something so charming and beautiful about the cover that drew me towards it! (I mean just look at this stunning cover and think how beautiful it will look in your bookshelf)

I honestly don’t like Gothic books, it’s like my second Gothic book (after a failed attempt to read Wuthering heights for like 1000 times.) and ohhh boyyy I freaking loved it. Like a 5 star rating is less to describe how much I loved this book!

Once in a while a book is published that you can’t stop thinking about and you keep pursuing your kith and kin to read it, this is one such book for me.

DISCLAIMER: - DON’T READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT IF YOU HAVE A VIVID IMAGINATION .WHY?

Because it will scare the shit out of you, you will be afraid of your own shadow, it will make your blood run cold, your soul will jump out of your skin, your heart will miss a beat and you will be scared out of your wits!

But at the same time there is something so beautiful about its creepiness that you will find it engrossing, captivating, absorbing, riveting, consuming and addictive that you not be able to put it down despite the fact that it scared the daylights out of you!!!!

The phenomenal idea of blending the old, nasty and haunted house stories with the modern aspect of eugenics, Darwin’s theory of natural selection, concept of inferior and superior traits and that whole idea of fungal association with humans forming gloom, I mean I have read about symbiosis and mycorrhiza but wtf is this, I mean who in right mind can think this! The author is crazy (good crazy).

*adding author to fav authors list.(well not yet maybe!)
*adding book to my fav book list.

SOME OTHER ASPECTS THAT MAKE THE BOOK LOVABLE

• Atmospheric :- the beautiful picture the author paints of the high place will make you fall in love with the place despite the fact that you can’t leave it.

• Characters :- the confident, intelligent and life of the party Noemi, artistic, shy and lover of mushrooms Francis ,flirting, nasty and dangerous Virgil , controlling ,demandingFlorence and head of the house MR. DOYLE( let’s just leave him, mere thinking about his name give me chills) .

• Slowest burning romance

• dicey situation and twists

This is the first book by this author and it’s definitely not going to be the last. She owns my heart and head (mentally decided to read everything written by her)

And definitely going to reread this book again and again till it stops scaring the shit out of me and ik that’s never going to happen.

I can’t wait for the day I will be able to buy this book and take in the smell of it, the day this beautiful piece of art will adore my bookshelf!

Not recommend for everyone because you need patience if you truly want to enjoy the book because its slow paced in first half but it’s worth it because the second half will make you fall in love with this book!

TW:- sexual assault, incest, murder, cannibalism, death of parent, death of children, stillbirth, miscarriage.
...more

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Nov 10, 2020 Miranda Reads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: published2020, audiobook

Just posted my Goodreads Choice 2020 Reaction Video on Booktube! Click the link to check it out!!

The Written Review

4.5 stars

To be frank - this one was GORGEOUS.

Like my life will never be the same level of beauty.

The atmosphere, the setting, the characters. It was - to be frank - amazing. I loved it.

Thank goodness I saw it on the GRs Choice awards!

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads ...more

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May 13, 2020 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: e-book, gothic, 2020, netgalley, horror

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a 2020 Del Rey publication.

An exciting new approach to Gothic Horror fiction!

I rarely ever comment on a book cover- but this one is stunning! It’s an eye-catcher for sure- but you know what they say about judging a book by its cover. So, the question is- Does the story measure up to that magnificent cover?

Mexico City- 1950s

Noemí Taboada, a young socialite, who wishes to achieve more in her life than marrying a man her father approves of, is given th ...more

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Jul 08, 2020 Arini rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 Stars

For as intriguing as it is, immersive it is not. This tale is bizzare and fascinating in its monotony, and in the second half there lies the charm—or the problem, depending on how you look at it.

The book operates on the classic trope of isolated old creaky mansion complete with its misty private cemetery and ‘eccentrically macabre’ family. On the surface, the Doyles look like a harmless and orderly household, but the peculiarity rests within (literally) the walls of the house—its secret ...more

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Jul 12, 2020 Merphy Napier rated it really liked it

Shelves: four-stars, horror, adult

This an adult gothic horror that's heavily inspired by "The Yellow Wallpaper" (a story I LOVE). Overall, I really enjoyed it but I do feel like it had potential to be a 5 star book that I rave about for a very long time and I'm disappointed because I feel like it had some missed potential, but I still really enjoyed it and still recommend!

There are some potential trigger warnings I wanna mention though for anyone who's gonna read on my rec (view spoiler) This an adult gothic horror that's heavily inspired by "The Yellow Wallpaper" (a story I LOVE). Overall, I really enjoyed it but I do feel like it had potential to be a 5 star book that I rave about for a very long time and I'm disappointed because I feel like it had some missed potential, but I still really enjoyed it and still recommend!

There are some potential trigger warnings I wanna mention though for anyone who's gonna read on my rec (view spoiler)

What I loved:
- gothic. The gothic vibes were very good. I felt like I was in a classic gothic horror at times, it got the feel down very well.
- culture. Obvs this takes place in Mexico and I really enjoyed reading about these characters culture, traditions, and family dynamics
- characters. They weren't tremendously complex but easy for me to like (or hate) each of them and I enjoyed following all of them.
- the plot. I really enjoyed what this story was doing from start to finish. Which is why I say it had so much potential, I really enjoyed reading it

What didn't work for me
- the horror. Like I said, the gothic elements were done very well. I was disappointed with the amount of horror we got. Actually this is my biggest complaint. On a scale of 10, I'd say the horror is at about a 3 for most of the book, and near the end it's amped up to a 5 tops. This story was so good but I just really wanted the horror/suspense/spooky vibes to be cranked up *a lot*
- the reveal. So I thought the reveal was fine. I guessed most of it but that's just because the ground laying was good. My problem was that it happened earlier than I'd like. By the time the horror amped up, I already had one foot out the door because the mystery was solved and it was just a matter of getting out alive. I would have loved for it to either be revealed later, or end a bit sooner.

That said, my negatives are more of, "great book but I wish for little changes" not big complaints. I still really enjoyed it and def do recommend! Just go in knowing the horror/suspense will be on the lighter side. ...more

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Sep 21, 2020 jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

well, wasnt this just a spooky little story?! i knew i should have saved this for next month.

fans of gothic stories will swoon over this. its so atmospheric. the old mansion, the creepy family who lives there, the lush mexican countryside. i was honestly really, really enjoying myself up until the near end.

the turn of events were a little too… unrealistic for me, i suppose. i wanted to gasp in shock but i ended up just rolling my eyes. i know the way things play out wont bother some readers, and ...more

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Aug 17, 2020 Melanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult, ghosts, horror, historical, dragons-and-tea, read-in-2020, maëlys, buddy-reads, dark, quarantine-reads

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Oct 27, 2020 Joel Rochester rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2020, four-stars

i now hate mushrooms more than i already do
oh, also this book was great
noemí rights

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Mar 14, 2020 Nenia ✨️ Socially Awkward Trash Panda ✨️ Campbell rated it it was ok

Shelves: life-s-too-fucking-short, poc-interracial, historical-fiction, gothic, netgalley

Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest

DNF @ p.84

I am actually a huge fan of retro Gothic novels from the 60s and 70s, so when I found out about MEXICAN GOTHIC, a Latinx take on the popular Gothic novel subgenre, I was pee-in-my-pants excited. Just look at that cover! OMG. Stunning.

Sadly, the cover is the best thing about this book. It was SO BORING. Noemi is a socialite whose father doesn't approve of her superficial ways. She goes to see her cousin in the countryside after ...more

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Apr 05, 2020 megs_bookrack rated it liked it

**3.5-stars**

When Neomi Taboada's father enlists her help to check on her cousin, Catalina, she really doesn't want to. Neomi's got so much going on in the city. Why does she have to be the one to go?

Catalina, recently married, lives in a remote manor home, known as High Place, with her husband, Virgil and his family, far from the bustle of Mexico City.

According to Catalina's recent letters, the home is a desolate place, where she is currently either very unwell, purportedly with tuberculosis, o ...more

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Aug 27, 2020 Taylor Reid added it

Shelves: 2020

This book is wild in the absolute best way. It’s haunting and creepy but so readable. And what I love most about it is that, as the story unfolds—with more and more bizarre details—you find yourself wondering over and over “what on earth is going on?!?”. And I could not have guessed what was actually going on in a million years.

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Sep 28, 2020 Danielle rated it it was ok

Okay... I had no business picking up this book. Don’t let the beautiful cover and enchanting title fool you. This is a true HORROR novel. 😬😱🤮 This is not a genre I read, because I’m a big baby with gore and... I don’t know... eating babies 😳 o.m.f.g. 🤦🏼‍♀️ sprinkle in sexual assault and description of black oozing boils on the skin 🤢 I honestly can’t believe I made it through this whole thing. Happy Haunting Month! 🎃

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Dec 06, 2020 Teodora rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-thriller, on-app, 2020-releases, fantasy, historical

4.75/5 ⭐

Full review on my blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺

Uh.
Wow. I wasn’t expecting this to go in that direction.
Colour me impressed.

Mexican Gothic is the second book I read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (the other one being Gods of Jade and Shadow ). All I can say is that even though I liked that book too, this one was so much better.

It’s. So. Good.
And I mean it.

Yes, it started slow. Very slow. Bordering-painful slow. I didn’t actually think that I was going to enjoy it this much after tha ...more

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Sep 29, 2020 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it

Shelves: halloween-reads, horror-etc, ha-halloween-rc-2020, library-book

UPDATE: $2.99 on Kindle US today 10/18/20

This book reminded me a bit of that movie, Skeleton Key!

I love the cover and I loved the end of the book. I’ll buy it in a kindle sale

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more

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Jul 16, 2020 Lauren rated it did not like it

Shelves: gtfo, creeps

Guys I'm sorry to say this but...

...what a dumb fucking book.

I was moments away from abandoning it halfway through (although I wanted to earlier if we're being honest) but I took to Goodreads to see what I was missing, why it was getting such outstanding reviews. The word on the street was 'YES it was totally boring and slow for the first 2/3, but the twist makes it totally worth it.' So, if you came to this review page because you're thinking maybe it's worth your time, I'm here to tell you - i ...more

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Aug 28, 2020 Nataliya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads

Well, there’s one kind of food I’ll stay away from for a while after reading this book.

“So I’ll be wed in the Church of the Holy Incestuous Mushroom?” she intoned. “I doubt that’s valid.”

Mexican Gothic is set in a strange place - an old decrepit English manor house built by the English owners of the now-defunct silver mine, the English who despite living in Mexico for 70 years are dead-set on keeping everything in their small remote dreary domain as *English* as possible, down to the soil that the family patriarch brought with him from England to Mexico. In High Place it’s not really Mexico in the 1950s; it’s gloomy gothic claustrophobic Wuthering Heights-style Old World, complete with the creepy dying patriarch spouting eugenics while not ogling young ladies. The strange uptight and very creepy, once rich but now declining Doyle family inhabits the manor, the damp and moldy house where mushrooms might as well grow out of the walls.

“Treasure troves from their vault, carefully placed in crates, just like the dark earth Howard had packed, so that they might reassemble the world where they’d reigned as masters.”

This is now the family and the house of Noemí’s cousin Catalina who married Virgil Doyle, the heir to the Doyle’s diminished fortunes. And things are not fine with Catalina, based on the frantic and seemingly deranged letter she mails to her family back in Mexico City. And so, wary of possible madness/divorce scandal, Noemí - a heiress, socialite and inspiring anthropologist - is sent by her rich father to figure out what in the world is going on with her cousin.

“Noemí, like any good socialite, shopped at the Palacio de Hierro, painted her lips with Elizabeth Arden lipstick, owned a couple of very fine furs, spoke English with remarkable ease, courtesy of the nuns at the Monserrat—a private school, of course—and was expected to devote her time to the twin pursuits of leisure and husband hunting.”

Noemí Taboada is a practical and far from naive young woman, although certainly vain and self-absorbed. In the country where women wouldn’t be even able to vote for three more years, she relies on things she can control - her social status, her looks, her desirability. She hopes to advance her education, but can’t do it without her father’s permission - which hinges on her successfully solving the predicament of her cousin Catalina’s likely madness. And Noemí is also curious and very stubborn, and not too likely to unquestionably put up with Doyles’ stifling and conceited rule-abundant strict strangeness.

“This house is sick with rot, stinks of decay, brims with every single evil and cruel sentiment. I have tried to hold on to my wits, to keep this foulness away but I cannot and I find myself losing track of time and thoughts. Please. Please. They are cruel and unkind and they will not let me go. I bar my door but still they come, they whisper at nights and I am so afraid of these restless dead, these ghosts, fleshless things.”

Like any gothic novel worth its name, Mexican Gothic delivers a creepy haunted house, a remote isolated dreary location, a plucky heroine in danger, an old family full of dark secrets, the past that is buried not as deep as one would wish, a terrifyingly creepy lady running the dilapidated mansion, cemeteries and ghosts, disturbing dreams, a touch of unsettling eroticism (here quickly proceeding to sexual assault), and enough creepy galore to last for a while. Let’s just say that there are certain foods that I feel uneasy eating after finishing this book.

“Noemí, just because there are no ghosts it doesn’t mean you can’t be haunted. Nor that you shouldn’t fear the haunting.”

The haunted house mystery is done quite well. Well, maybe not as much the actual mystery part - there’s no reason why by at least the halfway point you wouldn’t figure out at least some of the reasons for all the strangeness in the house and the family - but certainly the atmosphere is captured perfectly. The suffocating damp gloom of the stuffy decrepit mansion, the moldy remains of former splendor, the rotting books and tarnished silver, the oppressive silence, the entire dreary existence of the corner of the world clinging on to colonialism and vestiges of power and perceived superiority over the people and their land. The dismissive attitude towards those thought of as “inferior” (“You are much darker than your cousin, Miss Taboada”, nastily observes Howard Doyle, and proceeds to inquire, “What are your thoughts on the intermingling of superior and inferior types?”). The increasingly vivid descriptions of the grotesque as we are getting closer and closer to the climax and resolution.

“A body. That’s what they all were to them. The bodies of miners in the cemetery, the bodies of women who gave birth to their children, and the bodies of those children who were simply the fresh skin of the snake. And there on the bed lay the body that mattered. The father.”

It gets quite sinister and not shy on the grotesque. It maintains the sense of unease throughout, feeling strange and haunted and surreal. It also smartly touches on the more “everyday” issues of exploitation, misogyny and eugenics, clashing the pseudo-Victorian sensibilities with more modern - although on their way to become antiquated as well - sensibilities.

Mexican Gothic combines the classic feel of the gothic haunted house story with the refreshing modern take on it. It’s certainly entertaining and made me interested in checking out other works by Moreno-Garcia. Also, no mushrooms on my pizza, thank you very much. And now I’m off checking my walls for any traces of mold.

Easily rounding up to 4 stars. ...more

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Dec 20, 2019 mina reads™️ rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-thriller-horror, about-poc, arcs

pre release thoughts: A gothic suspense novel set in 1950s Mexico? My body is ready 🤩🤩

Review: 7/18/2020

3.5 stars
what the fuckkkkkk
I don't know how to feel about this book but it certainly took me on a wild ass ride.

This story follows Noemi, a flighty, party-going 22 year old who is enlisted by her father to check in on an older cousin, Catalina, who has been whisked away by her mysterious husband and has sent very troubing letters that leave her family members questioning her safety and sanity. pre release thoughts: A gothic suspense novel set in 1950s Mexico? My body is ready 🤩🤩

Review: 7/18/2020

3.5 stars
what the fuckkkkkk
I don't know how to feel about this book but it certainly took me on a wild ass ride.

This story follows Noemi, a flighty, party-going 22 year old who is enlisted by her father to check in on an older cousin, Catalina, who has been whisked away by her mysterious husband and has sent very troubing letters that leave her family members questioning her safety and sanity.

The language and imagery in this was really evocative, Moreno-Garcia's writing style perfectly suited this gothic story. As much as the english major in me was loving the writing I did find myself incredibly bored during the first 100 or so pages of this story and I struggled immensely to feel connected to this story and our protagonist Noemi at first. It really seemed like we kept getting a repetitive collection of scenes and I was so bored with it.

Then things changed immensely after that first hundred pages and I honestly cannot even begin to discuss how swiftly this story changed from the tried and trite gothic tale with the misty, decrepit mansion full of kooky occupants and transitioned into something so uniquely creepy, it made my skin crawl. From the point of the initial reveal onward I felt mysef frantically flipping the pages seeking answers to the millions of questions this story raises. I found myself feeling just as confused and tormented as our protagonist and it was quite the experience to say the least, and I won't spoil that adventure for you.

However, I did feel that the exceptionally slow start and also the romance that blossoms in this story did lessen my experience a bit. The romance just felt a bit unnecessary to me and there was no romantic chemistry between these two characters, only shared trauma, why couldn't they just be friends???

Also here's the content warnings which will be considered spoilers to some so avoid if you don't need them

cw: sexual assault, incest, body horror, cannabalism, infanticide, murder

arc provided in exchange for an honest review ...more

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Jul 02, 2020 Vibur rated it really liked it

The stuff of potent mushroom trips and psychedelic nightmares.
Yeah. It was fun.
(I'm kidding. Don't do drugs, kids.)

Holy carping crap, this is so creatively creepy, and I love it.
The writing. Oh, the writing. There was something about it, the sinister, sinuous lilt of it, that imbued a tangibly morbid intrigue. The weight of it slithering insidiously around me, twisting and twining—as if it was tightening into a noose around my throat, wringing the air from my lungs and swallowing me whole.
I'l ...more

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Oct 22, 2020 emma rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-thriller-horror-etc, historical, reviewed, library, recommend, non-ya, dark, 4-stars, diverse

As an allegory for colonization and its impact on the colonized, this is stunning and gorgeous and I enjoy analyzing it in spare moments, like when I'm tired of working or am eating a cookie that is not so delicious as to require my full attention or am in the shower.

As a story in and of itself, I did not enjoy it. But who cares.

The writing style of this was pretty stilted, in my opinion (and I kept catching myself doing that nightmarish thing where I feel obligated to rewrite awkward sentences) ...more

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Aug 13, 2020 ✨ A ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to ✨ A ✨ by: may ❀

Shelves: adult, read-in-2020, horror, all-the-stars-in-the-sky, historical, mystery-thriller, faves-adult-mystery-thriller, 2020-release, audiobook, review-to-come

Noemí Taboada, a glamorous socialite of 1950s Mexico, travels from Mexico City to the countryside after receiving a concerning letter from her newlywed cousin, Catalina, to save her from her Englishman husband and his family.

Noemí arrives at High Place, a dilapidated manor isolated in the mountains, to a cold reception by the strange Doyles. The Doyles insist that Catalina is fine but Noemí is determined to find out the truth.

She discovers horrifying secrets of the Doyle's past but soon finds ...more

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Jun 08, 2020 Elle rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Elle by: Jordy’s Book Club

Shelves: 2020, from-publisher, netgalley, author-is-nice

Now a Goodreads Choice winner in Horror!

Full of decaying glamour, dark secrets and a good amount of gnarly blood and guts, Mexican Gothic more than met the already high expectations I had for it.

I’ve been a big fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia since picking up Gods of Jade and Shadow last year. One of the best things about her as an author is that she’s sort of genre-fluid (a term I just made up). Gods was a Mexican/indigenous fantasy taking place in the 1920s, Untamed Shore was a noir set in Mex ...more

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Bookworm Bitches : January 2021: Mexican Gothic	12	90	13 hours, 50 min ago
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✨Bookmarked✨: * Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno- Garcia	58	44	Jan 16, 2021 11:27AM
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About Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

5,950 followers

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of several novels, including Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow and Untamed Shore. She has also edited a number of anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu's Daughters). Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination. ...more