Marisa’s Reviews > Mexican Gothic > Status Update

Honestly I KNEW my lizard brain couldn’t be trusted, but ya know, I kinda did, anyway.

I suppose Noemí was too panicked to take note, but it is a bit funny to read her surprise and everyone acting like they’re revealing a big secret when someone literally told her this 20 pages earlier.

I know I say this quite often, but this book really is unputdownable. I picked this up on a whim earlier this evening, and now I can’t fathom the thought of walking away from the book before it’s finished.

There’s so much in here that’s familiar to me that I’m intrigued that some people didn’t think it was “Mexican enough.” Not only is that a ridiculous statement, but I’m curious what exactly those people were expecting that they didn’t find. Truthfully, as an American, I’m surprised at how much IS familiar to me (thanks to a porous border, I suppose.)

Oooooo this prose. Love these moments of sinking into Noemí’s thoughts.

There’s so much of this that rings true and feels applicable to today — Noemí’s conversation with a racist old man who expects her not to be offended if he implies that she’s less than human; her relationship with her father who doubts that she can be interested in makeup and in curling her hair while also wanting to pursue a master’s degree; shadow of long-armed colonialism, forty years on.

Three lines from this character, and I already wanna start a fight.

Definitely feels like a throwback. Noemí has a bit of an Emma vibe to her.