Oof I was bored to tears with this book until about 70% of the way through. The end gets a little freaky, but majority of the book is hardly “thrilling.” Character development and POV of the indigenous Mexican people was extremely lacking, leaving me disconnected from the setting. Redeeming quality was I enjoyed Noemi’s character, although I found her romantic interests in the end a little unbelievable. If you couldn’t tell already, pretty disappointed with this one.

A super lush and haunting story. A bit slow to start up but filled with everything dark and gruesome and enchanting.

This book engages with conversations on race, mestizaje, gentrification, and gendered roles.

Did a mixture of audiobook and print copy. Audiobook is great! I enjoyed reading the book. I think the pacing was a little bit off, though not enough to spoil the book. I do feel like there are some moments where the central themes and metaphors could’ve been more cohesive - sometimes it felt like the points the book was making were a bit more random?

A true gothic novel. I loved the fungi horror. I will read more from the author!!

Gripping, atmospheric, and delightfully dark.

Mexican Gothic is a book I heard a lot about before I picked it up to participate in booktwt book club this month. It being in the running at all, annoyed many people who were not impressed by it at all. I myself trusting the opinion of many of these people did not vote for it. 

However, my desire to participate trumped my fears of Mexican Gothic being an abysmal read so I picked it up. My verdict...well while personally I don't find it to be completely terrible it has many flaws which prevent it from being anything more than just okay. 

Firstly, the premise of a loved one no longer themselves reaching out for help, claiming to be poisoned in a centuries-old house with a shady past definitely sounds intriguing. However, the pacing is one of the first key issues I had with this book. It took five chapters for me to really feel any sort of interest in story, and there after it felt like things were just happening with no real impact. It takes up to 70% for any real horror to occur and for the pace to pick up. The writing while quite descriptive had a sort of sleepy element to it. It's a lot of telling and not showing. Something I saw other reviews say that I agree with, is that this book would lend itself to a good movie adaptation but in writing a lot of the interesting elements just fall flat. I did enjoying reading that last 30% but it really feels like lost potential. The horror elements while not being revolutionary were kind of cool to me and I enjoyed reading about them, again I just wish they were incorporated and developed better. The Mexican cultural elements were lovely to see but they weren't particularly well incorporated. It was very surface level. 

Secondly, personally a big reason why this book falls a bit flat is the character writing. Noemi and the other characters are incredibly one-dimensional. As with the plot points we are told over and over that she is a party girl, she changes her mind constantly, and that she is strong willed, but other than the last trait as a reader you never really get to see her showcase any of these traits. If you asked me to describe Noemi I could tell you facts about her but I couldn't describe her personality at all. The other characters are written even worse, they exist for the progression of the plot and nothing more. Sometimes it just made no sense to me the way Noemi would react to things happening. There is some tenderness and affection between Francis and Noemi but even that is written in a very simplistic way. I really didn't feel any sort of connection to any of the characters, and other than being repulsed by the villains I had no strong opinions or feelings towards them. This is the book's main weakness, if I don't understand the characters and I don't particularly care about them why would I care about what happens to them?   

I think overall Mexican Gothic is a book that is just painfully average. Painfully because it had the potential to be something great. It's slow pacing and lacklustre character writing take away from the unique and interesting elements. I think it could be a good introductory gothic horror novel for some readers but personally, for me it was just alright.

From the start, I was really intrigued by the book off cover alone. Throughout the whole book, the writing style was amazing and drew me in, even if I didn’t necessarily care about what was being said at every point. The novel had a very strong start, in my opinion, that set up the atmosphere and the pieces really well. Unfortunately, the pacing and plot started to falter as I went on. I still enjoyed the book by the end, just not as much as I thought I was going to on the first 75 pages. I wish there were more horror elements to the book, and it felt like so much of it was exposition that kept going until about the 60% mark. What was initially intriguing at the beginning started to become dull and repetitive and confusing because there were a few times when I was like “okay, but what now?”

The story itself had the pieces to be great. It has elements of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out”, which was interesting, but the execution fell a little flat for me. Still, I was ready to give it a 4 star. However, there is a very unnecessary romance plot thrown in that I simply don’t understand. Not only do I not comprehend the pairing, but it seems rushed and just an add-on for the people who need their books to have romance in it. I didn’t even like one of the people in the couple. All this to say, I still enjoyed the book and finished it in a day. I would still recommend it for certain audiences, but with how high my expectations were at the beginning paired with what actually happened, I cannot give this more than 3 stars.

I can see this book being filmed, it will be a great horror series! The story is about Noemi, a party girl from a wealthy family in Mexico City, who had to "pick up" her beloved cousin Catalina because she started to write weird letters to the family. It was supposed to be an easy job but what Noemi didn't know was that Catalina was married into a weird English family who lived in a dilapidated mansion called "The High Place". The people who lived there, they were specials and when Noemi spent few nights there, she started to see things. Was the house haunted? Well, that's the whole story about I guess.

the first half lives up to its title and gives us exactly a Mexican version of a gothic novel; “haunted” house, mean old crotchety British people and a young beautiful heroine called to the house to check on her cousin who’s married one of the mean British people. But THEN it flips the genre on its head and turns into an intense gory eco/body horror/sci-fi story which I looove. I’m surprised at how popular this book is because of that shift in tone and vibe but I’m very happy for Moreno Garcia’s success!!!! Loved it, more like this!!!

rtc

« just because there are no ghosts it doesn't mean you can't be haunted, nor that you shouldn't fear the haunting. »

this was absolutely captivating, it made me feel terribly uncomfortable in some parts and utterly fascinated in others.

i thought noemì was a very good character, i liked her personality and her strength. however, as i said in one of my notes.... british people are a PLAGUE and so are men.

i lost count of how many times virgil gave me chills, in a very negative way. every time that man was mentioned i felt scared and uncomfortable. i spent the book hoping his death would come soon and would be agonising.

i have a lot of thoughts about this book, but i'm glad my friends recommended it to me. i have SO much to say, and i will probably come back to this review and write a fully thought out review but i only finished this book less than 10 minutes ago so my brain isn't functioning properly except for 'fuck you doyle's'

i honestly thought i would drag this on for the next week but i read 200 pages today it was mesmerising and the twist was sooo unexpected

genuinely terrifying

Not my usual type of book, but I enjoyed the twist

In horror written by white men, with this setting, the roles would be reversed. Noemí would be white and they would be Mexican (or some other "foreign" group). Here, though, Noemí is Mexican, with ties to an indigenous group. But she's also wealthy and privileged. She is the very embodiment of the things white supremacists fear and hate. There are lots of horror novels that Mexican Gothic evokes. For me, these are the ones that stand out most. First and foremost is Frank Herbert's The Santaroga Barrier (1968), for how tied the inhabitants are to their environment. Next there is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938) for how Noemí is treated and expected to adhere to rules she doesn't understand. For how corruption is reflected in the architecture, I'm reminded of The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield (2006). For how the family members are means to an end, finally, I'm reminded of The Bone Garden by Heather Kassner (2019) http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm... 00CC99 - privileged uhoria labyrinth

Não sabia bem o que esperar do livro, e isso poupou-me a uma enorme desilusão. O ambiente criado é interessante, o espaço gótico, sombrio, soturno… os símbolos que vão surgindo… os ambientes que se vão criando… O plot não é desinteressante e a forma como se vai desenrolando desperta alguma curiosidade. Mas….. Não me convenceu o suficiente para que o livro tivesse impacto, a dada altura só ansiava pelo final do livro, já não acrescentava nada. Pareceu-me que as personagens tinham um grande potencial para outro tipo de livro, com um rumo mais focado no anti-patriarcado, uma crítica social ao contexto da época… Fiquei na expectativa que isso acontecesse, e talvez isso me tenha condicionado a leitura. Horror?! Confesso que, por muito que entenda a classificação, eu não o consegui sentir. (Fiquei o tempo todo à espera dos momentos scary movie) No seu todo não foi perda de tempo, mas também não me acrescentou muito. Fica num meio termo que me faz acreditar que dentro de uns meses não me lembrarei de muito mais do que as imagens de um casarão com bolor nas paredes, de um cemitério envolvido em nevoeiro e cogumelos. Entendo o entusiasmo, mas não me envolveu da forma que esperava. 3⭐️

Silvia Moreno Garcia weaves a slowburning, atmospheric tale even on the early parts of this book I felt on edge much like Noemi in the strange house filled with whispers and strange sights. And as the second part of the book begins it turns more and more bizarre until I felt myself rushing to it to get it over with as quickly as possible. SMG writes such vivid imagery it made me uncomfortable and horrified as I read on. I am not a horror reader/enjoyer but despite that I felt compelled to finish the story even if I felt spooked., it trapped me in its tale and it wouldn't let go until I was done. (view spoiler)[ For me the creepiest part of this book is the harrasment of Noemi, her slow descent to madness in the hands of the Doyle family who strip her of her free will and put images and unwanted feelings in her head. Her revulsion and questioning of her sanity when she starts feeling unwanted feelings toward Virgil was horrifying and just as bad as the kiss she received from Howard. (hide spoiler)]

Really enjoyed this book, a little slow to start but great overall. Unique characters and at times almost thrillingly gross. I loved the setting in 1950 central Mexico - got me very interested in this time period in the area and its history!

Waffling between 3 and 3.5, let's make it 3.25. Constant descriptions of the atmosphere and insertions of "interesting" factoids distracted and interrupted the flow of the plot. I did not like the any of the characters very much. But it did become a page turner towards the end. But, and I can't believe I am saying this, I might read another one of her books.

I liked the way this started out but it really derailed for me about two thirds of the way through. Thought it would be more of a mystery and less of a fantasy novel.

4🌟 update: changed it to 4,5🌟 because i can't stop thinking about it, it's so memorable. i really love the settings and atmosphere in this book, dark and rather mysterious. i think that's what i love the most in this book, the settings. noemí. i really like her character, she's brave and confident yet those traits are not overly done. i think the book started off interesting, then when i read through i found it kinda boring, and then boom! the reveals! the twists! they left me thinking, "damn, this is much more disturbing than i thought!" and you know what? i love it. i love the horrors. overall, i really enjoyed reading it.