Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

73 reviews

bex77's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’m generally not a huge fan of horror, but the gothic setting and story concept drew me in. Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes beautifully. The book was fast-paced and engaging, but at times I had to stop to appreciate the rich, descriptive language. I found the themes woven through the story fascinating, and would be interested to read a physical copy in order to do some annotations to chart their development. The characters were, for the most part, interesting and varied. 


As far as content, I personally felt that it was descriptive enough to illicit suspense and dread but not so descriptive as to be disturbingly graphic. The profanity was minimal, but strong. 

Overall, this was a fun, fast-paced read that really fit the criteria for both my Summer and Fall booklists, which I found perfect for the in-between feeling of back-to-school season

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, War, Terminal illness, Infertility, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

janjabooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, and Vomit

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Mexican Gothic is a well written Historical Thriller. Was it anything new? Not necessarily. Was it culturally relevant? I believe so. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. 10/10 would recommend for fans of historical/thriller novels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Murder, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Abandonment, Body shaming, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

slvt4b00ks's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

If I could give this book more stars I would. I honestly don’t understand why this book has such low ratings. Maybe some just aren’t cut out for gothic tales. I was weary about this being set in the 50s but the time period didn’t seem it was as much of a contributing factor to most parts of the story. Of course there is racism and some bat shit crazy people who believe in eugenics and of course the misogyny but that seems to really be all that indicates a less modern setting. This book was incredibly atmospheric and creepy, though I wasn’t quite stuck sitting up all night like I thought I would be. I fell in love with Francis. He must be protected at all costs. Noemi felt incredibly relatable, her flightiness and inability to settle down is portrayed as a flaw but I found it endearing. I don’t think anyone should settle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Cancer, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Vomit, Violence, Sexism, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

nicoley3's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Description of setting was lackluster and way too repetitive. The house itself was constantly being described as dark and moldy, and everywhere you look there’s a carving or picture of a snake eating its own tail. 
I got tired of reading about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Gore, Cannibalism, Incest, Murder, and Sexual assault

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Death of parent

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

In order not to burn myself out bingeing the whole book, I made myself keep a steady pace of a chapter or so a day. But oh my god, the way those last few chapters gripped me. Overall, Moreno-Garcia's writing is very vivid and extremely engaging--though of course not everyone is going to be able to stomach the body horror, abuse, assault, etc.

What an effective and (I feel) original metaphor for colonialism, colonialism of the body, and the cycles of abuse.

Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Cannibalism, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Body horror, Blood, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Cursing

rapgamenancyreagan's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death, Infidelity, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, and Incest

Minor: Infertility, Alcohol, and Colonisation

becca_w_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Incest, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

anger566's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I will admit it was kinda slow in the beginning but it went from 0-100 real quick 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Incest, Confinement, and Suicide

Moderate: Miscarriage, Blood, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit and Cursing