Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

74 reviews

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a novel! The amount of horror, intrigue, and mystery filled in these 300 pages is a wonder. Never in my life have I read something so creepy and even disgusting at times while being so enthralled and unable to put it down. I loved every word. Moreno-Garcia really gives us her all - her incredible voice moves the story along and brings life to every character. Highly recommend this book, especially during spooky season. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, and Vomit

nav26's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This started slow for me but WOW. This was the perfect October book. Creepy, mysterious, scary. I had ideas about what was behind everything but I never guessed what actually conspired. Really truly enjoyed this a lot! I think it would make a great horror film if done right.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Torture, Suicide, Self harm, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Incest, Gun violence, and Death

bookswithisabel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Vomit and Incest

sam_i_am's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

ssola's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Nope. This was too creepy for me. At first, the level of creepiness didn't bother me and it felt more like a mystery thriller, but by the last quarter of the book, I read it as fast as I could because I just wanted to finish the book as quickly as I could and never touch it again. This is my first time reading a horror novel and it just confirmed it's not a genre for me. Also, I had no idea what was going on a lot of times. The plot just jumped all over the place and had no smooth transitions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Vomit, and Violence

skdubers's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, and Cultural appropriation

cnohero's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Confinement

marigo1ds's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

This is absolutely one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Noemí is amazing; she’s smart, independent, caring, and fun. I hate ‘good girl’ innocent leads, so she felt really refreshing to me. I really connected with her, and even at her most shallow I loved her. The romance between her and Francis certainly isn’t swoon-worthy (his cowardice is frustrating), but I actually liked all the private little moments they had. Speaking Spanish was a very sweet way for them to bond.

Onto the actual meat of the book. I was legitimately on the edge of my seat for most of it. I loved the slow-burn horror and creepiness of Noemí interacting with the Doyles. Eugenics, colonialism, and good old fashion sexism makes them easy villains. They were so frustratingly controlling that when Noemí did yell back, I was punching the air. (Fuck Florence.) 

The tension and mystery keeps you interested for the first 2/3 of the book, and then shit hits the fan. Near the end, I had to take multiple breaks because I was freaking the fuck out. There were points where I legitimately gagged. I love everything about it... except the title. I have no idea why this isn’t called The Gloom. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Incest, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, and Torture

sambamthankyouman's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Xenophobia