Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

39 reviews

ginadapooh's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Rape, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Death, Gaslighting, and Incest

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

reaja's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

A very compelling plot with very mediocre writing. I think this would have made a five star short story. Perhaps someday it will be adapted into a movie which can cut it down and pick up the pace, as it stands the dynamic plot and loveable characters of Noemí and Francis lift up flat writing into something enjoyable for speed readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Racism, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, and Vomit

helenferg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Infertility, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Rape, Miscarriage, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Violence

stellaauream's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Body horror, Death of parent, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Infertility

Minor: Pregnancy

eli_trieu'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 The writing was a whole vibe, gothic and decay. The body horror was disgusting but I wish there was more. The horror was cool but there was too little of it 🥲, thus, the 4 stars.
Noemí is a strong female character and she is consistent with her ideology, love that for her. Every word she said were beautiful. I just loved the way she pissed off the misogynistic walking red flags.
It was definitely a slow read but the ending was worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

sargasso_c's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

Mexican Gothic is the first in what I hope will be a long line of vintage literature resurgence featuring characters of color. Because gothic novels are so slow-paced and the horror is revealed slowly, the characters need to be interesting and/or loveable enough to keep one reading. I believe that Mexican Gothic fell short in this respect. In addition, the little reveals throughout the book did not quite coalesce to into a lens through which the big reveal can be seen. I enjoyed this read, but it did take me quite a while to finish it, as I did not feel a pull to keep reading whenever I had to set the book down. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, and Incest

Minor: Vomit

berrit's review against another edition

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? No

4.5

I read this book directly after Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and it was the perfect book to fix that hangover. Because of that though, 

I immediately felt the similarities to that story and guessed the ending early on, especially with the foreshadowing every time a flame was mentioned.

Nonetheless, I thought this book did a tremendous job of keeping me on my toes in other ways. I loved that it was creepy, but not overly gory and the author did a good job of confusing me and then letting me figure out what was happening. Plus, the whole premise was very imaginative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Infertility, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cannibalism and Gun violence

Minor: Suicide

sarahcherie's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Incest, Miscarriage, Racism, and Cannibalism

katielaine_w's review against another edition

dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Xenophobia