Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

71 reviews

ebp's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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sonaea's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I really can't rate this book. One could argue for every single possible rating.

I really liked the first half (4+ stars) though there are a lot of problematic things in there (esp. in the later half) that aren't handled very well/believably (~2 stars).

At the start there's not a lot of plot but rather a lot of just the vibes of dark, creepy houses, though the plot picks up at about the middle. I was surprised by the solution to the puzzle as I did not expect
it to be some kind of supernatural thing going on, I actually thought the plants in the greenhouse were poisonous and the family poisoned the cousins
. What it turned out to be was a bit irritating at first but once I got over that, the rest of the read was quite enjoyable.
I really liked that Noemí is headstrong, intelligent and doesn't let people run her over. That made an interesting protagonist and the setting was quite nice too as I haven't read many books set in historic Mexico (though that wasn't really in the focus of the story).
I also liked how she slowly gets to know Francis and I think their relationship to each other is really interesting.

Also, I feared they wouldn't burn the house down but then they did so I'm glad, that was absolutely called for.

What could have used a bit more work is the pacing (at the first half of the book next to nothing happens, it's just all vibes and setting and only the slightest hints, while in the second half it's reveal after reveal). I would have liked that to be more stretched out in the book.
Also the action scenes at the end were not written like action scenes but rather just the same as the scenes about the setting (short descriptions, all the sentences about the same length, no focus on anything. There was next to no suspense in the writing. The only bit of suspense came from the plot though that wasn't a lot because
the way the book was set up, the way that books work, it was kind of obvious they'd make it out of it alive
). So that could have made the book a lot better.

!!! Also there are a LOT of pretty heavy topics in this book, some CNs would have been appreciated!!!

CN r*pe:
Also there are a few scenes where Virgil (nearly) rapes Noemí and that seems to have next to no emotional impact on Noemí?! At first I get it because she thought it was just a dream but then she figured out it wasn't and Virgil continues his doings?! So how the hell can she just act as if all that didn't happen?
That's a part where I think some character work would have been necessary. Her reacting shocked and then continuing as if normal really doesn't fit the situation.

CN c*n*balism:
also wth why is this mentioned in a side sentence and then just totally ignored? How does that not have any effect on the protagonist's psyche? I get that the psyche wasn't the center of the book (though why? Isn't Neomí actually really interested in that?) But the characters learn about that and it has literally NO IMPACT on any of their actions!

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angelfireeast24's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0


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luna_lovelace's review against another edition

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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? No

5.0

Mexican Gothic is such an incredible thriller book that had me on the edge of my seat! 

The way Noemi's character was written was simply amazing. She had a sassy attitude and wasn't afraid to speak her mind, which made her stand out from other characters in the book. Noemi's personality was the key to solving the mystery and I loved how the author portrayed her. 

Francis, on the other hand, was timid at first, but his character development was admirable. He grew stronger as the story progressed, and I was pleasantly surprised by his actions towards the end. The author did a fantastic job of making his character come to life. 

It took a little while for the story to truly turn into a horror story, but I was alarmed from the start by Howard's character.
His twisted personality gave me the chills and it didn't help that he was racist. I was more disturbed by the scene where he's on his deathbed, made me gag.


The ending was unexpected,
but it was a happy ending for Noemi, so you won't hear any complaining from me. Although the ending was left open to interpretation by the reader on what happens next, I think it was the perfect way to end the book.

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celery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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litoreads's review against another edition

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

3.5


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veepopp's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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judassilver's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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

2.5

hmm. i think this had the potential to be good, but it just fell short. for a book titled mexican gothic, there was little to none about mexican culture, and even the characters were mainly white. the gothic parts i think were executed better. i love spore-horror so that was great, but other parts were not so good. and like many others said in the reviews, it was incredibly slow. also some of the characters are underdeveloped or just gross. so approach this at your own risk.

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thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.0

This was exactly what I wanted it to be. It's rare that a horror novel actually manages to gross me out, but man oh man did this manage it. It also managed to evoke such visceral anger in me that I had to put the book down and walk it off. The characters were well crafted, the atmosphere was unnerving, and the plot gave me all the gothic vibes I was looking for. 

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