Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

72 reviews

thoseoldcrows23'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? 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Racism, Infidelity, Infertility, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Cursing, Body horror, Blood, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Child death, Cannibalism, and Miscarriage

bugaboobear's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

For a book called Mexican Gothic it certainly is very European. I was pretty disappointed with that; I was really looking forward to the Mexican setting and characters.

The plot itself was good and the pacing picked up around the half way mark and kept me reading until it was finished. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Body horror, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Racism, Xenophobia, Incest, Murder, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, and Sexism

Minor: Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Suicide

denlia's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Gore, Violence, Racism, War, and Terminal illness

kgc8's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

Wow, the author does an amazing job of creating a menacing and creepy atmosphere. From the moment you enter High Place, you can feel something is wrong. Throughout the story, it's hard to pinpoint the source of the discomfort and the author kept me guessing. In contrast to the awful house and its denizens, Noemi is a plucky and courageous heroine - she knows when to fight and when to play along - and it's easy to root for her. Horror is not my favorite genre, but this is a really well done story and lingered in my mind after I finished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Forced institutionalization, and Body horror

Moderate: Terminal illness and Misogyny

Minor: Cannibalism

nadiaxm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

4.5 a slow start but it’s really good
full of gothic, creepy, ambiance and fungi

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Sexual assault, and Sexism

cadybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Sexual content, Medical content, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Incest, Infertility, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Cursing, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, and Animal death

_qwert's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Incest, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Gore, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Racism, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

corriejn's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Colonisation, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

2.5

It’s great for gritty scene lovers, and made me compare to books like Annihilation and maybe even Severance or The Raven King. But those books have excellent dialogue, characters, and narrative flow. This book fell flat in all those areas.

I kept having to put this down because the story stiffly shifts from one room, then another, then town, then something trippy happens. The plot was constantly interrupted with stories of past figures and happenings, which would have been something better discovered organically, or detail revealed to the reader through alternate chapters. So what I’m saying is that the book could use some more editing.

By the end, I think it was trying to draw parallels of the Grant Wood painting American Gothic,

if the knowledge of the figures are father and daughter, there’s a light conspiracy twist of incestuous relationship… idk!

The book was certainly unsettling, and full of ‘shrooms. I’m guessing with how often the word “putrefaction” came up, they would be particularly smelly ones! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Slavery

Minor: Incest

xiggy's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Body horror, Sexual content, Gore, Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence