Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

72 reviews

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Racism, Sexual assault, and Confinement

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, Suicide, Gun violence, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Colonisation and Pregnancy

andloveistoolong's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Incest, Misogyny, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Death of parent, Rape, and Gun violence

Minor: Miscarriage

badmom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Intriguing mystery set in 1950s Mexico surrounding a young woman’s cousin, recently married but suddenly disengaging from her close-knit family. As the main character, a bold & brash (for the 1950s) adventurer, investigates she discovers that her cousin’s in-laws are essentially white supremacists. She also begins to realize their home harbors terrifying & dangerous secrets, and she might be ensnared as well. 
The story is engaging most of tge way & written with soaring, sumptuous imagery at the start but unfortunately unravels once the secrets are revealed - the language ultimately feels more melodramatic soap opera than true, rich gothic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Confinement, Grief, Classism, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Gore, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Sexual content, Car accident, and Medical trauma

apollinares'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? No

2.75

This book had been hyped up for me and based on that, I expected to like it a lot more than I did. I feel like a lot more could have been done with the premise and setting, and many aspects of the story fell very flat for me. 

Noemi isn't as one dimensional as her cousin Catalina, but she doesn't feel as fleshed out as she could have been. She's not vapid or shallow per-se, but the way she reacts to the (batshit insane, and in theory - horrifying) things happening around her is... underwhelming. My love for pathetic sickly men kept me rooting for Francis, but otherwise - the antagonists were predictable, Noemi was predictable, and the ending was kind of rushed? Lots of telling (rather than showing) going on too, and the main conflict/villain/clues towards what was going on, was revealed to Noemi through dreams, which is cheap. 

I genuinely wish I liked that more than I did. It sounded so up my alley, I'm gutted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, and Blood

sagittariusreads_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Incest, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Medical trauma

starswhogaze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Classism, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Stalking, Terminal illness, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Incest, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

lorriss's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Blood, Gore, Confinement, Incest, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Infertility, Pedophilia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicide, Misogyny, Vomit, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Classism, Mental illness, Child death, Cursing, and Chronic illness

Minor: War, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Car accident, and Child abuse

santinasimile's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Terminal illness, Slavery, Death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Suicide, and Mental illness

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Classism, Incest, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Racism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Smoking. Eugenics, dated language. Illness, epidemic. Seizure (non-POV character). Paranoia, surveillance. Sexual coercion, overriding of will.