Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

160 reviews

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I was really looking forward to an immersive gothic atmosphere but I never really got that. The main character was so smart throughout the book but made some frustrating choices towards the end. 

There wasn't a ton of character development but I understand why. Most of the characters feel empty, but I feel like they're supposed to given the plot development in the second half of the book.

The book did a good job of reflecting the time period, especially the racism, sexism, misogyny, and the really gross way Howard views "purity". 

The mushrooms themselves felt like a metaphor for colonization and toxic family hierarchy. To support the patriarchal figure of the family, women, children, and indigenous people are literally sacrificed so an old man from the UK can preserve himself and his gross views that only benefit him. Historic events have shown that colonization is a selfish and horrific thing, Mexican Gothic depicts it as such.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Suicide

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

justinecm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Cannibalism, Genocide, Suicide, Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Child death, and Gaslighting

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I put off reading this despite everyone raving about it because I’m stubborn and now I’m ANGRY WITH MYSELF, because there’s a reason this book is so popular!

I have nothing bad to say about it. This was a decadent sort of unsettling that had me guessing right up to the very end. I had such a blast reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, Death, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Racism, Colonisation, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Death of parent, Vomit, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, and Child death

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

This was my first experience with a horror book, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt as I don't have anything within-genre to compare to. I was surprised that I wasn't as scared as I expected to be, though the book was atmospheric and eery and creepy, and I did quite like that. This is not a negative against the book, just a diversion from my assumptions of the genre.

I had a good time with this book. I enjoyed the overall plotline and the characters were intriguing, though many were unlikeable (as they were supposed to be). The resolution to the mystery component was not what I expected but made sense in context of the story, and a few things I'd noticed in the earlier story tied into it.

The main way in which this book fell down a bit for me was in the pacing. The first two thirds were pretty slow, and we took a long time to get little snippets of information and hints towards what was going on. In saying this, I was still intrigued enough to keep reading and I'm glad I did, as the last third was really interesting. I just wanted a little bit of the pace of the last third in the rest of the book.

The actual style of writing, though, was really good and I enjoyed how atmospheric Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing was, I'd definitely be open to picking up one of her books again. I'm also intending to read more horror books in the future. I'd heard this book was a good introduction to the horror genre and I agree with that statement, so if you're looking to dabble in horror then this book could be a good place to start!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Rape

meidayy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Racism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Gaslighting, Drug use, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Child death

Moderate: Incest

lorenag5's review against another edition

dark fast-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

2.0

It’s a page-turner but god the writing is terrible, and so predictable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Murder

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I don’t have many cohesive thoughts but this was a true masterpiece of a novel and I need literally everyone to read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Gore, Body horror, Death, Sexual violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Blood, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Death of parent, Racism, Cannibalism, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Ableism, and Rape

brookiebridge's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

This was an intense, fascinating book with incredibly vivid and beautiful description and imagery. The author did an amazing job fleshing out the characters, and I absolutely adore Naomi, the main character and I was rooting for her the whole time. Themes of the impact of abuse and colonialism are woven throughout this tense story. I couldn’t put the book down and was listening to it at all opportunities. It’s wonderful and creepy from the beginning to the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Although there is no explicit rape in the book, there is a consistent fear and threat of rape, and a nightmares in which the main character is raped by being unnaturally coerced into wanting to have sex. Some characters have an unnatural ability to make others feel uncontrollable lust for them, which they use to threaten or attempt rape. There is also a forced kiss, and people viewing the main character naked against her will, and appearing to her naked against her will.

amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.25

This is a gothic novel. Highly recommend reading more about how gothics are paced before diving in, but it has a gloriously haunted house, an irritating heroine, and a family filled with gruesome, disturbing secrets. I loved it, but I know it's not for everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Racism, Confinement, Death, and Incest

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Murder