Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

161 reviews

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

eli_like_a_lie's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Body horror, Incest, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Gun violence, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent and War

There is a lot descriptions of rot/mold/fungus

paronomaniac's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

Meh.
The ending felt obvious and could have happened 100 pages sooner without losing much of the story. Not overly scary, creepy or atmospheric. A bit of a let-down, to be honest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent, Incest, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicide

krispy_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Rape, Suicide, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Confinement, and Colonisation

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

5.0

 

After saying for months I was going to read it, I finally read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia, published by Del Ray books. This was a book of the month choice for me last year–so long ago I couldn’t even tell you which month! But I finally read it and I’m mad at myself for putting it off for so long!

Mexican Gothic is a gothic horror set in 1950 Mexico, where Noemi recieves a frantic letter from her cousin who believes her new husband’s family is trying to poison her. Noemi goes to the house to figure out what’s going on, only to find there are more secrets than she initially realized and there’s something odd about the house.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was loosely reminiscent of gothic stories like The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins and Gilman and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. The writing style was descriptive and truly set me in the place, that creepy, creaky, moldy house. I liked how the horror slowly built in tension until the climax, using disgruntled relatives, nightmares, and family secrets to aid in its mood. The motifs were clever–mushrooms, the ouroboros, and the use of dreams all playing a role.

There wasn’t much I didn’t like. While much of the characters are meant to be unlikable, I still felt a strong resonance with the protagonist (and a strong distrust of all other characters, which I think built the story). I suppose there were scenes I think didn’t matter as much and could have been cut out–the beginning, for example, might have been cut shorter, though it did help me as a reader get to know the main character’s personality a bit more. I also really could have done without as many scenes that hinted or nearly led to sexual assault (trigger warning for the book! that and some body horror, which I don’t mind as much!). I think things can be horrifying without having to add SA scenes and there can still be a theme of feminism versus sexism without those scenes, too.

But speaking of which, there were some powerful themes in the book! There were themes of female empowerment, shown in the main character’s sassiness, fighting the expectation of submissiveness. Plus, her cousin may have been a damsel in distress, but towards the end had found her own empowerment. Another theme was about eugenics with the Darwinian ideal, which was the whole idea behind the horrors of the novel (and the basis for the other horrors found throughout the book, and seen in minor ways like racist comments or colonialism from the family).

I’m afraid if I type more, I’ll reveal some spoilers. So I’ll leave with this: I loved this book! I’ve been debating between four and five stars, but I think it’s a five star read in the end! Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, and Rape

royalwaves's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Emotional abuse, and Infertility

corabookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

Very scary, amazing writing, really well-planned mystery. :]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, Confinement, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Death, Alcohol, Suicide, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Death of parent, Drug use, and Incest

piphux's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Gore, and Incest

Moderate: Suicide, Racism, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Violence, Confinement, Child death, Death of parent, and Cannibalism

Minor: Gun violence, Drug use, Vomit, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, and Incest

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage

bubblegirl858's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was a whirlwind for me. I love this author and her writing style. It was a really good blend of creepy suspense and mundane life. I really enjoyed how everything was described and it felt like I could see the castle and the characters right in front of me. Creepy books aren’t really my thing, but this book was done very well. You love to hate every single character for their flaws and their strengths. It kept me guessing until the last second what was going to happen.

As I just finished watching The Last of Us, mushrooms and fungi are officially on my do not trust list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Death, Sexism, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual assault, Classism, and Violence

Minor: Incest