Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Mexican Gothic - Mexikói rémtörténet by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

143 reviews

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

staarcharmed's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Hate crime, and Vomit

stvalentine's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

this novel falls into a very special category, alongside aciman's 'call me by your name' and de berniere's 'captain corelli's mandolin': books that changed me irrevocably. the language that silvia uses to describe the dread that noemí feels and the hopelessness and rot that consumes her is unparalleled among my (albeit narrow) literary experience, and the characters are (as suits each) perfectly lovable and detestable. if this novel can teach you anything, it is the importance and power of will and self-belief. noemí is able to endure the darkness of the doyle house only through her inner spark. such an excellent novel!!! so excited to see what hulu will do with it :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Incest, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

thelmalantsov's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Gore, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, Incest, and Sexual assault

Minor: Genocide, Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury

arkenst0ne'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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault

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

gothmiku's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Incest, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Infertility, and Genocide

cadence99's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Mexican Gothic slowly lulls you into its setting and then rapidly drops you into a fever dream. Though I normally am not a fan of the way that fever dream like books make me feel as a reader, this one really worked for me. Creepy and inspired by historical realities- I look forward to reading more from this author. 

4⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gaslighting, Rape, Cannibalism, Child death, Mental illness, Sexism, Racism, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Colonisation, and Sexual content

Minor: Classism and Infertility

rewrigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Amazing read, but definitely mind the content warnings on this one. True to the Gothic and horror genres it gets quite dark and graphic. That said, it was unlike anything else I've read, with more of the intrigue that keeps pulling back to Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Body horror, Rape, Incest, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Confinement, Blood, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Child death

singalana'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Initial thoughts after reading this book: I’m a little bit grossed out actually. But since this is a horror novel, that’s a good thing, I suppose. A gothic horror novel, to be more exact. The first half of the book is a bit slow, building the mystery and creating the atmosphere, dropping little hints of what’s to come, and I wasn’t bothered by that at all because that’s what it was supposed to do.

The story starts when Noemí’s father receives a deranged letter from Noemí’s newlywed cousin. Noemí is sent to the dilapidated manor house of the Doyles to investigate. It becomes clear rather fast that there’s something seriously wrong in there. The writing style complimented the story well, and the author’s word choices certainly painted a vivid picture. I think whether you like the ending or not depends on your reading tastes, but I found it satisfying enough. But what was more important than the ending were the ‘vibes’ of this book.

I didn’t fall in love with the characters, but they served their purpose. I think Virgil's character was executed the best. The dialogue was good, especially the way the Doyles spoke. The prose wasn’t perfect, in my opinion, but the book kept me hooked and creeped me out enough to make this a very enjoyable read. And the cover is just gorgeous, by the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Incest, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Child death, Infertility, Murder, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Vomit, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment