Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Мексиканска готика by Калина Павлова, Емилия Л. Масларова, Слава Александрова, Фейсаут Стюдио/Тим Грийн, Румяна Георгиева, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

299 reviews

sammybee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

2.0

I thought this book was going to be more scary than it precieved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

saffic's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and I don't have too much to say. I feel it's pretty solidly 4 stars, I might drop it to 3.5 if I think overthink everything. Only have 2 real complaints.

1. In a lot of author interviews, Silvia Moreno-Garcia states that one of the core gothic horror tropes is an 'alluring but dangerous man'. And I am assuming that Virgil is supposed to fill that role in this story. However, whatever 'allure' he may have had, quickly faded for me when

  he started echoing all the things his father said. Would he probably hold those views? Yes, absolutely. But the fact that Noemi really started thirsting for him after he told her he believes in inferior races, girl. I cope by thinking the shrooms had infested her brain at that point.

2. This point is all spoilers so-

The ending. I am a huge fan of bittersweet/gut-wrenching endings so this complaint is for me and me alone. All of the good guys survived. I won't say they lived happily-ever-after as the author has flirted with the idea of a sequel, but yeah. I get why the author chose to have Francis and Catalina survive, but part of me wished one of them got messed up in the end. They are both the 'princess in the tower' that Noemi saves, a play on her earlier wish. I wish Catalina had more scenes because I wanted her inevitable killing of Virgil to have more weight, but it just didn't. They barely interact. Was he a shitty husband? Probably, but do we ever see it directly? No. If there had been a scene earlier in the book where Noemi sees Catalina seem perfectly fine with Virgil, but she moves away from him every time he gets closer or something to that extent would have even been enough. Justice for Catalina she deserved more development.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Incest, Death, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Colonization is the big back drop of this whole story. With colonization comes racism, classism, etc. The other big horror looming over the story is eugenics. If the discussions/mention/themes of eugenics are a big problem for you, back out now.

elizas's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Highly unusual, and I really liked the way that 1950s Gothic tropes were transferred to Mexico. I felt the first half of the book was very slow, though, and the second half often grim. I would highly recommend checking content warnings if you have any triggers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Incest, Sexism, Kidnapping, Bullying, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Confinement

Minor: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, Rape, and Child death

katemarie99's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

It's giving Saltburn. It's giving Wuthering Heights. It's giving Beloved. It's giving The Yellow Wallpaper. It's giving Get Out. It's giving Alice in Wonderland.

I'm spooked down to my very bones, but this is a good book. Do yourself a favor and check out TWs first, tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, Incest, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Murder, Child death, Colonisation, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.0

I do not know how to feel about this book lmao. Moreno-Garcia does a good job of creating this sort of creeping sense of horror and realizations, and Noémi is a compelling character with a ton of backbone. But somehow, despite this book not being very long, it feels like it really dragged on: there are a ton of reveals around 2/3 of the way through the book, and I felt like the next 100 pages both moved very slowly, and went a million different places that made no sense. I appreciated the author's critique of colonialism and cultural sexism, but this one just didn't work for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, Racism, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Kidnapping, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Sexual harassment

bucketsjen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

Likeable and dislikable main characters, in appropriate ways. Well done. Very engaging. There's inspiration from classic horror woven in, which I enjoyed a lot.

Without saying whether the ending was good or bad, it was satisfying.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, Colonisation, Child death, and Misogyny

Fungi. A lot of mold and mildew and fungi.

emzinator's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

This book has a sleepy lull in the first half - but don't worry, it picks up SO much. I think this book reads almost like a screenplay, and I hope the Hulu limited series gets back on track! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Incest, Gaslighting, Blood, Confinement, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Murder

melanishka's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5, rounded up 

This was.... not at all what I was expecting. Beautiful writing, absolutely terrifying setting and premise, and progressively spookier with every chapter. I loved the ending leaving a bit of uneasiness with you. I'd love to see this adapted into a film or Netflix series!

(.5 stars removed for the unnecessary baby cannibalism thing?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Child death, Child abuse, Cannibalism, and Blood

amyiris's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Incest, Racism, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gore, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Mental illness, Colonisation, and Gaslighting

garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The first big reveal was kind of an obvious one, but they took it in an unexpected direction. It was interesting and well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Medical content, Murder, Incest, Gaslighting, Confinement, Racism, Body horror, and Classism

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Colonisation, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Child death, War, Suicide, Rape, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

The r*pe tag is for

an attempt that is stopped