Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Meksikos gotika by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

179 reviews

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.0

all i wanted was something like 'the hauting of the hill house' by sherley jackson but all i got was the author's gross sexual assault fantasy and a half assed mystery thrown in the background. The mystery was at least a decent backdrop that made the (MANY) assaults make sense??? but also stockholm syndrome? or mental fuckery as everything descends into madness but it was honestly done so badly and in such poor taste i hated every second of it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Murder, Confinement, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Gun violence, Death, Classism, Sexism, Rape, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Incest

Moderate: Cannibalism, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Gore, and Grief

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

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

kaylokay_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Murder, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Medical content, Incest, Gun violence, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Classism, Racism, Cursing, and Sexual harassment

justagir1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Incest, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Misogyny, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Confinement, Racism, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Child death, Sexism, and Infidelity

flamming_bluejeans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Incest, Sexual harassment, Violence, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Rape, Suicide, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Toxic relationship, Racism, Misogyny, Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, Gore, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Vomit, Cursing, Alcohol, and Medical content

rachblank's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, and Murder

Minor: Rape

sonaea's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

I really can't rate this book. One could argue for every single possible rating.

I really liked the first half (4+ stars) though there are a lot of problematic things in there (esp. in the later half) that aren't handled very well/believably (~2 stars).

At the start there's not a lot of plot but rather a lot of just the vibes of dark, creepy houses, though the plot picks up at about the middle. I was surprised by the solution to the puzzle as I did not expect

it to be some kind of supernatural thing going on, I actually thought the plants in the greenhouse were poisonous and the family poisoned the cousins

. What it turned out to be was a bit irritating at first but once I got over that, the rest of the read was quite enjoyable.
I really liked that Noemí is headstrong, intelligent and doesn't let people run her over. That made an interesting protagonist and the setting was quite nice too as I haven't read many books set in historic Mexico (though that wasn't really in the focus of the story).

I also liked how she slowly gets to know Francis and I think their relationship to each other is really interesting.

Also, I feared they wouldn't burn the house down but then they did so I'm glad, that was absolutely called for.

What could have used a bit more work is the pacing (at the first half of the book next to nothing happens, it's just all vibes and setting and only the slightest hints, while in the second half it's reveal after reveal). I would have liked that to be more stretched out in the book.
Also the action scenes at the end were not written like action scenes but rather just the same as the scenes about the setting (short descriptions, all the sentences about the same length, no focus on anything. There was next to no suspense in the writing. The only bit of suspense came from the plot though that wasn't a lot because

the way the book was set up, the way that books work, it was kind of obvious they'd make it out of it alive

). So that could have made the book a lot better.

!!! Also there are a LOT of pretty heavy topics in this book, some CNs would have been appreciated!!!

CN r*pe:

Also there are a few scenes where Virgil (nearly) rapes Noemí and that seems to have next to no emotional impact on Noemí?! At first I get it because she thought it was just a dream but then she figured out it wasn't and Virgil continues his doings?! So how the hell can she just act as if all that didn't happen?
That's a part where I think some character work would have been necessary. Her reacting shocked and then continuing as if normal really doesn't fit the situation.

CN c*n*balism:

also wth why is this mentioned in a side sentence and then just totally ignored? How does that not have any effect on the protagonist's psyche? I get that the psyche wasn't the center of the book (though why? Isn't Neomí actually really interested in that?) But the characters learn about that and it has literally NO IMPACT on any of their actions!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Incest, Sexual assault, Murder, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Vomit and Miscarriage

There are A LOT of problematic things happening. Most are mentioned, the description style of the book isn't one that goes into detail much. I tried to find most things that should have a CN, but I certainly didn't get every single one. So do be careful when reading this book! (Also I added 'toxic relationship' by which 'toxic family-relationship' is meant)

averagesparrow's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Confinement, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Genocide

Minor: Gun violence, Suicide, Alcohol, and Murder

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Infertility, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Violence, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Vomit, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment