Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

374 reviews

supermando's review against another edition

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

4.0

I didn’t know what I was getting into with this one. The synopsis didn’t reveal too much about what was going on and I tended to question the direction the book was headed. Well, by the end I was dead wrong. 
I think I came into this expecting more horror elements, but by the end it felt like an intro to horror. What I stayed for was the gothic tone. The atmosphere was dripping with gothic details. Add to the setting being in Mexico with themes of colonialism and I was sold. 

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justagir1's review against another edition

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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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mathenam's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75


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kat_c_h's review against another edition

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

4.5

I really loved this book. It was suspenseful without being scary. I loved the integration of Mexican culture into this story and watching the mystery unfold with the main character.
I did struggle with some of the more graphic scenes near the end which is why it's not 5/5. I'm

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thede5tiny's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

Honestly took a while for the story to get going but the last 30% is pretty good

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beachyv's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely exceptional. One of my new favorites and a definite reread! 

Such a great introduction to Gothic Horror (with a small amount of Gothic Romance) for me. I will definitely be reading more Gothic fiction and more of Silvia Moreno-Garcia immediately!

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chocolatewings's review against another edition

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

3.75

If these creepy ass men don't get tf away, I swear.

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kateinsurreallife's review against another edition

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

0.5

If you’re coming to the reviews like I did to see if you’re alone… you’re not! This book was such a disappointment from the way people have talked about it. If you’re in the middle of reading this thinking the third act is going to save it, it doesn’t. 

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ebp's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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sonaea's review against another edition

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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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