Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

92 reviews

hannahbailey's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It lost me in parts with the 3rd person narration. I didn't feel connected enough to the characters, although this could have been intentional. With the nature of the plot I feel like 1st person would have been a great opportunity for the readers to access Noemi's fear and horror.

Creepy enough that I couldn't read it before bed (two days in a row I had related nightmares), but overall a bit anticlimactic. The themes of colonialism and eugenics were done well and added much-needed depth to the narrative. Definitely worth a read for something different, and I'm glad I went out of my comfort zone to read this one.

TW: body horror, gore, sexual violence, death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Violence, and Xenophobia

briarsreviews's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the best books I've ever read. Seriously, this inter-text woven with gothic lore, fantasy hijinks, a dash of romance, and riveting plot twists make for an excellent book. I haven't binged a book this hard in a while! 

This book is a wild, roller coaster of a ride full that I couldn't put down. I'm highly impressed with Silvia's incredible writing style, her ability to make the book feel so fast but also move at a pace that only gives us a bit of information at a time. There is foreshadowing galore, and if you're smart enough you'll be able to pick up on the subtle hints the book throws at you...

Overall, this is one of the greatest books I've read in a very long time. It's spooky, it's weird, and it's wild. I absolutely love it.

Sure, it's gorey. And has incest. And has sexual harssment/assault. And a lot of other bad things... But this is the type of fantastical horror I expect out of an incredible gothic writer. 

Five out of five stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Infertility, Body horror, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Slavery, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Incest, and Drug use

Minor: Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

mightyola's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Murder, Cannibalism, Suicide, Incest, Death, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Misogyny, Miscarriage, Sexism, Infertility, Gaslighting, and Racism

wandsoflight's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Rape, Colonisation, Incest, Medical content, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, and Gaslighting

nyssa_jo's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug use, Incest, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Classism, and Colonisation

the_sapphic_witch's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Genocide, Infidelity, Medical content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Abortion and Medical trauma

katie_lacour'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Cannibalism, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Death, and Colonisation

duxfemina22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Racism, Rape, and Drug use

becca_w_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Incest, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Torture, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

There are two instances of attempted sexual assault in this book but one is

later discovered to have been a dream

and the other is

fought off

.