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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

95 reviews

carodonahue's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The writing in this was beautiful and the setting and characters well-drawn. I thought I’d try something spooky around Halloween, and while the ghost and haunted elements were quite engaging, I found the sexual violence, or more accurately the threat of it, incredibly disturbing and at several points considered setting the book aside. I was curious enough to finish, but I found this further into real life terror rather than otherworldly horror and would not have chosen it had I known it was intense in that way.

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boba_nbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

What a novel! The amount of horror, intrigue, and mystery filled in these 300 pages is a wonder. Never in my life have I read something so creepy and even disgusting at times while being so enthralled and unable to put it down. I loved every word. Moreno-Garcia really gives us her all - her incredible voice moves the story along and brings life to every character. Highly recommend this book, especially during spooky season.

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risemini's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

this was rlly good, i didnt know what to expect from the cover but i got a mix of a less boring dracula and resident evil 7 lmao. i liked the romance too. its objectively a good book

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gbyd's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

3.25

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mirrormir's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

2.5

I realized one thing while I was writing this review: this is not even the best Gothic book I've read this year, and the gothic elements are by far* the best thing about this book.

If you're looking for something with classic horror: that is not what this book is.
If you're looking for magic realism: that is not what this book is.
What this book actually is: fantasy fiction, gothic psychological horror, visceral body horror, and a slow burn romance. Also, this book should come with trigger warnings for

incest, cannibalism, sexual assault, suicide, infanticide, coercion, and murder, of course.

I was a little bit disappointed by this book given that there's been so much hype for it. After reading Gods of Jade and Shadow though, I have to say I'm not that surprised- that one was a truly awful book. I thought this one might be different, and while I did enjoy it significantly more than Gods of Jade and Shadow, it still felt a bit flat in some areas.

What I did like:

-the premise: the idea of this book is good (in actuality it falls short)
-There are a TON of gothic tropes in here. This book really leaned into that and I'm happy it did, it was at least an interesting read.
-The trope of the house as a character- house horror is one of my favorite genres and while I don't think this book really explored that trope to the fullest, it has a good little creepy house in it and for that I am glad.

What I did NOT like:

-The book takes agessss to get going. The first 100 pages are so boring I almost did not make it through.
- The characters are really flat, there's very little character development
- The rushed ending. All the action happens in the last 50 or so pages of this book.
- The "twist" is so underwhelming, I missed it. I literally read the whole book and went, "wait, what? Where's the rest..." because I was expecting there to be some "aha!" moment that never came
- the romance between Noemi and Francis was both unnecessary and unappealing. They should have just been friends!

I wish Noemi and Catalina had had more depth to them- and for a book whose premise is "my cousin mailed a strange letter I need to go make sure she's okay" the cousins in question rarely interact. Catalina might as well have been called Plot Device. Noemi herself is also a very unlovable main character. Like most characters in this book, she has almost no character development and almost no depth to her. Its difficult to like her, and I'm not sure what Francis sees in her to be honest (but I also don't know what she sees in Francis, so they're meant to be I guess).

There were also many difficult scenes to get over, the book really grossed me out, and I'm not really a squeamish person. See the trigger warnings above for context.

And while the book is called Mexican Gothic, the only thing Mexican about this book is the pueblito Noemi gets to visit a couple of times and the unfortunate Revolutionaries that were massacred. I was hoping for more depth into Mexican culture than the typical racist remarks and eugenics commentary made by some of the British characters but sadly there was just not enough there. It might as well be called British Gothic.

It is not my favorite book I've read this year, and while I think it has many faults, I think fans of Crimson Peak and Wuthering Heights will enjoy this one.

*For the best Gothic book I've read this year see Gideon the Ninth

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kazik'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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littlemissgemreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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iwi's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

It took me a bit to get into the story but once it started going wow. The imagery is so tangible. The creepy factor is high but all of it feels very relevant to the story and the plot and not just there for shock. I absolutely loved the relationship that comes out of this and I feel like it's one of those rare ones that had such a solid build up and not just instalove. I would love to see this as a movie but I don't think I'd be able to sleep.

Content Warnings