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Graphic: Ableism, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting
Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction
And DAMN - I don’t even have overly well-articulated thoughts about this book yet.
Firstly I will say Garcia has 100% earned her acclaim, the writing was EXCELLENT - great story flow, character development, and suspense.
Silvia Moreno Garcia writing carries a sense of refined purpose - I enjoyed how it didn’t feel like anything was superfluous or wasted. There was a solid chunk in the book before the twist is revealed where I was like ‘what the actual fuck is going on?!’, but even the confusion was well executed and left me turning pages quickly to see what happened next.
Our heroine, Noemí, was enchanting, delightful, extremely smart, and also deeply human. I enjoyed seeing her determination, grit, and courage come to fruition - she truly handled it all so incredibly well, I…would’ve been doomed. 😅😅
Catalina was so sweet, and Francis was such a tragic figure who I became grudgingly fond of. The rest of the Doyle’s, with the exception of Ruth, were horrific people - the women were truly victims but even then so many went along with it - it was just such an intense story.
The only thing I think I would change about this book is to give a bit more closure with the ending.
This was some dark dark shit - the sexism, the incest, the eugenics - jfc - it was A LOT. Truly so fucking horrific. Death by fire was too good for those mf’s
For my fellow sensitive readers definitely check the trigger warnings - I was in a headspace to be able to handle this book but there are several quite upsetting and disturbing scenes and themes.
The eugenics aspect of this book was extremely disturbing - it wasn’t overly belabored but it was eerie and disgusting how normal the Doyle’s seemed to feel it was. I’m a biracial kid, so I’m familiar with the idea of eugenics and shit, but I had, I admit, avoided reading about it beyond the cursory history of it because it is so terrible.
As an aside, I don’t think I’ll be able to look at mushrooms the same way ever again. Iykyk. 🫣
If you’re looking for a banger of a well-written 1950’s gothic style thriller/horror novel, 10/10 would recommend!
As a P.S. I see some people complaining about how slow and boring the first half is - but I think that made the horror really grab you in the second half because the first part *almost* feels like a normal story and you can totally see why Catalina and Noemí were lulled into a false sense of security and self-gaslighting until they learned the truth. To me it seems genius tbh. 😅 Like an episode of The Twilight Zone but more complex and filled out.
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Classism
Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Child death, Suicide
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
There is definitely a great atmosphere to this book. I had dreams specifically about the dread and mystery in this book while reading it. Overall, it's got a decent plot. Is Noemi's cousin insane? Is the house really haunted? Is there more to the story of High Place?
We get all the answers. I personally didn't like the answer to the great mystery but it isn't my book lol. I had two theories as to what it was straight away and one of them was relatively close to the author's chosen path. This is a medium paced book with a SLOW BURN! This book is primarily atmosphere with just a tiny bit of action. The action is ALL at the end. The main character is VERY shallow and not loveable at all but she does want to help her cousin and at least she has a relatable desire to help someone she loves.
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Colonisation
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Gun violence, Rape, Pregnancy
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Suicide attempt
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Cannibalism, Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism