Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

11 reviews

chloe0546's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

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

rain02's review against another edition

4.25

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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Medical content

emzinator's review against another edition

4.75

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

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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: Gore, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation

lorenag5's review against another edition

2.0

dark fast-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

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It’s a page-turner but god the writing is terrible, and so predictable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

alice_clawford's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cannibalism

Minor: Slavery, Suicide

lorriss's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious tense

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Car accident, War

faeriequeenlauren's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Upon first read, I gave this 4.75 stars simply because I felt the initial set up went on for too long. Looking back on it now, I think the choice to have such a slow start really pays off when things pick up in the end. I enjoyed how slow the first 100 pages were, because in contrast, the last 200 pages felt much more wild and disorienting with so much going on plot-wise.

I loved the development of the relationship between Francis and Noemí and even though I’m not obsessed with Francis as a character, I liked where the story went. It was never too heavy on the romance side of things, which I felt was appropriate for the subject matter. 

The whole ending and the big reveal of what’s actual going on was a bit predictable imo, but the execution was well done, so I can forgive the predictability. The mushrooms being mentioned in the beginning was pretty obvious to me, as well as the mold in the house, etc. And the eugenics stuff in the beginning kind of revealed the incest bit that came later, but again, I’m not super upset by it being predictable to a certain extent, as the execution of the end reveals was so well done that it made up for the twists being a bit predictable.

 

Moreno-Garcia’s writing style is beautiful. I loved the words she used to describe things and I felt like her vocabulary choices really emphasized the haunting, disturbing nature of what was happening. 

I also loved Noemí as a protagonist. She was smart, headstrong, self-assured, etc. She never let the chaos around her completely consume her, which I loved. In addition, she was an active player in the narrative of the story, and lead many events, rather than just letting them happen to her. 

Overall, if you like Crimson Peak, Jane Eyre, The Invitation, We Are What We Are, or anything with a strange family with secrets living in a creepy gothic manor, you’d probably love this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Classism

katsmeowbrown's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Cannibalism, Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism

beeper_agent's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Very good book! Gripping. It's haunted by ghosts of colonialism, metaphorically speaking. The fantasy elements were very imaginative and did a lot of work in carrying the themes of the story. Themes of decay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse

pennepasta's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The story starts off pretty slow but when it picks up, it really picks up. It reminded me very much of some of Lovecraft's monsters but in a more human, real form which really added to the horror element of the book.

When Naomi find out about the whole mushroom, switching bodies, disgusting uncle fiasco, I was actually shocked. I don't know what I was expecting but it was not this. The imagery of Agnes' corpse covered in mushrooms and everything about Virgil did a wonderful job of enhancing the vibe of the book.

I do have to say that some of the racism and sexism was even more disgusting than the actual horror part, but overall, a very compelling horror stand-alone. I wasn't completely terrified, but the atmosphere of the books was more eerie and mysterious and left me on edge ever before the horror actually began. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Sexism

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Abandonment