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A review by sparkin
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5.0
If you like haunted houses, women of colour being badasses, Gothic fantasies, women refusing to stay in the boxes they're put in, mind control and mushrooms, then this is the book for you.
It uses genre conventions with absolute earnestness, reminding you of the best bits of Rebecca or Crimson Peak, but then works them into a cultural context where you haven't seen them very much at all (or at least I haven't in English-language writing) so the texture is unique. I would happily read this author's takes on every single genre, having also really enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow.
I did feel like the relationship between the two women at the heart of the story ended up being overshadowed by the love interest, but it's hard to get around that when keeping the women apart is often the point. I think it would have helped if we'd had chance to hear more from Catalina herself instead of hearing snatches of what she'd been through from everyone else. But I also appreciated that she got her own revenge in the end instead of Noemà doing the killing for her.
And ultimately, a colonialist, eugenicist, incestuous necromancer gets stabbed in the eye. I enjoyed the hell out of this.
It uses genre conventions with absolute earnestness, reminding you of the best bits of Rebecca or Crimson Peak, but then works them into a cultural context where you haven't seen them very much at all (or at least I haven't in English-language writing) so the texture is unique. I would happily read this author's takes on every single genre, having also really enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow.
I did feel like the relationship between the two women at the heart of the story ended up being overshadowed by the love interest, but it's hard to get around that when keeping the women apart is often the point. I think it would have helped if we'd had chance to hear more from Catalina herself instead of hearing snatches of what she'd been through from everyone else. But I also appreciated that she got her own revenge in the end instead of Noemà doing the killing for her.
And ultimately, a colonialist, eugenicist, incestuous necromancer gets stabbed in the eye. I enjoyed the hell out of this.