A review by hmatt
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was really intrigued by the genre fusion, but it sorely disappointed me. I suppose there's a case for the author saying something by differentiating whether a character was "good" or "evil" based on whether or not they spoke Spanish, but I really didn't feel the Mexican part of Mexican Gothic particularly stood out to me. The first chapter introduces this really interesting urban historical Mexico, and then we immediately pivot to the middle of nowhere and never return to that setting.

I found the character development to be weak and I was not convinced by any of the close relationships, including the romantic one. I was put off by how drawn-out the lead-up was for just a few teeny itsy-bitsy action scenes. The horror elements echo the likes of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation and Rory Power's Wilder Girls. I intend to read Authority next and I recently finished Wilder Girls, so it could be over saturation, but I just didn't find any of the descriptions of the Gloom to be as compelling as comparable descriptions in these other novels.

I think this all sounds very negative, but the writing itself is solid and the premise is interesting. It reads a lot like YA except for a few random R-rated bits. I just feel like it's been done before, and better.
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