Take a photo of a barcode or cover
paragraphsandpages 's review for:
Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I don't read a lot of horror but after seeing the praise from my friends about this book, it was selected as my discord book club's august read, and I found myself getting quite excited! I don't have anything against horror, I just don't often find concepts I find interesting enough to convince me to pick them up, but this one definitely seemed up my alley.
Right from the beginning I loved Noemi as a character, she was such a strong character yet was also so much more than that. She stood up for herself and her cousin, and her love for her cousin and her compassion for people was amazing to read. Her ambition, alongside her wavering interests in various fields of study and various men, made for an interesting combination and wholly unique character and voice. In the end, she carried the book for me, especially in the beginning, since it took quite a while for the 'creepy' stuff to start kicking in.
When this book finally did dive deeper into what was wrong with the house and the Doyles, it went hard. We were teased at first with hints of a dark past, the isolation of the family, weirdly specific and antiquated rules within the house itself, and the general demeanour of those living in it, but not given anything substantial until 40-50% through. The longer Noemi stayed in High Place, the weirder things would get, and I loved piecing together why and how things were the way they were. It helped I was also genuinely interested in both Francis and Virgil (for ENTIRELY different reasons), and I wanted to see what was up with this insane family.
The twists were well planned and foreshadowed yet still surprising. I often saw the pieces there but couldn't figure out the overall image of the puzzle, and it made the reveals that much more horrifying when I finally found out what all these hints truly meant. The Doyles are fucked up on so many levels, the house even more so, and it was overall woven so well into the story without overdoing it. Because of this, this book has quite a few triggers, but I felt they were all well-done, handled with care and only used to the extent it was necessary to portray the depth of darkness in the characters and the setting, and not just for shock value.
Overall, I really enjoyed this 1950's horror with strong gothic vibes, and I can't wait to read more from Moreno-Garcia! She seems to have written such a wide range of works, and I can't wait to see her writing style applied to a variety of genres.
Right from the beginning I loved Noemi as a character, she was such a strong character yet was also so much more than that. She stood up for herself and her cousin, and her love for her cousin and her compassion for people was amazing to read. Her ambition, alongside her wavering interests in various fields of study and various men, made for an interesting combination and wholly unique character and voice. In the end, she carried the book for me, especially in the beginning, since it took quite a while for the 'creepy' stuff to start kicking in.
When this book finally did dive deeper into what was wrong with the house and the Doyles, it went hard. We were teased at first with hints of a dark past, the isolation of the family, weirdly specific and antiquated rules within the house itself, and the general demeanour of those living in it, but not given anything substantial until 40-50% through. The longer Noemi stayed in High Place, the weirder things would get, and I loved piecing together why and how things were the way they were. It helped I was also genuinely interested in both Francis and Virgil (for ENTIRELY different reasons), and I wanted to see what was up with this insane family.
The twists were well planned and foreshadowed yet still surprising. I often saw the pieces there but couldn't figure out the overall image of the puzzle, and it made the reveals that much more horrifying when I finally found out what all these hints truly meant. The Doyles are fucked up on so many levels, the house even more so, and it was overall woven so well into the story without overdoing it. Because of this, this book has quite a few triggers, but I felt they were all well-done, handled with care and only used to the extent it was necessary to portray the depth of darkness in the characters and the setting, and not just for shock value.
Overall, I really enjoyed this 1950's horror with strong gothic vibes, and I can't wait to read more from Moreno-Garcia! She seems to have written such a wide range of works, and I can't wait to see her writing style applied to a variety of genres.