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pn_hinton 's review for:
Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
More like a 4.5 but of course as we know Goodreads doesn't do half stars.
There is slow burn and then there's what this was. Which isn't to say it was a bad thing since there was enough to keep you engaged and actively reading until you go to the big reveal. Which I didn't expect at all and I applaud the author for this unexpected twist that happened at the end. With it all. That said, there were a few things that kept this from being a 5-star for me at least.
I found that NoemÃ, while overall a very strong protagonist, was also a bit inconsistent. She knew her role there was to find out what was going on her cousin but not call attention to it. And she totally called attention to herself at every turn. A lot of that was just her personality but it also seemed that she could have found more out early on if she had kept her head to the ground and been more quiet and observant. I didn't dislike her; quite the opposite. I just wanted her to act a little smarter than she did in some situations. And maybe that's because if I were ever in a situation like this (which hopefully now because sweet f**k was this a twisted story) I would think I would have appeared to be more meek. Because it's always the quiet ones that get you.
The initial reveal happened earlier than I thought it would and then it was just figuring out where they went from. My issue with that was there were too many moments of it seeming like they good guys would won only to be foiled. After the first three instances of that it became a bit tedious. And I know that is a double edged blade since if it seems that way too soon then you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Both situations can make for an anxious reader so it's a matter of picking your preference.
That said this was a great book and I feel that it was well worth the hype and all the accolades that it has gotten. It's only the use of that literary device I mentioned above that kept it from being a 5-stars for me. It also has *a lot* of TW/CW and to explain the type would go into spoiler territory. So just know that going in. Would recommend and would likely re-read to catch all the things I didn't before.
There is slow burn and then there's what this was. Which isn't to say it was a bad thing since there was enough to keep you engaged and actively reading until you go to the big reveal. Which I didn't expect at all and I applaud the author for this unexpected twist that happened at the end. With it all. That said, there were a few things that kept this from being a 5-star for me at least.
I found that NoemÃ, while overall a very strong protagonist, was also a bit inconsistent. She knew her role there was to find out what was going on her cousin but not call attention to it. And she totally called attention to herself at every turn. A lot of that was just her personality but it also seemed that she could have found more out early on if she had kept her head to the ground and been more quiet and observant. I didn't dislike her; quite the opposite. I just wanted her to act a little smarter than she did in some situations. And maybe that's because if I were ever in a situation like this (which hopefully now because sweet f**k was this a twisted story) I would think I would have appeared to be more meek. Because it's always the quiet ones that get you.
The initial reveal happened earlier than I thought it would and then it was just figuring out where they went from. My issue with that was there were too many moments of it seeming like they good guys would won only to be foiled. After the first three instances of that it became a bit tedious. And I know that is a double edged blade since if it seems that way too soon then you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Both situations can make for an anxious reader so it's a matter of picking your preference.
That said this was a great book and I feel that it was well worth the hype and all the accolades that it has gotten. It's only the use of that literary device I mentioned above that kept it from being a 5-stars for me. It also has *a lot* of TW/CW and to explain the type would go into spoiler territory. So just know that going in. Would recommend and would likely re-read to catch all the things I didn't before.