Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Mexican Gothic

I adored Gods of Jade and Shadow and was excited to read this, especially considering the level of buzz it received. I also love Gothic literature and was curious to see how Moreno-Garcia approached the genre and adapted it into a Mexican context.

Overall I think this is an accomplished entry into the Gothic literary canon. It takes many of the tropes of the genre (e.g. young female protagonist who wonders if she's going mad, scary house, mean old lady who hates protagonist) and weaves them into a new story.

I was surprised at first at how much the setting is literally a transplanted English Gothic setting into the Mexican countryside, however as I kept reading I was very impressed at how this was used to explore themes of colonisation, misogyny, and the subjugation of poor and female bodies.

The atmosphere in the book begins with low level, constant dread which slowly ratchets up the tension into full panic, and the body horror is incredibly visceral and stomach-turning.

I did however find it dragged in some moments, and the plot became a bit convoluted towards the end. I felt like the book was trying to fence sit on whether or not the cause was supernatural, and having it end up being

semi-sentient, consciousness-trapping mushrooms pushed my suspension of disbelief by not leaning hard enough into either.

I also found

the romance plot weak and the ending very unearned, however I also found it funny how often she took care to mention how uggo the love interest was.

Overall I think this is is a more polished book than Gods of Jade and Shadow, but I found that to be a more enjoyable and emotionally engaging read, hence it receiving a higher rating.

I also think this is a book that would benefit from a second reading once all of the plot twists are revealed.

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mood_reading_maya's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

I am not an avid horror reader. Dark romance, sure; but horror? I'm a scaredy cat. However, this straddled the line sufficiently with historical fiction (set in 1950s Mexico) that I had to read it.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is so adept at slow build plot and character tensions and visceral and atmospheric world-building. In a way, she can perfectly convey that sense of something is not right here. I was thoroughly creeped out by this! The further I got into the book, the clearer the underlying questions became.

What shrouds prohibit us from seeing the truth?
Who gets to decide what lives are valued and remembered, disposed and forgotten?
How are women framed as "hysterical," "demanding," or "problematic"? And what methods are used to subjugate their perceived misbehaviors?

The use of mold, fungi, mushrooms (all forms of mycorrhizal networks) to show the interconnected nature of systems of harm as well as their pervasiveness.

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fozzyreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Pretty fun read, unique mystery and villian.

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ghostsversion's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What a wonderful book to start the new year with. Not only did this book make me appreciate Gothic novels a tad more, the inclusion of fungi horror was something I didn’t realise I was craving for. And how gross and disgusting it was. But I do love

women killing bitches.

I also like it in a way that

there is still uncertainty on whether the gloom is really gone, leaving it to the beliefs of the reader. I personally like to think they did it, if only for my own peace of mind.

I also find it funny how I misconstrued the Doyles‘ plan before the reveal, as I thought

they were merely planning to slowly kill Catalina and have Virgil marry Noemí for whatever reason. I was kind of right I guess but still.

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desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

What a weird(?) little story. This is absolutely a book for fall, where all the leaves are dying and you're sitting inside reading dark mystery novels, eating mushroom risotto. "Welcome to the Church of the Holy Incestuous Mycelium" (or something along those lines)

Personally, I've had issues with the more historical genre so this wasn't off to a great start with me. The dark ambiance and the masterium that doesn't get revealed at all until you're in over your head was well crafted, but it just didn't get me, so I'm sorry about that. Gods of jade and shadow, which I've already read before just felt so much more vibrant (and of course, everything here is foggy and gloomy and muted). Anyways, interesting work ; you kind of leave this story with a still uncertain feeling.

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