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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

705 reviews

caspianabound's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

5.0

This was literally so good. Gothic mansion. Fungal Horror. Historical context. Spooky mystery. Yesss!

The book did have a slower start, which is common in Gothic Horror, but it was all for a good reason. It really worked to set up the plot and the characters. The writing was super atmospheric and vivid and that made the build up all the better. And once it got going it got GOING.

The characters were so well written in could literally see them in my mind. Super fun, creepy, disgusting read. 5 stars.
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naz18's review against another edition

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

3.5

I never wanted to throw up more than when Virgil opened his mouth 😒

It took me a while to read the first half of the story, but then there was the turning point where I just binged the rest of the book cause it felt addictive. Quite good imo
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sparklefarm's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It's difficult to read a book clearly and judge it on its own merits when it's been hyped for so long and your job is Books. Honestly, I think that let me down a bit here as I was primed for la creme de la creme. Additionally, the first Silvia Moreno Garcia book I read (The Daughter of Dr. Moreau) was less than stellar, so I was already worried that Mexican Gothic was overhyped. I don't know that I can speak to that but I will say I did enjoy this book. Unfortunately, the
sexual assault
pulled me out of the story, since that crime's already too horrific for me before adding spec fic flavor. Overall the writing is good, not great - too much tell, not enough show. But I'm still rating this closer to a 4 than a 3 because I could not. stop. reading. Well done, Silvia.
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folklorisms's review against another edition

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

4.25

if i had a nickel for every time
fungus is the villain
i’d have two nickels which isn’t much but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. anyways the spook was very present in this book and it was excellent. gave me vague mary shelley
but with fungus
and crimson peak
but with fungus
vibes
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gabydoesgrowth's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm not 100% sure what to think about this book. I feel like ultimately it feels hollow. Like none of the characters felt really fleshed out, except for maybe Noemi but even she felt like she could be replaced easily. I agree with one of the comments I saw about the setting being in Mexico and how it didn't feel like a significant part of the story. I understand it was meant to comment on colonialism, but it fell flat for me. I will say the fungi aspect of it thoroughly creeped me out. 
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ggcd1981's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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cygneflowers's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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kanj1's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
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sebyreads304's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

3.0

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thebuttler's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

First, I cannot stress how important it is to skip the author approved content warnings and check the ones posted by other readers. The approved ones do not scratch the surface of what goes on in this book. Do yourself a favor and check before reading.

As for the rest: if you're looking for a book to puzzle over, this is not it. The author is incredibly heavy-handed at the start, dropping clues with all the subtlety of a neon sign for the first fifty pages, but apart from that, I found Mexican Gothic to be pretty good. It's a creepy house tale in the grand tradition of the Haunting of Hill House, with a heavy dash of colonialism and a generous helping of men are trash. It's definitely a story I'm going to sit with for a while now that I've finished, and could easily see myself rereading in a year or two. That said, it's not exactly worth the hype surrounding it, but still, as I said, it's pretty good.
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