Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Mexican Gothic

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Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

53 reviews

thenoboshow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

I enjoyed getting wrapped in this dark (moist?) world. The diolgue really helped with the time and place. I could easily imagine the scenes playing out in a black & white film with romantic actors. Definatly one of my fastest reads this year and one I could recommend to most my friends.

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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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liesthemoontells's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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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