You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

190 reviews

chulandonmarcum's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I’m giving this book a solid four stars I’m so happy that Francis lived and got out of the house. While i wish the author would have given us more of a closed ending to the book I could definitely see how the author could easily write a second book based off of this one. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thenoboshow's review against another edition

Go to review page

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

abbys's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jinmichae's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

folklorisms's review against another edition

Go to review page

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
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ggcd1981's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wjb11's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

amandahector490's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

There are characters that are lovable and interesting and specifically 4 of them that are horrible for good reason. Not because the author wrote them wrong but because of what they’ve done in the plot. But overall, the story was absolutely amazing, was a little slow in the beginning but it picks up the pace in the middle and has a well-done ending that makes anyone want to read for hours and hours on end. Because this is an adult book, it has some triggers to how women are treated so if that’s something that bothers you than I suggest you find a much less triggering book. But seriously, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in such a long time. Definitely worth recommending!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mood_reading_maya's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings