Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Gótico

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Gótico by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

1021 reviews

izzygreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

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ylmpastmidnight's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Content Warning: violence, death, attempted sexual assault, inbreeding, disgusting body afflictions, cannibalism

I’ve been wanting to read this book for awhile now and I decided to do it as an audiobook and I’m glad! The story went fast and the narrator has a great voice and kept me engaged.

I don’t think I knew what I was getting into with this book but I was lured into the mystery of High Place. Plus, I love Noemi as a character. I love how she is carefree, out-going, charming and a ray of sunshine in High Place. The contrast between her and everyone else at High Place really put into perspective how isolated and creepy the house is.

And this book goes beyond creepy but the story builds up to it. At first I was just wondering, like Noemi, if the house was haunted – especially when the history of the house was told. There was a murder at the house and there were also many people that died in the community when they worked in the mines. I did not expect the turn the story took when everything is revealed. Ugh..and can I say that’s when it goes from creepy to disgusting! And I literally looked like this 😱😫 while listening to the second half of this book. The secrets really are horrifying.

Tropes: creepy house, family secret

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed the audiobook for this story – the narrator had a great voice and the author did a great job with building up the story to it’s horrifying end. I really enjoyed Noemi’s character and how she was a bright light, fighting for her cousin Catalina in this creepy, dark home called High Place. I love the mixture of paranormal, gothic, horror, and history that I got a taste of in this book. For me this was a strange and intriguing tale that had a slow start but finished with a bang.

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braveprincess11's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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ineedrhythm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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laura_cat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

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teresaelj's review against another edition

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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

5.0

I thought this book would play out one way and it totally spun me an other. Needless to say, very interested in mushrooms now. It is sexy, it is tense, it is lovely, it is mysterious, creepy, and truly- At times- horrific. You meet Noemi at the beginning and immediately fall in love with this voracious socialite who just wants to truly live. She has an appetite for flirting and learning and when her cousin suddenly sends a strange letter to her father Noemi’s father offers her a deal she can’t refuse. Off she goes to see what is the matter with her cousin Catalina and there she begins to experience the strange dealings of the Doyle family; who seem to want to consume both women with the same appetite Noemi wants to consume the world. It is a fantastic book that touches topics of grief, eugenics, colonization, and the difficulties of escaping one’s own bloodline. Near the end of the book, the constant ideation of a snake eating its own tail comes - literally- full circle. We are left wondering how to live life with the horrors we have seen and how to move on from the grief of our own bloodline. Overall a trippy dream of confusion; you never really know if what has been experienced is a dream or a hallucination . Great for fans of the new nosferatu.

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bbychowski's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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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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theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

I cannot believe it's taken me this long to read Silvia Moreno-Garcia! I've been missing out! I absolutely tore through this book. The atmosphere, the mystery, the lush writing style, it all clicked immediately for me and I couldn't put this story down. The characters are interesting and well developed, the story is tense and creepy, and ooooh that tonal shift partway through could have totally put me off in another author's hands but SMG pulled it off beautifully!

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library_of_wonder's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A postcolonial gothic horror! Definitely a book you should consider looking up content warnings before reading because this is dark and disgusting, but really good.

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