Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favorite quote: 

“She was the snake biting its tail. She was a dreamer eternally bound to a nightmare, eyes close even when her eyes had turned to dust.”

I hardly know where to start with this one. 😮‍💨  

This book has been on my TBR for ages, and when another Silvia Moreno-Garcia novel popped up at my library, I decided it was finally time to dive in. I’m not sure what I expected, but let me tell you—I’ve spent most of my time reading (or rather, listening) with a shocked expression and my hand over my mouth. There’s no way to discuss this book without diving into spoilers, so consider yourself warned.  

Let’s begin with the fact that Mexican Gothic is masterfully written. Reading it felt like watching a slow-motion car crash, you can’t look away, no matter how horrifying it becomes. I don’t typically gravitate toward horror, but this novel had me completely engrossed.  

Based on the cover alone, I never would have guessed what I was getting into: a story about a well-to-do aristocratic family hiding a dark and grotesque secret. At the heart of their power lies “The Gloom,” a sinister living mold and spore system that sustains their incestuous legacy.  

Noemí, our protagonist, a vibrant socialite and party girl, is summoned to the family’s crumbling mansion, High Place, under the pretense of checking on her cousin Catalina, who recently married into the Doyle family. What follows is a descent into madness, manipulation, and terror as Noemí realizes the family isn’t just eccentric, they’re feeding her the mold to bind her to their home and their twisted bloodline. All of this is orchestrated under the watchful eye of the family patriarch, the original Doyle, who has used the mold and incest to transfer his consciousness through generations of male heirs.