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A review by abinthebooks
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5.0
Update: I cannot stop thinking about this book, I loved it so much. I’m going to have to give it 5 stars. I just cannot explain my love for this book, it deserves way more than a 4.5, I cannot get it out of my head.
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”It wasn't made for love, the house.”
“Any place is made for love,” she protested.
“Not this place and not us. You look back two, three generations, as far as you can. You won't find love. We are incapable of such a thing.”
What the fuck. This is probably one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read in my entire life, but in the absolute best way possible. I’ve said many times on here how much I love gothic books, and weird shit. But I really think this one takes the cake for some of the most atmospheric gothic and weirdest shit I’ve ever read in my entire life.
Mexican Gothic is not only a gothic horror story, but it also touches on topics such as colonialism, white supremacy, race, and eugenics. Set in early 1950s Mexico, a woman named Noemí gets a strange letter from her newly wedded cousin, Catalina. Catalina claims that there are people in the walls of her new home and her husband is poisoning her. Her letter is a plea for help. Noemí’s father, worried of scandal and of Catalina’s mental state, forces Noemí to travel to Catalina’s new home and check on her. Noemí arrives to find a moldy, crumbling mansion, and an oddly intense family. Catalina acts just as strangely as she did in her letter, and the family gets weirder by the day. Upon further stay in the crumbling manor, Noemí starts having visions, and the house might even be haunted.
Mexican Gothic is a fucked up, spooky story with some gross, slow burn fungal horror, and very descriptive, gothic imagery. I was very pleased with the strange style of writing in the book, and the slowbuild horror elements. Noemí is also a very smart and fearless heroine, which made her very fun to follow. I quite enjoyed watching her girlboss her way through this book, and the patriarch’s of her cousins new family.
I also quite enjoyed the romance elements in this story, which was not something I was expecting to find in here at all. I didn’t really like Noemí’s love interest, Francis at first, but I really think the romance came to be quite nice as the story went on. Noemí and Francis didn’t have the most chemistry ever, but I still found them interesting enough to root for. Francis was also a nice character to follow as the story went on, I did end up liking him, and he did end up being a sweet love interest for Noemí.
I really did love everything about this book but one thing. I really didn’t like nor appreciate the very firm fixation on rape and sexual assault/abuse in this story. Our heroine, Noemí does get assaulted more than once by men in the house she’s staying at (not by her love interest), and she’s even mind-raped into allowing these things happen to her. Noemí feels completely disgusted after all of these encounters, and these men also have a history of violence towards women/rape and sexual assault. It just made me wildly uncomfortable to read, and I really don’t think it added much overall to the story or the plot. So I just can’t really find it in myself to give Mexican Gothic 5 stars for that reason.
However, I think the reveal was very satisfying, as was the conclusion of the story. I’ve never read anything like Mexican Gothic before. While it’s bones are semi-similar to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and the fungal horror reminiscent of The Last of Us (literally my favorite video game/one of my fave shows ever!!!), it really is it’s own thing. And I really did love every minute of it (besides the sexual assault…). This was definitely up my alley, and I’m so excited to read more from Silvia Monroe-Garcia! If you guys have any more book recommendations like this, please let me know in the comments. I’m definitely in a gothic horror mood right now!
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Gothic Reading Playlist
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”It wasn't made for love, the house.”
“Any place is made for love,” she protested.
“Not this place and not us. You look back two, three generations, as far as you can. You won't find love. We are incapable of such a thing.”
What the fuck. This is probably one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read in my entire life, but in the absolute best way possible. I’ve said many times on here how much I love gothic books, and weird shit. But I really think this one takes the cake for some of the most atmospheric gothic and weirdest shit I’ve ever read in my entire life.
Mexican Gothic is not only a gothic horror story, but it also touches on topics such as colonialism, white supremacy, race, and eugenics. Set in early 1950s Mexico, a woman named Noemí gets a strange letter from her newly wedded cousin, Catalina. Catalina claims that there are people in the walls of her new home and her husband is poisoning her. Her letter is a plea for help. Noemí’s father, worried of scandal and of Catalina’s mental state, forces Noemí to travel to Catalina’s new home and check on her. Noemí arrives to find a moldy, crumbling mansion, and an oddly intense family. Catalina acts just as strangely as she did in her letter, and the family gets weirder by the day. Upon further stay in the crumbling manor, Noemí starts having visions, and the house might even be haunted.
Mexican Gothic is a fucked up, spooky story with some gross, slow burn fungal horror, and very descriptive, gothic imagery. I was very pleased with the strange style of writing in the book, and the slowbuild horror elements. Noemí is also a very smart and fearless heroine, which made her very fun to follow. I quite enjoyed watching her girlboss her way through this book, and the patriarch’s of her cousins new family.
I also quite enjoyed the romance elements in this story, which was not something I was expecting to find in here at all. I didn’t really like Noemí’s love interest, Francis at first, but I really think the romance came to be quite nice as the story went on. Noemí and Francis didn’t have the most chemistry ever, but I still found them interesting enough to root for. Francis was also a nice character to follow as the story went on, I did end up liking him, and he did end up being a sweet love interest for Noemí.
I really did love everything about this book but one thing. I really didn’t like nor appreciate the very firm fixation on rape and sexual assault/abuse in this story. Our heroine, Noemí does get assaulted more than once by men in the house she’s staying at (not by her love interest), and she’s even mind-raped into allowing these things happen to her. Noemí feels completely disgusted after all of these encounters, and these men also have a history of violence towards women/rape and sexual assault. It just made me wildly uncomfortable to read, and I really don’t think it added much overall to the story or the plot. So I just can’t really find it in myself to give Mexican Gothic 5 stars for that reason.
However, I think the reveal was very satisfying, as was the conclusion of the story. I’ve never read anything like Mexican Gothic before. While it’s bones are semi-similar to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and the fungal horror reminiscent of The Last of Us (literally my favorite video game/one of my fave shows ever!!!), it really is it’s own thing. And I really did love every minute of it (besides the sexual assault…). This was definitely up my alley, and I’m so excited to read more from Silvia Monroe-Garcia! If you guys have any more book recommendations like this, please let me know in the comments. I’m definitely in a gothic horror mood right now!
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Gothic Reading Playlist