User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Mexican Gothic is a sublime work of post-colonial gothic. It’s a story that unsettled me so effectively I found myself, on more than one occasion, helplessly desperate to claw my way out of my reading experience, to put a merciful distance between me and the words and the bleak and stifling horror that lies within. At the same time, however, I couldn’t. The more I read, the more I
wanted to read.
Mexican Gothic had a solid grip on my attention.
In
Mexican Gothic, Moreno-Garcia uses the familiar trappings of the Gothic genre—a house atop the hill, enshrouded in a brew of dark mist; a gently malevolent proprietor, beautiful but cold as a moonbeam; an entrapped woman, once uncontainable and full of life, growing frail as the shaft of a feather; and a looming dread, threatening to press everyone inside softly and heavily to the ground. The author, however, makes ample room to address and interrogate where the genre’s limitations exist and the forces that inform them, showing the reader something viciously, vividly new.
The project of the novel underneath the poignant horror is a deliberate indictment of racism, colonization, class disparity, and abuse in all its forms. It’s a reckoning with history, and a return to the past, like following a path of blood or the pulse of a still-aching wound—and it makes for a sharp and vital undercurrent to the eerie and haunting atmosphere. Through her lucid and eerily sure-footed prose, Moreno-Garcia sinks the reader into a shadow-steeped, fog-drenched world where reality is turned slippery and slick and the past drags on like a nightmare. Her body horror is splashed out in blunt and nauseous detail, and the steady accretion of apprehension is so oppressively potent you can almost feel the watchful, thrumming presence of High Place clawing at your back.
“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.”
Speaking of, the novel’s setting—High Place—functions as a character in and of itself, so present and embodied and awakened. It’s the home of the eugenics-obsessed Doyle family whose pockets were made rich with gold the labor of Indigenous workers had put there. But the house is a perverse imitation of a home: it is a place where silence yawns like a chasm, cavernous and echoing; a place that is both corrupt and corrupting, a snake devouring its own tail. It's a place consumed by a wrongness so old and so pervasive that it never truly leaves such places. It is embedded in the mold-covered wallpaper, wedged into the supports of the house, needled into every woundlike crevice, humming darkly inside the walls and in the places no one ever ventures.
This wrongness, the novel is careful to illustrate, is as deep-running as roots, spreading through generations like a species of fungus: the result of an endless, unbroken history of brown dreams wrecked and swallowed and devoured for the sake of white people’s wellness, of brown bodies poked and prodded for the innumerable ways in which they could be serviceably consumed, a relentless and hideous abrasion of dignity that is not unfamiliar to many people of color everywhere.
Therein lies the novel's most unforgettable accomplishment: the horror in
Mexican Gothic is so poignant, so stark and oppressively bleak precisely because it's recognizable. It’s racism and xenophobia and white supremacy recast as eldritch nastiness. Strip it of that—of the corrupting illness and the dreams choked with dreadful desire and all the things that lurk deep inside, sleepless and eager to have a go—and it’s real, and it’s vicious and brutally jolting in its sheer, inexorable reality.
Horror, as a genre, offers a dim sanctuary: we read horror to escape, to let ourselves feel and exist through the shock and distress and crawling dread, secure in the knowledge that none of it is real, and that we are firmly in control. But there is no relief in waking up from this novel—this is the thing that exists outside your door, darkly reflective on the page, and you can’t escape it.
“There’re heavy places. Places where the air itself is heavy because an evil weighs it down. Sometimes it’s a death, could be it’s something else, but the bad air, it’ll get into your body and it’ll nestle there and weigh you down. That’s what’s wrong with the Doyles of High Place.”
One other triumphant aspect of this novel that I want to talk about lies with its protagonist, Noemí Taboada.
The protagonist of
Mexican Gothicc is no one’s damsel in distress, swooning prettily on a lover’s arm. Noemí Taboada is a bold, capable, and carelessly curious socialite hunting fun and living life at full blast in 1950s Mexico. She is a scintillating study in multidimensionally: Noemí can be as sweet as candied almonds, and she can be as sharp and tart as a lemon, and her doggedness in the pursuit of life’s capricious pleasures—fine gowns, fine parties, and fine cigarettes—are matched only by her determination to earn a Master’s degree in anthropology. Noemí has a satisfying vehemence to her, edged with bitter resentment against a world that wants to punish her for her ambition, for the sin of hunger. Because a hungry woman is dangerous: she is undutiful and unpliable and does not accept nor submit to intimidation, humiliation, or exotification. A hungry woman is entirely her own person, answerable to herself, and therefore she is considered “a bitch, and a bitch can hardly do anything: all avenues are closed to her.”
I liked Noemí so much, and rooted for her so feverishly. She is a refreshing protagonist, and a colossally vital one. The author renders her voice as permeable as sand, keeping us pressed close to her mind, feeling the raw edges of her anxiety and the whip-crack urgency of her desperation with a piercing keenness. As a result, the gaslighting and the tender manipulation threaded through the quiet lines of
Mexican Gothic—and which Noemí is subject to—become as dreadfully effective as the body horror. The Doyle’s persecution of Noemí—deliberate, unyielding, and sadistic—sought to wear at her sanity like water against stone, to shrink her down to a pliable and docile facsimile of her cousin, and it was so utterly convincing I found myself sweating a little, squirming in my seat in profound discomfort. Even worse, I felt my own certainties unraveling, right alongside Noemí’s. It was profoundly chilling, and I was chilled by it, but I was also impressed. Impressed at the author’s inerrant ability to twist her reader’s feelings like a bit of ribbon, to entrap and tantalize and wrong-foot, to show you all the workings and still make you fall headlong into the shiny trap of it.
At the end, I resurfaced from
Mexican Gothic feeling both exhilarated and exhausted with words, sighing with the horrified relief of a hundred pages' worth of held breath finally expelled, but unable to shake off this novel for days afterwards. This is what I've come to recognize as the gorgeous marker of a well-told story: wonderful and terrible and, like a childhood memory, impossible to escape. Highly recommended!
Rating: really liked it
Yessss! Congratulations! This book won the Goodreads Choice Awards by beating king of the authors ( yes, with so many votes it beat Mr. King’s It Bleeds) !🎉🌈💕🎈🥳🥂
Hell yeah! This deliciously terrifying, gothic adventure will be adapted to Hulu limited series! I cannot wait to binge watch! What an amazing news!🥳🥂💃🏻🕺🏼
OMG! I had no brain right now! The author stole it! I wish she would have put some bravery into my heart because I think I’m not gonna sleep at least for a week and I already brought back Christmas ornaments and enlightened house (I don’t have any idea how much electric bill will coast next month but I’m sure my husband will have the worst scream crying experience of his lifetime.)
This book is insanely terrifying, spin-tingling, horrifying, mind blowing, eyes popping, tear jerker (nope it’s not emotional, you cry like a baby because you realize you just pissed your pants when you were reading it and you’re dying from humiliation! I’ve been there!), paranoid, a dangerous dancing between Mexican folklore, horror stories and Darwin’s theory of natural selection. You want to throw the book and start running outside from your house. ( I took 5 tours around Sunset Boulevard at the rush hour and was saluted by angry drivers’ flipping birds but I didn’t care! Running gave me endorphin and adrenalin I needed.)
Here is the eerie, ominous, petrifying plot of the book:
Noemi is sent to High Place after her father gets an awkward and suspicious letter from her cousin Catalina, recently got married. The letter implied that she’s suffering from a mental illness or there’s something really wrong about her husband Virgil’s mansion. So Noemi goes there to check her cousin’s medical condition and learn the truth hid behind her letter.
But as she takes a few steps to the house, she feels that something is really really wrong about the place : she’s introduced to Virgil’s family resembles us Manson Family meets Adam Family. Yes, they’re completely weird, living by strict rules, having marriages in family, covering the house’s walls with deceased brides. And there is a big tragedy still affects the soul of the house: a daughter kills her family members and commits suicide.
So as a normal person, Noemi should cry for help and run as soon as she meets that eerie people, including control freak, demanding Florence, flirting and nasty Virgil, the maids who act like they swore to silence and don’t forget about Howard reminds us of long time zombie extra of Walking Dead ( I think he’s soul-mate of woman in bath in Shining!) And only normal person of the family is naïve, artistic, shy son of Florence: Francis who loves to talk about fungus.
I’m not gonna give much spoiler but this riveting, heart shattering, blood freezing, scary book has so many alerting elements including ghosts, sleepwalking, violence, bloodshed, disgusting and extreme vulgarity. It’s so different from the first book of the author but if you ask my opinion that did I enjoy it? Of course I truly did! I tested my pain endurance levels. I screamed a lot and I was flabbergasted, speechless at some chapters. And ending, yes it’s volatile, blasting but also satisfying.
This means… here comes another gazillion five stars. But quick note: when you’re reading this book, don’t try to eat your mushroom pizza as like I did. I don’t like to write what happened to me afterwards…
This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO twisted, unexpected, gory, exhilarating! I don’t know a sequel comes after that! But if author decides to write it, I’d be happily to consume it without thinking a second!
Sooooo much special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballantine for sharing this fantastic ARC and making my wish come true in exchange my honest review. And I personally congratulate Silvia Moreno-Garcia for this heart throbbing, extra ordinary book.
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Rating: really liked it
"I pray I'll see you again. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me."WHEW. You think you know where this book is going, and then it goes
there. Mexican Gothic begins in such an unassuming way, where you think you're walking into a traditional haunted house story, and then everything shifts to pull you under like a riptide that doesn't loosen until you turn the final page. Before I dive into my review, I think it's fair to note that the majority of this book is atmospheric, character driven, and the slowest burn imaginable; for me, this worked spectacularly well, as I love to feel completely absorbed into the narrative in horror novels. And yes friends, this is most definitely a horror novel. I'll include content warnings in a spoiler tag below for those who are interested.
"Noemí's father said she cared too much about her looks and parties to take school seriously, as if a woman could not do two things at once."Maybe the reason why this slow burn worked so well for me is because I instantly connected with Noemí; she is confident, intelligent, and the life of the party. When her father receives a suspicious letter from Noemí's cousin, Catalina, he sends Noemí to investigate and report back. As expected, everyone involved gets more than they bargained for, and what begins as a handful of unusual occurrences slowly morphs into a whirlwind of horrifying circumstances.
"This house, she was sure, was haunted. She wasn't one for believing in things that go bump in the night either, but right that second she firmly felt every spook and demon and evil thing might be crawling about the earth, like in Catalina's stories."One of the things I loved the most about this story is how vastly different the haunted house felt. The author has successfully blended the traditional aspects of the old, decrepit, ghost filled residence and a new, more modern aspect, one I won't go into detail of for fear of spoiling the big twist. I think she nailed it on the head when she stated in her Goodreads interview that this book is for the reader who is both classy and trashy, because it has the high entertainment value that fast fiction lovers rejoice in, but it is also filled with beautifully devastating prose. If you, too, have a love affair with all things that go bump in the night, Mexican Gothic should be your top priority this summer. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those who have a desire to spend long hours in a derelict house and an iron stomach.
"The truth was she was afraid of going to bed, of what nightmares might uncoil in the dark. What did people do after witnessing the horrors they had seen? Was it possible to slip back into normality, to play pretend and go on? She wanted to think this was exactly the case, but she was afraid sleep would prove her wrong."*Content Warning: (view spoiler)
[Sexual assault, incest, murder and gore, cannibalism, themes challenging white supremacy and eugenics, discussions surrounding the death of a parent and other family members, miscarriages and stillbirths, discussions surrounding suicide, and the consumption of alcohol and smoking. (hide spoiler)]*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
FAQIs there a playlist?Yes, go to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/233...
Are there other goodies?Paper doll PDF: http://www.randomhousebooks.com/wp-co...
Book club kit PDF: http://www.randomhousebooks.com/wp-co...
Is the town in the book real?It's inspired by a real town which is called Real del Monte/Mineral del Monte and which was a British mining town and has a very particular kind of architecture. It's nicknamed Little Cornwall. Yes, there is an English cemetery there. Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/1331140...
More info about the British in this region of Mexico: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180...
What state does this take place in?Hidalgo, which is known for its mountainous terrain.
But I thought Mexico is dry and a desert?It has varied micro-climates and topography. Real del Monte tends to be colder, very wet during the rainy season and misty, as you can see in this picture: https://pixabay.com/photos/mist-hidal...
Fashion-wise, what is Noemi wearing?Not a poodle skirt! Dior premiered his New Look in 1947, which featured a cinched waist, a very full skirt, and a nod to opulence. Hats would have been small in the early 1950s. Here's more on the 1950s and Dior: https://www.dw.com/en/the-new-look-ho...
Is Howard named after Lovecraft?Yes, Howard is named after H.P. Lovecraft. Doyle comes from Arthur Conan Doyle because of his racist depictions in some of his stories and also his interest in paranormal phenomena, including spiritism. And yes, I know Arthur was Scottish and the Doyles are probably from Cornwall (since they moved to the fictional analogue of Real del Monte), but people think Antonio Banderas is Mexican and they cast Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jone in El Zorro, so what can I say, I took some artistic license there.
Some information on Doyle's racist depictions is here: https://africasacountry.com/2014/03/w...
Lovecraft's issues have been written extensively about, including in my thesis: https://www.academia.edu/24817799/Mag...
SPOILER
The fungi part of this book is farfetched. Is it based on anything real?Yes. There is something called 'mycorrhizal networks' which is basically a fungi communications system in forests. There is also something called a hub tree or 'mother tree.' They are the central hubs for the network. It's based in science. Albeit, like any good science fiction, it stretches beyond the boundaries of the stuff we know. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-envi...
Rating: really liked it
A dark, chilling atmosphere. A spirited heroine. And a house that never lets its inhabitants go. Sometimes a book hits all the right notes for me, and
Mexican Gothic certainly did that.
It starts off with socialite Noemí receiving a cryptic and rambling letter from her newlywed cousin Catalina, hinting that all was not well. Noemí decides to visit her and sets off for the remote estate where Catalina now lives with her new husband and his family. Once there, she immediately becomes plagued with troubling visions and dreams. And as she digs around, she starts to realize that the house and its strange inhabitants are hiding secrets that could ensnare her in their traps.
This story is so moody and atmospheric. There is a chill that permeates the pages, making for a deliciously dark and creepy read. Many books promise this, but in my experience, so few actually deliver, with most falling into silly and eye-rolling territory. But this story got it spot-on. I just wanted to huddle in a comfy blanket with a hot cup of tea, and turn the pages as fast as I could.
The initial pages drew me into the story immediately. From then on, I was riveted, though the middle did slow down a bit in pacing. But then we reach the end, and it was as rewarding and as fun as I could have hoped. I always love a strong, feisty female, so Noemí was right up my alley. I found myself chuckling at her witty comebacks and cheering at her refusal to back down.
One thing I particularly appreciate is that this story attempts to offer a comprehensive explanation for what's going on. It's always disappointing when a tantalizing set up is so good or so outrageous that it can't possibly be explained, so the book proceeds to handwave all previous clues away. But in this case, an explanation that's both unusual and interesting is provided that ties it all together, and as we slowly learn of it throughout the story, it's quite satisfying.
This is the second book I've read by Moreno-Garcia, and I've really enjoyed both. She has definitely become a must-read author for me, and I can't wait to see more from her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:Gods of Jade and Shadow
Velvet Was the Night
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rating: really liked it
2.5 stars...Yeah I know...this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. As soon as I found out this would be a BOTM, I grabbed it, I dropped everything I was doing to read it....and well that didn't work out so well.
The premise was amazing. The cover was even more amazing. SO I dug into this book and I waited for it to pick up. I waited, and turned another page and waited....and waited...... Finally I turned to my fellow reviewers at page 200 to see..umm does this pick up? They said yeah wait for it...Okay so it did pick up- at page 250. So the last 50 pages of the book was crammed full of weirdness.
Noemi is living the good life. She is living off daddy's dime and a socialite in Mexico City. Her father makes it clear that she needs to do him a favor and head out to a remote estate that her cousin Catalina is living with her recently acquired husband Virgil. He wants her to check in on her because- well it appears she has lost her mind. She is sending letters home of people living in the walls, claims her husband is poisoning her among other bizarre statements. Sounds intriguing right??? Well I thought so too. I was all in...
Yet when Noemi gets to the estate she is hardly allowed to spend any time with her cousin. She is not allowed to freely roam around or do anything she wants. So why doesn't she just leave? Or take her cousin? Instead the first 250 pages was spent with her mulling around the house and having vivid nightmares. Sure it was creepy but there was no plot. I failed to connect to ANY of the characters because, there just wasn't enough information put forth about them. Trust me, I can take weird. I LOVED Ninth House! I would have given that book 10 stars if Goodreads would let me. That was dark, creepy, weirdness and I loved it.
Personally for me, this book took just too long to take off. When it finally did, it felt like a ton of stuff was jammed into the last 50 pages. It was so bizarre and out there- it just wasn't for me. Don't let my review sway you because there are alot of fantastic reviews out there about this one.
Rating: really liked it
Guys I'm sorry to say this but...
...what a dumb fucking book.
I was moments away from abandoning it halfway through (although I wanted to earlier if we're being honest) but I took to Goodreads to see what I was missing, why it was getting such outstanding reviews. The word on the street was 'YES it was totally boring and slow for the first 2/3, but the twist makes it totally worth it.' So, if you came to this review page because you're thinking maybe it's worth your time, I'm here to tell you - it's not.
In fact, let me tell you what the twist is, since you're obviously a curious person.
-
SPOILER APPROACHING-
It's the fungus. The Doyle family is tied to the house because they breathe in the black mold and ingest funky mushrooms in order to kinda become immortal. And they're all connected through it and they can never escape from the house and the oldest patriarch is able to control his family's actions because he is King of the Fungus. Remember M. Night's
The Happening and how disappointed and outraged the audience was when they found out it was the trees? YEA. For the record, that plot "twist" still doesn't play out. But don't worry, because the house burns down and all the evil is eradicated (or is it????), a writing trope that is
totally original with no story ever ending that way.
Noemi, our lead, was completely unlovable. The writing was repetitive and fraught with dragging, unnecessary detail. When the plot finally started moving (200 pages in), I was so beyond over the whole situation that I didn't care.
I don't get it x 34754. And I'm not normally so effusively cruel, but I just don't want some innocent reader to make the same mistake I did. As we all say, there are too many good books out there.
Oh, did I mention the fungus?
Rating: really liked it
This really was some gothic excellence, omg.
Please allow for a small list of all the things that made this story REALLY GOOD imo:
1. The setting!!! High Place’s aesthetic of rotting decadence was exactly the kind of atmosphere I LOVE in horror
2. Noemi!! She was such a headstrong MC and so capable the whole way through. Truly a delight to read about
3. The historical setting! The 1950’s is not a time that I’ve read a lot about, and it was quite interesting. The way the author worked discussions about colonialism, racism, and eugenics into the plot was really well done too.
4. The weirdness! Lots of spooky and gross things going on here. While I did find certain parts of the mystery a bit on the predictable side, there was ultimately so much happening that it kept me engaged & the body horror was TRIPPY!!!
Rating: really liked it
An atmospheric Gothic horror novel that goes the extra mile with featuring women of color as the protagonists and incorporating race, colonialism, and eugenics as part of the horror. I enjoyed Noemi's flighty and outspoken nature as well; she’s easy to root for as she stands her own against the antagonists.
Rating: really liked it
For as intriguing as it is, immersive it is not. This tale is bizzare and fascinating in its monotony, and in the second half there lies the charm—or the problem, depending on how you look at it.
The book operates on the classic trope of isolated old creaky mansion complete with its misty private cemetery and ‘eccentrically macabre’ family. On the surface, the Doyles look like a harmless and orderly household, but the peculiarity rests (literally) within the walls of the house—its secrets and history, the mind twisting effects it has on the people living inside it.
The characters are described a certain way, and for the most part they are unchanging. I didn’t like
Noemí. Someone needs to introduce her to the proverb “when in Rome do as the Romans do” cause she’s annoyingly nonchalant, rude, nosy, distrustful, and sometimes acts like a brat in a place that’s not her home. I had a mild crush on
Francis, and I also kinda had the hots for
Virgil . . . which I know how
not right that sounds considering he’s a creep LOL.
Howard is a disgusting old man, just ew! It’s a shame that
Catalina is such a passive character when she’s the reason for Noemí’s visit in the first place.
There’s the barest hint of romance, but its unclear presence makes it pointless. The plot doesn’t take flight until the last 30% to 40% of the book. When it does, it veers into such unexpected direction that it’ll leave you flabbergasted. Because of this drastic shift, it feels like reading two different books where one (the first half) is a tedious mystery/suspense and another (the second half) is an absurd supernatural—borderline fantasy—horror.
The book is set in 1950s Mexico, but the only thing that reflects that is Noemí’s sense of fashion. The Doyles are an English family, and the majority of the book takes place inside the mansion. There are some passing commentary on eugenics, the Revolution, race and gender injustices, etc that aren’t meant to be thought provoking but serve as some sort of ‘ornamentation’ as they lack depth.
In other words, the Mexican culture isn’t prominently realised through the setting nor it is affirmed by the characters. The book could’ve been set in any time period and it wouldn’t have made any difference.
I’d considered why I wasn’t as enamored and mesmerised as the majority of GR readers seemed to be, and I decided it was because I didn’t vibe with the writing. It’s easy to follow, but it’s also . . . dry. The book goes so far as utilizing disturbing themes and graphic scenes, but they are never truly
felt. The whole experience for me was like NOT peering through a pair of 3D glasses.
(Read as an Audiobook)
Rating: really liked it
Congratulations on winning GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS5*I AM SHIT SCARED*Stars.✨
there was something so charming and beautiful about the cover that drew me towards it! (I mean just look at this stunning cover and think how beautiful it will look in your bookshelf)
I honestly don’t like Gothic books, it’s like my second Gothic book (after a failed attempt to read Wuthering heights for like 1000 times.) and ohhh boyyy I freaking loved it. Like a 5 star rating is less to describe how much I loved this book!
Once in a while a book is published that you can’t stop thinking about and you keep pursuing your kith and kin to read it, this is one such book for me.
DISCLAIMER: - DON’T READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT IF YOU HAVE A VIVID IMAGINATION .WHY?Because it will scare the shit out of you, you will be afraid of your own shadow, it will make your blood run cold, your soul will jump out of your skin, your heart will miss a beat and you will be scared out of your wits!
But at the same time there is something so beautiful about its creepiness that you will find it engrossing, captivating, absorbing, riveting, consuming and addictive that you not be able to put it down despite the fact that it scared the daylights out of you!!!!
The phenomenal idea of blending the old, nasty and haunted house stories with the modern aspect of eugenics, Darwin’s theory of natural selection, concept of inferior and superior traits and that whole idea of fungal association with humans forming gloom, I mean I have read about symbiosis and mycorrhiza but wtf is this, I mean who in right mind can think this! The author is crazy (good crazy).*adding author to fav authors list.(well not yet maybe!)
*adding book to my fav book list.
SOME OTHER ASPECTS THAT MAKE THE BOOK LOVABLE•
Atmospheric :- the beautiful picture the author paints of the high place will make you fall in love with the place despite the fact that you can’t leave it.
•
Characters :- the confident, intelligent and life of the party
Noemi, artistic, shy and lover of mushrooms
Francis ,flirting, nasty and dangerous
Virgil , controlling ,demanding
Florence and head of the house
MR. DOYLE( let’s just leave him, mere thinking about his name give me chills) .
•
Slowest burning romance•
dicey situation and twists This is the first book by this author and it’s definitely not going to be the last. She owns my heart and head (mentally decided to read everything written by her)
And definitely going to reread this book again and again till it stops scaring the shit out of me and ik that’s never going to happen..
I can’t wait for the day I will be able to buy this book and take in the smell of it, the day this beautiful piece of art will adore my bookshelf!
Not recommend for everyone because you need patience if you truly want to enjoy the book because its slow paced in first half but it’s worth it because the second half will make you fall in love with this book!TW:- sexual assault, incest, murder, cannibalism, death of parent, death of children, stillbirth, miscarriage.
Rating: really liked it
**3.5-stars**When Neomi Taboada's father enlists her help to check on her cousin, Catalina, she really doesn't want to. Neomi's got so much going on in the city. She doesn't have time for this!
Catalina, recently married, lives in a remote manor home, known as
High Place, with her husband, Virgil and his family, far from the bustle of Mexico City.
According to Catalina's recent letters, the home is a desolate place, where she is currently either very unwell, purportedly with tuberculosis, or she's in incredible danger.
Mr. Taboada is insistent that Neomi should go check on her. When his persistent urging doesn't work, he does what any good parent would do. He bribes her instead.
Neomi wants nothing more than to attend University, so that's exactly the carrot he dangles in front of her. Her father knows her well.
Before she even realizes what's happening, Neomi is packing her bags and heading off to
High Place.
Once there, Neomi immediately feels at odds with Virgil's stuffy, overly-proper family. She is a modern, society-girl, who is used to having her own way, or at least being able to have a conversation over dinner.
In addition to the regimented, claustrophobic feel of the house itself, Neomi begins feeling spooked by Virgil's family and starts experiencing vivid nightmares. Something is going on in this house.
Her interactions with Virgil and his family get more disturbing as the days go by, until Neomi doesn't fear just for Catalina's well-being, but also her own.
Y'all, I was highly anticipating this novel. I have really enjoyed previous works from Moreno-Garcia and the gothic vibes of this are totally my jam.
While there is no denying that Moreno-Garcia's writing is lush and captivating, something about the pace of this one was off for me.
The premise is super intriguing, the atmosphere was top notch, but the characters were not as well developed as I would have liked. I feel like I should have been attached to Neomi, but I wasn't.
The horror elements were interesting; definitely unique. I found the ideas behind that aspect alluring, for sure.
There were also scenes that legit grossed me out. I may even have gagged once or twice. Uncle Howard is horrifying. The descriptions. I had to take a shower after.
Overall, for me, this is a good book, bordering on really good. I think if the pace wasn't so variant from quiet lulls to extreme intensity, I would have enjoyed it more.
I hope that Moreno-Garcia continues in this lane though. This gothic horror is fantastic for her writing style. I'm on board for anything else she writes,
believe that.
Rating: really liked it
Be sure to visit Bantering Books to read all my latest reviews.Hmm. How best to describe “Mexican Gothic?”
I guess I would say it’s –
A little bit H. P. Lovecraft.
A little bit Alfred Hitchcock.
A lotta bit creepy old house.
Yes. Mexican Gothic is part mystery. It’s part Gothic suspense. It’s part horror. Maybe even part New Weird. (Maybe.) And all its various parts are expertly and seamlessly blended by the skillful words of Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Set in 1950s Mexico, the novel follows the young socialite, Noemi Taboada, as she travels to High Place, an old mansion in the countryside, to visit her newly married cousin, Catalina. Concerned for her cousin’s welfare after receiving a disturbingly odd letter from Catalina, Noemi is uncertain as to what she will find at the house upon her arrival.
Noemi quickly learns that not only is High Place dreary and decrepit, but it is inhabited by the highly peculiar and unusual Doyle family. Determined to help her cousin, Noemi refuses to be intimidated by the members of Catalina’s married-into family – namely, the enigmatic Virgil, her cousin’s husband, and Howard, the elderly Doyle patriarch who develops a weird obsession with Noemi, herself. And she also fails to be frightened by High Place, even as the house begins to occupy and fill her dreams with disturbing, unimaginable scenes of horrifying violence.
Before long, Noemi discovers that many dark and shocking secrets hide among the Doyles and the confines of High Place. She can only hope that it’s not too late to save Catalina, and herself, from the clutches of the family and the house.
I think Moreno-Garcia took a bit of a risk with
Mexican Gothic. Many genres are crossed and bent in order for her to successfully and innovatively twist the classic Gothic haunted house story. In the hands of a lesser writer, I believe the novel would’ve likely fallen flat on its face. But Moreno-Garcia is certainly not a lesser writer. And her gamble pays off handsomely.
The novel is incredibly atmospheric and eerie. Moreno-Garcia’s writing is so vividly descriptive, and she creates an environment on the page that is almost claustrophobic to read. High Place comes to life – I could visualize the colors and the tapestries, smell the decay, feel the dampness of the hallways. I felt as if I was within the walls of the old mansion, right alongside Noemi. Moreno-Garcia also employs more of a classic style of writing that, to me, is very reminiscent of the 1950s and serves to further set the scene, creating a feeling of being swept back in time to a different era.
Moreover, Moreno-Garcia takes her time developing the story and refuses to rush the narrative. The pace, admittedly, is slightly sluggish in the beginning of the novel, but not ever was I bored. I found the slow build of the creep factor, the gradually escalating strangeness of High Place to be quite effective.
But in terms of horror,
Mexican Gothic is not what I would consider to be truly frightening. It stimulates a different kind of terror in the reader. It’s more of a chilling, grotesque, sickening, shudder-inducing, Lovecraft and New Weird type of horror, rather than an I-need-to-leave-all-the-lights-on-to-go-to-sleep-because-I’m-so-scared type of horror.
And Noemi – I enjoyed her immensely. She’s smart. She’s brave. She’s witty. She’s also extremely self-absorbed and superficial, but she shows true concern for Catalina and genuinely desires to help her. She has a strong heart. Moreno-Garcia puts forth great effort to develop Noemi fully, resulting in a very well-rounded character.
But the Doyle family – well-rounded, they are not. All we truly know about Virgil, Howard, and the cousins, Florence and Francis, is that they are certifiably creepy and highly odd. Occasionally, we are given details about their past histories to fill in the gaps. For the most part, however, they come across as extremely flat, one-dimensional individuals.
You know what, though? The flat characterization still works, for some reason. I believe it has something to do with the overall classic horror film feel of
Mexican Gothic and all the Alfred Hitchcock vibes the story radiates. In my mind while reading, I repeatedly envisioned Hitchcock turning the narrative into a movie. And the flat, almost distant characterization of the Doyle family seems to fit the novel if viewing it from the standpoint of an old-school scary movie. (Make sense? Hope so.)
Now, for my one complaint – the mystery regarding the origin of the supernatural phenomena and illness at High Place is just too simple for the reader to solve. It is glaringly obvious if close attention is paid. Moreno-Garcia neither hides her hand well, nor bluffs the reader. By the time I was a quarter of the way through the book, I knew the how and why of all the madness, and I was mildly disappointed that the secret of the source was not more heavily veiled.
Sigh. Perfection is difficult to come by, isn’t it?
As imperfect as it may be,
Mexican Gothic is nonetheless a terrific read. I loved it. And I highly recommend it.
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Rating: really liked it
Due to popular request... I'm attempting this one!
Rating: really liked it
i now hate mushrooms more than i already do
oh, also this book was great
noemí rights
