4.5

I am surprised by how much I ended up enjoying Mexican Gothic. The first half is definitely an homage to the pulpy gothic suspense novels and takes a turn into weird horror that I loved. I enjoyed the use of Weird horror to talk about colonialsim. Noemi is also a very likable protagonist. She's strong and questions what is going on more than usual gothic heroines, which I appreciated. As a sleep-deprived mom of a newborn, I enjoyed how compelling this story was and how well it was paced. The main conflict is presented right away and by chapter two Noemi is on her way to High Place to visit her cousin. Recommend

This novel has a lot of potential. That cover for starters! There's also the fascinating history that ties Brits to mines in central Mexico, botany, anthropology and eugenics, and a thrilling spooky vein through it all. However, the novel felt a little slapdash to me. Our heroine is a 'society girl' but also an aspiring anthropologist who thinks in grandiose sentences that felt like a thesaurus was pulled out every chapter. The characters felt underdeveloped and the mystery was confusing to follow. This book is a wild ride towards the end and creates a spine tingling world throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the chance to read this ARC.

Can I start by gushing over the cover of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic? Is that allowed? I know a jacket has nothing to do with the content, but this design is gorgeous and played no small role in my decision to read the backside description… #CoverSlut

Having said that, I can’t deny falling for Moreno-Garcia’s story. The dark descriptions and grotesque imagery gave the novel a deliciously sinister vibe and lent a beautiful level of suspense to the narrative. Those with weaker constitutions might not appreciate the content, but I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough.

I will admit to calling the ending, that I found the characters thinly developed, and that I’d have liked more cultural detail in the fabric of the story, but these notes didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the novel and I’d have no trouble recommending it to fellow readers.

What a great suspenseful, horrific, gothic tale. 1950’s Mexico Noemi Taboada is summoned by her cousin to visit her at High Place, a secluded spooky mansion
Inhabited by her her husband and family. All is not well and the story plays out in scary, spooky detail. A great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for giving me an ARC!

Where do I even start with this book? Wild ride start to finish, and I found myself paranoid about every plot event after a little while. Even towards the end, the ending had like 10 different directions it could have gone and every twist I was convinced it would go one way. I am satisfied with the ending we got, and it is better than what I was expecting.

I already know that when I get my copy in the mail, I'm probably going to re-read it because this was a crazy adventure.

The first chapter might be a little slow to you, but seriously give it a few chapters and you'll be sucked in to this weird house and all the weird events going on inside. Everyone is creepy and it basically feels like everyone is constantly balancing between betrayal and death every chapter. The last 30% was some of the most tense moments I have ever read and now I'm kinda scared my dreams will be haunted by *insert the antagonist here*.

I am a huge fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow and was hoping to enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the last one. Unfortunately this veered hard into the creepy and the gross, which radically reduced my enjoyment of the work. The build up was interesting (if a bit slow), but the reveal was off putting and lacked the folklore twists I was hoping for. Very well written but, ultimately, not for me.

This was not really my cup of tea at all. I thought maybe it would be a good gothic type book but it leaned a little to far outside of what I was personally expecting.

Excellent novel to follow The Gods of Jade and Shadow. Rich and atmospheric writing with tangible foreshadowing.

This atmospheric and chillingly-paced novel lives up to the "Gothic" in its title. Moreno-Garcia deftly weaves together the literary strands of classic Gothic tropes, the darker side of European folk and fairy tales, and the folklore and traditions of parts of Mexico. After receiving a wild, rambling letter suggesting her cousin may be in serious danger, Noemi Taboada, though bright and fashionable in a way that rivals Mrs. Maisel, makes a deal with her wealthy and powerful father to travel to a rural community a day's travel away from her social life in Mexico City to determine if Catalina is safe and healthy in her new home with her new husband. For this one diplomatic favor, her father will finally allow her to pursue her Master's Degree in Anthropology. This bargain is this novel's first examination of the precarious nature of Mexican upper class womanhood in 1950 and begins Noemi's harrowing experiences at Catalina's decaying manor house, High Place. Deceptively beautiful surfaces, both physical and psychological, and the dangers that hide in the most domestic settings are part of what await Noemi there, as well as a solid exploration of how race, class, and economics intersect with gender to ensnare both women and men in roles and traditions that benefit the few at the expense of the many. Most important, though, there's room for Noemi to examine herself in these contexts to see if she will choose to survive or to subvert the roles in which she finds herself.

I read Untamed Shore and absolutely loved it and was intrigued by Mexican Gothic’s cover alone. But the story was also so good! It has a couple of simple similarities to Untamed Shore but this book was so good. I was sucked in and stayed up Late reading it because I had to finish it. The attention to detail. The character development. Absolutely loved it and have many friends who have preordered it. (Also I need that cover image as a poster. Stunning). Silvia Moreno-Garcia is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and can’t wait for more.

Mexican Gothic is one of those books that will haunt you for a long time after you have finished it. Silvermans Moreno-Garcia does a wonderful job of making the reader extremely uncomfortable in the most pleasurable way. If you are a fan of gothic classics like Wuthering Heights or if you prefer more modern gothic stories like The Haunting of Hill House, this book will right up your alley.

Noemí is an amazing character that you can't help fall in love with. She has the Hollywood vixen vibe. She is strong, funny, and doesn't take any shit! The setting of High Place house is disturbing and creepy and everything you want in a gothic and haunting tale. I could not guess what was going to happen from one moment to the next. I love book that keep you second guessing yourself the entire time. Seriously, read this book!!

Wow! I was truly absorbed in this book from beginning to end. i enjoyed the variety of well rounded characters all serving their individual purposes to create a complete novel. The book is eerie, hypnotic, and completely captivating. I always appreciate the lengths that authors go to to intertwine detailed information to make their story that much more powerful, this is how I felt with the knowledge and power the mushrooms held in this story. Amazing book I am now going to begin Gods of Jade and Shadow

Woah! I am not a horror reader, but picked this up because it came so highly recommended. Consider me a convert! I can’t wait to read this authors backlist.

This book was just not for me. I found it very bizarre. Maybe I went in with the wrong expectation of the book but with the title "Mexican Gothic" I guess I wanted more Mexican history and culture. It was very void of this. Also, the fairy tale references seemed very forced.

Mexican Gothic is so beautifully written. The descriptions in this book are *chef's kiss* I felt like the story dragged at some points, but overall I liked it. If you enjoy books involving the paranormal, I would definitely check this out.

I'm a longtime fan of gothic novels, and even though the genre has fallen out of vogue in recent decades, I whenever a new gothic is released, I typically snatch it off the shelf (even when it's a virtual shelf). I was intrigued by the book's premise, which takes the typical ingredients of the gothic novel and transports them to Mexico--a nice change of venue for a genre that is almost always set in Cornwall.

The story focuses on Noemi, a 1950's debutante, who has received a desperate letter from her cousin Catalina after marrying into a wealthy family that resides in the Mexican countryside. Noemi rushes to be with her cousin, whose new family live in a fabulous (haunted) mansion and have all the gothic hallmarks--the domineering patriarch, the handsome and arrogant husband, the dead aunts glaring down from their portraits. But the novel takes things a step further than the traditional gothic stories that the Bronte sisters made famous, and introduces some elements of supernatural horror.

If you're a fan of the movie CRIMSON PEAK, you'll probably enjoy MEXICAN GOTHIC. There are some wonderfully scary scenes in the book that kept me flipping through the pages late into the night.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let Silvia Moreno-Garcia's forthcoming novel, Mexican Gothic, whisk you away to the mountains and countrysides of Mexico, to a haunted mansion atop a silver mine. Set in the 1950s, our protagonist Noemi, a tenacious Mexico City socialite a la Grace Kelly, is sent to the mansion to help her cousin Catalina after receiving a distraught letter asking to be saved from "the restless dead, ghosts, flesh-less things" that will not let her go. The house and its inhabitants are hiding a dark secret, and Noemi must discover the truth before it's too late. Written with a strong sense of place and ideal pacing, fans of Stranger Things, the Bronte sisters, and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier will love this suspenseful and spooky read.
I would say a 3 1/2, while I loved the sense of place and the story itself, some of the writing felt forced. Also, I feel like Catalina should have played a bigger role? I would have liked to have heard more from her.

Noemi Taboada is a society girl in 1950 Mexico City who dreams about getting her master’s degree in anthropology. When her family receives a disturbing letter from a favorite cousin, Noemi’s father makes her an offer: go investigate her ailing cousin, and he’ll allow her to go to grad school. Of course she accepts. What could possibly go wrong?

High Place is a worn-down English manor secluded in the distant Mexican countryside, and Noemi immediately senses something amiss. Mist shrouds the house and grounds in a clammy white veil. Dampness seeps into every room, mold growing on walls and books. It’s always cold. The family is strict, quiet, and mean. Noemi’s cousin swings from listlessness to panic to possible psychosis, and the doctor doesn’t seem to help. Something is happening at High Place, and Noemi is determined to uncover its secrets before she, too, falls victim to its madness.

I loved Mexican Gothic from the very first page. The story is cinematic, from Noemi’s night out in Mexico City to the dreary, claustrophobic High Place, and I can totally imagine it as a movie from the 1950’s. High Place has the overbearing presence of Wuthering Heights or Manderley, its atmosphere a “wrongness” that smothers everything good in the world. I was terrified and I loved it.

As much as the story reminded me of other gothic horror novels, VC Andrews, Henry James, The Yellow Wallpaper, it’s absolutely necessary for it to occur in Mexico. Colonization, revolution, the English family’s obsession with eugenics (to the point where they brought their own English dirt to Mexico, which was very Dracula of them), even the rights Noemi and her cousin did and didn’t have as Mexican women are integral to the story. Noemi is now easily one of my favorite heroines.

I can’t wait to buy a copy when it’s published. I want Silvia Moreno-Garcia to be able to create more books that haunt me.

Rating: Five stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing a copy of the book.

Not my usual fare but into the world of the haunted is where this book took me. A silver mining family lives in a house that has a hold on the residents. A mexican cousin , recently a bride, has sent a disturbing letter pleading for help. Our heroine is sent by her family to check on the bride and what unfolds is a horrific, sensous, suspenseful acid trip of a ride through a family's dark history.

Copy provided by the publisher

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an amazing book that gripped me from the first to last page. I easily devoured it in 2 days.

How can I even describe this book? It is part general fiction part mystery part gothic part psychological thriller part romance part horror part historical fiction. It has moments where there is the slow, torturous climb to something big (you just know it), and like a roller coaster, you teeter on the edge before plummeting into the depths of a quick twist, turn, and move.

The whole concept of Noemi heading to this dark, musty, moldy haunted home where it almost seems like it has a life of its own to find out what has happened to her cousin, only to he thrown into the mystery and horror as well, is just fabulous. There were moments that I checked my pulse because it felt like my heart was pounding out of my chest, and others that I felt myself gripping the armrest trying to aid in the fight.

This book has everything: creative plot, awesome 1950s Mexico time and location, amazing mystery and intrigue, wonderful characters ( I looooove Francis and Noemi), a bit of romance tossed in, and I LOVED the ending. It was so perfect.

So original. So amazing. One of my favorites this year for sure!

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House- Ballantine/Del Ray for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.