Oh how I love a good old-fashioned Gothic novel and "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia definitely did not disappoint! This book is everything a reader could want from a Gothic novel-it has mysterious characters, it is set in a spooky and isolated Victorian mansion, there is an eerie graveyard, the protagonist is a beautiful and clever woman-but with a Mexican twist! "Mexican Gothic" is a highly satisfying read and will keep the reader turning pages as fast as he or she can. It is one of those books that you want to devour in one sitting.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this truly fabulous book. I will be recommending it to all of my reading groups. Five out of five stars!

I have chills. Horror is not a genre I tend to gravitate towards but this was mesmerizing. The book grabbed me and wouldn't let go. It's a story that made me feel in need of a shower with its descriptions of rot and ruin. It didn't feel grotesque, because the author gave it life. The writing of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is magnetic. This book is a mystery dripping with poison waiting to devour you in the deepest, darkest shadows.

This is a mysterious story, revolving around family secrets and a sinister home reminiscent of Manderly from the classic, Rebecca.

Mexican Gothic takes place in 1950’s in Mexico. The main character, Noemi, is a young debutante firecracker of a girl. But the real character MVP of the story is the sprawling house, known as High Place. It had a life of its own and that element was fun.

Although this story was intriguing, I felt like I had an overall disconnect with the characters and couldn’t quite get there when it came to forming a bond with them. I also felt like it went on redundant circles at times. There were some aspects I really loved, like the inclusion of Mexican culture and the haunting atmospheric qualities associated with the home. I also found the topic of eugenics to be a creepy and an startling component.

Overall, it was a unique read that thriller lovers should check out!

[Review will be posted 6/23/20]

I devoured this book in one sitting; I simply couldn't pry my eyes away until the end... CREEPY house, CREEPY people, & excellently plotted Gothic thriller set in 1950s Mexico that you won't be able to put down!

"He is trying to poison me. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me."

The tightly woven narrative of Mexican Gothic fills you with a sense of foreboding early on, that tension slowly builds as the story progresses. The atmosphere is immersive and eerie, but so are the characters. Everyone and everything filled me with unease and I love how ominous and horrifying the book is.

"They're cursed, I tell you, and that house is haunted. You're very silly or very brave living in a haunted house."

This is definitely a plot & mystery-driven novel, but I love that all of the characters feel as real as the main character and narrator Noemí. She's a vain socialite in her 20s, a bit unlikeable for me but also caring for her cousin and deeply inquisitive. I like her strength to buck convention and challenge societal expectations, and I appreciated how nuanced she felt - unlikable, yet I found myself rooting for her.

"In a sense all dreams foretell events, but some more clearly than others."

I love how time and reality slowly begin to blur. Like the fog that blankets the mansion's grounds, there's an eerie dreamlike quality where you're not sure what you're seeing. (Honestly, this is what I wished The Haunting of Hill House was.) I loved how everything pieced together into a truly horrific last quarter of the book that left my horror-loving heart so satisfied!

Overall, this book was incredible and I can't stop thinking about it a week later. Mexican Gothic has a slow start that is true to the Gothic Horror genre and builds tension slowly. If you liked Crimson Peak, this book matches that aesthetic and vibes well in my opinion.

Content warnings: body horror, cannibalism, child death, gore, incest, racism, sexual assault

eARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Quotations are taken from an uncorrected proof and subject to change upon final publication.

This was terrific read!

I loved the setting of 1950 Mexico City and the main girl Noemi was pretty fascinating from the beginning. Normally gothic horror books are pretty slow-paced but this kept me glued to the pages even though half the times I wanted to throw the book and scream, it was pretty terrifying!

Did you want Mexican folklore, horror, paranoia, humiliation, and Darwin’s theory of natural selection rolled into one story? Well, this is it for you!

[This review contains spoilers and I received a copy of the book from the publisher. Opinions are my own] This was this my first book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia but I believe this was also only my second ever fantasy novel. Not going to lie, THAT COVER was so gorgeous and the title was so cool that I immediately knew I was going to read it. No matter what the book was about, lol! I can honestly say, it did not disappoint. Omg, I don't even know how to describe this gothic jewel. We have Noemi who goes to visit her cousin and then gets sucked into this creepy world. There are so many layers to finding out the truth of what is going on at High Place that you can't help but turn the pages. I honestly couldn't tell if the dreams were actually happening or if they were really dreams. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! Did Virgil rape Noemi? Either in the tub or after? I couldn't tell! And oh poor Francis, I kept wishing him the best but kept assuming he'd have to be sacrificed (luckily, he makes it, yay). UGH, what a great book! I want to read more like this. I also want this dress to be made for me because it's gorgeous. The end.

There isn't a book I had been anticipating more than this one, it is rare that I'm able to find a book that mingles my love of Gothic subject matters, phantasmagorical imagery, and Mexican folklore & culture. I had no idea that after reading it, I'd have to sleep with the lights one for a couple of nights. But that is what happened.

Unique and terrifying, Mexican Gothic is THE book to read this coming fall. The less you know going in as a reader, the more you are likely to freak out.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is REQUIRED reading. And I sincerely hope there is a Netflix series adaptation- but only if it's created by Guillermo del Toro!!

I'd definitely heard about the upcoming book Mexican Gothic, but it wasn't really on my radar until I received an ARC of it in one of the Penguin cancelled festival boxes--Ladies First. I shelved it and figured I'd get around to it eventually, which I did when I found someone who wanted to trade for it--and I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book! One, I love a good standalone, and two, place-based stories are so intriguing to me. In the end, I KIND of predicted what was going on in High Place, but that's fine, I still enjoyed this book!

In 1950s Mexico, Neomi is enjoying her life as a flirtatious socialite. Then, a concerning letter comes from her newlywed cousin, Catalina, she writes of poison and ghosts and her husband insists she is just sick. Neomi is dispatched to her cousin's new family home,  High Place, to check on her. Is she truly sick? Is her husband trying to steal her money? What Neomi actually finds is much, much more sinister. This strange family is not what she expected. The old, decrepit house truly seems to be rotting. Catalina's sickness is concerning, and when Neomi starts having nightmares, she realizes something truly sinister is going on. Is the house cursed, or is the curse the Doyle family itself?

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book! It reminded me a lot of the movie Ready or Not, which I saw in theatres (RIP movie theatres..) in a good way! Family-based weird place stories are kind of my jam, ya know? Always interesting, even if you can kind of anticipate the ending. Neomi was a fascinating character, and the "reasoning" behind the  spookiness was unique and well thought out, in my view.  I also loved the 1950s Mexican setting--not something you see a lot. Overall, happy I read this book and happy to recommend it to people who like Lock Every Door, Ready or Not, or Catherine House for example.

Mexican Gothic might be the best thing I've read all of quarantine. It was scary, propulsive, and much richer than others in the genre. I absolutely loved the Mexican folklore that is interwoven throughout this week. Everyone should pick this up at once!

As with every review of a Silvia Moreno-Garcia book, I have to repeat that she never disappoints. Even working within familiar tropes and themes she will surprise you with unexpected things. Her characters are vivid and realistic, the dialogue and exposition believable, even when the plot is fantastic.

GoodReads:
I like the ending. The rest of the book took a bit too long to get there for my taste (without enough spookiness in the build-up either). I also was expecting a bit more Mexico for a Mexican Gothic book. I get it that it makes some sense for the spooky family to be English colonizers, but having most of the book set in an English-style house wasn't quite what I was hoping for when I heard a gothic novel set in Mexico.

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Coming June is MEXICAN GOTHIC. Thanks to @netgalley for this advanced copy.
When Noemí’s newly married cousin sends a strange letter to Noemí’s father, he sends her to the Mexican countryside to check on her and protect the family’s reputation. Her cousin has married a man whose grandfather came to Mexico from England to run a nine - he even brought English dirt with him. Her cousin claims to be hearing spirits, and the villagers distrust the home.
I love a gothic story and was so excited for one set in Mexico! I must admit that I personally was a little disappointed because the addition of the English family and their English-style home made it feel much more traditionally gothic than I was expecting. That said, there is some delightful subtle commentary on colonialism and refusal to even attempt to be multilingual. (I wished more of the book was en español). Recommended if you’re a gothic fan looking for something different.

Fans of the haunting film, The Others, or the atmospheric Stephen King miniseries Rose Red, would love this suspenseful read with a classic gothic feel. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a similar eerie setting. This novel will be released on June 30th, 2020.

After receiving a deranged letter from her cousin, Noemí Taboada, a spoiled 1950's debutant, is sent by her family to High Place to rescue Catalina from her newlywed husband. Is Catalina insane, or is there something more going on at High Place? As Noemí investigates the mansion and the Doyle family, she starts to have disturbing nightmares and terrifying visions of the past. Will she be able to save Catalina and escape the house and the mist that surrounds it?

Initially, I did not care for the protagonist, Noemí. At the beginning of the book, she comes across as shallow and vapid. However, she shows that she is made of more potent stuff as she starts to unravel the mystery of her cousin's illness, the house, and the Doyle family. By the end of the book, I was cheering Noemí on and hoping that they make it out alive.

If you like a spine-tingling atmosphere and haunted houses, you would love this book! This is a five out of five-stars read. I was unable to sleep at night, wondering if the Taboada girls would make it to safety.

If you enjoy Mexican Gothic, try these books:
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Single young woman, an isolated old house, and questions lurking at every turn.
The gothic element in this book vivid and atmospheric. It does suffer from some pacing issues, however, as the first half of the book seems to drag in places. Once into the second half, the reader is rewarded with some seriously creepy suspenseful horror.

First off... everything Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes is pure gold, and any year that she writes a book, it will automatically be my favorite book of the year. If she writes two, it will be a tie. That's just how it is.

***

Socialite Noemi receives a letter from her newlywed cousin Catalina that is so bizarre and disturbing that she immediately travels to see her. She arrives at the damp, rotting mansion where Catalina lives with her husband and his family, whose fortune has declined but whose self-image of upper-class grandeur has yet to keep up.

Noemi blithely bats aside their strange behavior and rules (no loud noises, no hot baths, no smoking, no coffee, etc.) and their well-mannered hostility so she can see to the well-being of Catalina, who is feverishly warning of ghosts and voices in the walls. Her resolve wanes, however, when she begins having the nightmares, too.

If you are a fan of Ms. Moreno-Garcia's work, you know she occasionally dips into the supernatural, but not always. So when I was reading this, I was unsure what we would find -- vampires? ghosts? or simply evil people?

It's delightfully creepy and unsettling, with a unique ending.

It reminded me of Stephen King's The Shining. (Not to say this work is in anyway derivative -- only that it invoked the same sense of dread around every corner.)

Pure gold, I tell you.

This is easily one of the best books I've read this year!
When her cousin Catalina sends an urgent letter asking to be saved from her new husband, Noemi is sent by her father to investigate. Convinced it's only newlywed jitters, Noemi is unprepared for the dangerous and deadly atmosphere of High Place, the gloomy and depressing mansion now home to Catalina. Dark, damp, and oppressing, Noemi is barely welcome in her cousin's home and her visits with her are restricted. Virgil, Catalina's husband, is a little too charming and his overtures leave Noemi suspicious and wary. The mansion's other inhabitants leave Noemi feeling like she is constantly under watch and her every movement and word is criticized. But Noemi is incredibly tough and is intent on finding out the nature of her cousin's mysterious illness and delusions. When Noemi comes too close to the truth for the family's liking, she is placed in a deadly situation with only an unlikely ally at her side. The violent and horrific nature of the family's secret is so unbelievable that Noemi begins to question to her own sanity.
Dark, gripping, and absolutely terrifying, Mexican Gothic is a spell-binding tale of horror, greed, and unbridled power.
This book is absolutely incredible! Silvia Moreno-Garcia weaves a tale that is so engrossing you will find yourself walking the dark and damp halls of High Place alongside Noemi. This is by far one of the most atmospheric novels I've ever read. The tension can be felt on every single page and every conversation felt like a threat. I flew through this novel, unable to wait to find out what was the secret behind this family's odd and controlling behavior. The village near High Place also felt like a depressed and mysterious character. Everyone seemed to fear the family and the mansion itself, but no one would come out and say why. The aura of mystery, confusion, and oppression followed every character throughout the story, no matter where they were.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an incredibly talented writer and I encourage everyone to dive into one of her magical and mysterious stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title, all opinions and mistakes are my own.

This story is about noemi, she receives a disturbing letter from her recently married cousin, Catalina, in which she talks about ghosts and supernatural happenings in her new home, High Place. Naomi is sent to investigate what’s going on and also to check on the general well being of Catalina. This leads Naomi to a very strange family and an even stranger situation. Weird things are happening and we don’t really know what’s real and what’s a dream. Who’s to be trusted and who’s not. It’s a pretty slow moving book, it’s eerie but nothing really happens until maybe 70% of the way through the story. Honestly, I read this because I was really excited for the Mexican representation but wow was I let down. Our main character is said to be Mexican and a few Spanish terms and cities are thrown around but that’s it. I wasn’t super interested in the reveals and it just fell flat for me.

Creepy, weird, gothic and with one of Moreno-Garcia's characteristically strong-willed heroines, MEXICAN GOTHIC is a modern, speculative REBECCA. The characters are full-bodied and compelling or unsettling, as the case may be. The supernatural elements are ever-present, but the twist is still unexpected. This is pitch-perfect gothic horror.

Planned coverage:

TOR NIGHTFIRE: Inclusion in roundup STROLLING ON THE MOORS: MODERN GOTHIC HORROR NOVELS WITH VINTAGE CHILLS

BOOK RIOT: Reading Pathways-type post, SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA: HER WORKS & THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY.

I was so excited for this one! But the prose simply didn't grab me. I found it a little awkward and the flow was stilted. I stopped reading pretty early so I can't comment on the story or characters. Perhaps I'll return to this at some point, but I just couldn't connect to the writing right now.

A likeable main character and lots of suspense. The mystery dragged on a little long and I should have expected the paranormal element since this is a gothic novel, but it still somehow felt out of place. Still an enjoyable read.

Being a huge fan of Garcia’s Certain Dark Things I was excited to read this new novel . A reimagining of the gothic suspense this book is fabulous . Taking place in 1950s Mexico Noemi a beautiful young socialite receives a letter from her newly married Cousin begging for help . She arrives at the strange , decrepit isolated mansion where her cousin lives and the weirdness begins and doesn’t let up. I’ve not read anything else quite like the horror in this novel . Scary, suspenseful and emotional all make for an original page turner