Cover Image: Book Club Kit: Mexican Gothic

Book Club Kit: Mexican Gothic

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Member Reviews

I actually asked for this thinking its the book but would be great for the book club. Honestly I dont really have much to say about the book club kit as I haven't yet read the book.

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I actually asked for this thinking its the book but would be great for the book club. Honestly I dont really have much to say about the book club kit.

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This book club media kit was very enjoyable. As fans of the book, the BC members and I had an amazing time discussing these questions and reading about the inspiration behind fashion.

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This book was very disappointing. I kept seeing it hyped on book blogs, Bookstagram, and BookTok. I was super excited to read this and then even more excited once I got a notification from the library telling me that I got to jump the line for my chance to read this book. I can't entirely if this was a case of overhyped and then not so good, or if I just didn't enjoy this book.

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THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!
I am so happy that I have finally read it and now I will have to buy a physical copy, because this screams autumn.
It was also amazing to know more about the 50's in Mexico and how people lived or tried to.
Definetely a 5 star book

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This kit was very helpful but when I got it I thought it was the actual book. That was on me for not paying attention.

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Didn't read the whole explanation of what this was before I downloaded the kit. I actually do want to read this book and will be adding it to my list.

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It is a book club kit for Mexican Gothic novel. It is useful to have a detailed discussion with your peers and book club members on this book.

This book contains:
1. A letter from the author
2. Discussion questions
3. A playlist curated by the author with a spotify link
4. An essay from the author about what inspired Mexican Gothic
5. A Noemi inspired paper doll with a handful of different outfits

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A fast-paced Gothic story that takes all the classic tropes of a haunted house, nightmares, weird vibes, and being stuck in this hellhole, but mixes everything well into an atmospheric & mysterious plot driven on the strong shoulders of a fierce woman who won't bow down to any horrifying occurrences, while the bad and the good side characters contribute enough to either make this experience worse or show a ray of light respectively. Excellent writing and brisk narration set the tense voice so perfectly, it's a pleasure to read this horror—even though High Place doesn't have an ounce of anything pleasurable within its walls.

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This is a good supplementary piece for anyone has had the book. It includes a letter from the author, background information on the genre, location of the book setting and fashion of the main character throughout the book, and of course the book cub question prompts.

I enjoyed this kit visually and the content is good, but I expected there to be a bit more to it. For anyone reading as a book club read its a good starter reference but be expected to add to it for a deep book club discussion. It also ends very abruptly, which I was confused by.

Overall, not something I would recommend unless you are really keen on the book and want that extra context and letter from the author.

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This is a very well put together book club kit for Mexican Gothic. This is something I'd encourage you to pick up if you're planning to have an in-depth discussion about Mexican Gothic.

This book contains:
1. A letter from the author
2. Discussion questions (varying degrees of thought needed for the questions)
3. A playlist curated by the author with a spotify link (very cool idea)
4. An essay from the author about what inspired Mexican Gothic
5. A Noemi inspired paper doll with a handful of different outfits (this is really fun and unexpected)

Please note: this isn't useful as a stand alone book. This is strictly a supplement you'd want to use for additional activates/discussion when you host Mexican Gothic in your book club

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Im not exactly sure what i was expecting but this wasnt it. I feel let down. Not really sure how deep discussions could be with this guide during book club

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I thought this was the book, but realize this was a book club kit! Sorry for the mistake! I haven’t reviewed the kit because I did not read the original book. Thanks!

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It is really helpful to have this book club kit and I wish I had that for more books. Thanks for it!

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It’s interesting, made me want the book even more than before. It’s necessary to talk about the points in the book, and to make sure that more people would get into the travel with us. It’s a fantasy book.

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I would like to thank the publisher, Penguin Random House Library Resources, and netgalley for providing me this book club kit! I am really looking forward to using it!

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This book club kit helped me to digest the book in absence of my book club! I read this book on my own and missed the different perspectives of other readers. The comments and questions benefited me in the same way a robust discussion does. I would recommend this kit to readers reading together or on their own (like I did).

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This was nothing that I was expecting since I was not able to read the book in the first place. This book is more for the people who have read the book and want to do a study about it.

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This was a rather disturbing read, to be honest. I think it needs a trigger warning; there is drug use, rape, cults, suicide ... but the imagery is beautiful, and the symbolism is on-point. The pictures that Moreno-García paints are stunning, vivid, magical. The world building is beautiful, but the magic system was, admittedly, strange. Even though it was a bit of my comfort zone at times, I really enjoyed the story. This Book Club Kit was the perfect book to pair with the novel, because it asked thoughtful discussion questions and provided great context and background about what influenced the author and story.

Mexican Gothic takes us back in time to an old-fashioned world, where women are painted as mercurial and melodramatic, and expected to "mind [their] words and learn [their] place". In an old house darkened by rotting memories, the inhabitants desperately cling to the past. But Noemí Taboada is a modern woman, a bright light, and she will do anything in her power to save her cousin Catalina from wasting away into the darkness. But is she strong enough to save Catalina from the gloom that engulfs High Hill?

With Mexican Gothic, Moreno-García uses many traditional horror tropes in unique and interesting ways. I don't want to give too much away, because above all, it was a great mystery. I think it is rare that a book actually keeps you guessing for so long. There are lots of hints and hidden symbols in the text, but not so blatant as to give away the ending. I don't read many mysteries but this was one that I truly enjoyed puzzling out. But, instead of spoiling the ending, I am going to delve into analyzing some of the fortune-telling symbols I found throughout the story.

Fortune telling was a driving element in this book, which is a theme I love finding in books. This one was steeped in historically arcane traditions, helping to lend an authenticity to the magic system created by Moreno-García.

Belief in the 'Evil Eye' stretches back centuries and worldwide. Cultures across the world have their own explanations and beliefs surrounding the Evil Eye, but the basic idea remains the same. Many maintain that the evil eye is a curse cast by a malevolent or jealous glare, usually upon an unaware victim. It also refers to talismans or amulets that are meant to protect the wearer from receiving the misfortune or injuries directed by malevolent glares. In Latin America and Spain, the 'Mal de Ojo' is deeply embedded in popular culture. There are traditional folk cures that involve red ribbons or raw chicken eggs, but the most popular ward is a charm that can be worn, carried, or hung inside the home. There are various designs, but the ones worn by Noemí and Catalina may look like the one pictured above.

"The infinite, above us, and below."

I am in love with using the classic haunted house as a metaphor for how the patriarchy oppresses everyone and everything. But Moreno-García went even further to address this by using an ouroboros as sort of family crest. The ancient symbol of the snake eating its own tail is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death, and rebirth; the skin-sloughing process symbolizes the transmutation of souls. At the same time, there are implications of male/female fertility, with the circle symbolizing a womb and the snake a phallic symbol. This was an interesting choice to use to represent the patriarch of the house. In reality, oppressive systems are the real ouroboros', feeding on the compulsion of men and the possession of women.

Light and darkness was another heavy theme throughout the book. There was a constant play between dark and light, the wicked and the divine. There were some beautiful dichotomies created, the constant battle between shadow and light, the blurred boundary between dreams and reality. I think this will make for some stunning visuals in the upcoming Hulu adaptation! Eeeeek!

After all, nothing in this place is what it seemed. There were secrets upon secrets.
I don't read many horror mysteries, but I liked what the author did with Gods of Jade and Shadow, and I have seen so much hype around this book! It has spend nine weeks on the NYT Bestseller list, and the novel has been so successful that it will soon be coming to the little screen with the go-ahead to adapt it as a Hulu original series. If you are looking for a creepy House of Leaves/The Yellow Wallpaper style read for Halloween, this one is perfect.

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As a reader of Mexican Gothic, I enjoyed the book club kit. It provided a neat look into the history, geography, and folklore of the book. Mexican Gothic is a popular book club book at my library, so I can see our patrons getting a lot of use out of it.

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