Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez is a gothic psychological novel about Ingrid, who reunites with her estranged childhood friend Mayra at a remote house in the Florida Everglades. As they revisit their past, the eerie setting and emotional tension blur reality, revealing the dark complexities of their friendship.

I didn’t quite connect with this one. The first 75% of the story explored the complexities of Ingrid and Mayra’s friendship in depth - but Ingrid’s constant shifts between love and resentment toward Mayra (both in the past and present day) became a bit exhausting to follow. Additionally the plot development toward the end didn’t quite deliver the payoff I was hoping for. That said, readers who enjoy gothic, eerie, psychologically driven narratives may find a lot to appreciate here.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for granting me a complimentary advanced reader copy of the ebook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and based off of this draft; the final publication may be different. Expected publication date is July 22, 2025.

Mayra and Ingrid are childhood friends that haven’t spoken in years. Out of the blue, Ingrid gets a call from Mayra inviting her to visit her at a home deep in the Florida Everglades.
The book goes back and forth between memories of the girls as teenagers to present day in the vacation home.
What starts out as a pretty normal read takes a turn and suddenly I had no clue what was going on. It wasn’t bad, it was just odd. I think a bit of confusion was what the author was trying to evoke, similar to the house itself. Generally speaking I liked the book but describing it leaves me at a loss.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for access to this ARC.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an eARC of Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez, which I really enjoyed. The novel's creepy gothic atmosphere was its most interesting feature, even if it got slightly lost by the end. Ingrid and Mayra were both engaging characters that kept the plot propelling forwards. The novel is an easy recommendation for thriller fans who love a breezy read.

Knowing how much time and effort it requires to write an entire book, I try to look for positive things to say about a story before criticizing. Unfortunately, I did not find much that held my attention with "Mayra." Several times I thought I would stop reading, but then continued to the end. The premise of two former close friends, meeting again after many years of "life goes on," is a good basis, and the details of Ingrid and Mayra's childhood set up the background for the reunion. With the appearance of Benji, who knows every detail of the house they are in, located in a remote area of the swamps of Florida, and cooks, cleans, and picks up off the floor dirty clothing left by Ingrid, most of the time I was trying to figure out the purpose of his presence and the suspicions Ingrid has about him, as well as the relationship between Ingrid and Mayra. Many times the story veers off into dreams, surreal escape attempts from the house and it just didn't make for a cohesive and satisfying story. The ending left me equally
disappointed, and wondering why I finished this book.

There were some genuine spooky parts sprinkled through out the book but it wasnt all out horror. More creepy than anything but I enjoyed it. The end fizzled out a bit for me I wanted something a little spookier but it ended I would say more weird and unsettling than straight horror. I will say the target audience that would really get more out of this book is Florida natives particularly with the Latin community.

The way this book was described does not match how it read for me. I have no problem with low/no plot books as long as the characters are interesting. And while the main female characters weren't exactly flat, they did feel cookie cutter. A girl who doesn't know herself and wants to leave her small town behind and the girl who is very judgmental and doesn't ever leave. These archetypes didn't leave a lasting impression on me. And it did not make up for the lack of nothing in this book. While some moments and discussions the 3 characters would have did make me pause a think a little, it never went deep enough to inspire lasting thoughts. Maybe this is my own fault- who knows?

The ending felt so rushed. I was at 90% thinking maybe something would finally happen and suddenly the danger the main characters were in were suddenly realized and then the story ended. I had guessed the nature of the man and the house but there was hardly anything on its origins or how it worked or the timeline. It just wasn't for me. While this is a very surface level interpretation of the book, I think at the very least the most literal interpretation needs to be interesting to be well liked.

I have come to the conclusion that it just wasn't for me and that this will appeal to different people for sure! I would have liked it more if the characters had been more interesting but toxic, sort of homoerotic, teenage female friendships didn't appeal to me for this setting. Nonetheless, the writing was a strong point! This author knows how to create an atmosphere that is unsettling and pointed. I loved it and it was a main reason why I wanted to finish this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and random house publishing for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review~

Beautifully written and haunting, Mayra stayed with me long after the final page even though I was left with some unanswered questions. If you are a fan of atmospheric books, need a break from story-driven plots with multiple characters and subplots and background character development, or want to read a short film, this is the one for you.

I was immediately drawn into the book because of the writing and, even after I was done, I couldn't place what I was feeling throughout - was it nostalgia? Confusion? Loneliness? Nicky Gonzalez did a great job in creating a mood that I would expect to find in an artsy short film; all winding corridors and rooms that lead nowhere but back to where we started. I haven't read a book like this in a very long time so I truly appreciated the non-traditional story and narrative. I was so wrapped up in the steady stream of consciousness from Ingrid that, eventually, time in the book and my time reading moved along together. This was entirely unsettling but would be enjoyable for fans of eerie, uncomfortable horror that isn't a jump-scare in your face. I am so glad I gave this a chance!

Nicky Gonzalez's "Mayra" presents a narrative shrouded in an intriguing air of mystery, particularly surrounding the central friendship. This enigmatic dynamic proved to be a compelling thread, subtly urging the reader forward even when the overall direction of the plot felt elusive. However, the initial two-thirds of the book unfold at a measured pace, with significant plot developments feeling somewhat delayed. This gradual build-up, while perhaps intentional, ultimately contributed to a sense of disorientation that lingered even after reaching the final pages. While the atmospheric tension surrounding the characters' connection is undeniable, the lack of substantial progression in the earlier parts of the book and the lingering confusion at the conclusion may leave some readers seeking a clearer sense of resolution.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book in advance for an honest review. I was ecstatic when I found out I could read this so soon.

So, what an interesting book. 3.75 stars, rounded up. I’ve never read anything quite like this, which is why I bumped my rating for the appreciation of originality. It starts out feeling like pure literary fiction, following our protagonist and her complex, sometimes tumultuous, sometimes toxic, often sisterly bond with her childhood best friend, Mayra. The story moves fluidly between memories of the past and the present, with the girls reuniting after years in Florida's swamplands for a weekend.

However, at times, I’d often forget this was touted as 'Gothic Horror' until the last part of the book. Then suddenly, you remember the description and realize, oh right, this is where it’s all been leading. That’s when the author launches you into a wild fever-dream sequence that feels like it’s going a hundred miles an hour. It’s creative, chaotic, and confusing (which I feel was intended). The narrative jumps around a lot, with scenes bleeding into each other through Ingrid's lucid thoughts, leaving everything a bit blurry.

The writing itself is gorgeous, deeply poetic and profound at many times. Nicky Gonzales is clearly a gifted writer. I just think she tried to do a bit too much here. I could honestly read her similes ALL day, she’s TOO good at writing them. But when EVERY character is also that good at similes, it starts to feel a bit unbelievable. The voices start to blur together. Ingrid’s inner thoughts, Mayra’s spoken dialogue, and even Elizabeth’s written thoughts all begin to sound alike, so poetic, sprinkled with beautiful similies, but after a while, none of their voices feel particularly distinct.

Overall, great debut, bro. :)

Oooo it’s been awhile since I’ve written a review! This book was spooky, fun and a little all over the place. I had no idea where this was going at any moment which made it fun to read, but I wasn’t feeling enticed to pick the book up to see what happens next. I read multiple books at one time, so my length of reading time always seems longer than it should. However, this just didn’t have me hooked.

I would suggest this book if you are into gothic horror. The story is basically an anxiety fueled fever dream that I know all too well. The ever changing rooms, Benji (ew, yuck), the full escape from reality. I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like Alice falling down the rabbit hole (see what I did there?). I was left wanting more, as if I have questions that weren’t answered. Benji’s explanation of the house and how he ended up there just feels… like a puzzle piece that does not fit. I needed more. I needed the connection to the diary explained. Who are all these people and how did they end up involved in this?? It reminded me of Beetlejuice.

Anyway. The mention of Upstate NY in a book that takes place in the Florida Everglades is fun as heck. Shoutout Ithaca.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. 3 Stars. I look forward to seeing what this author puts out in the future!

I struggled a bit to connect with this story but may need to return to it another time! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

2.5
I have some mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I feel like there is no denying that Nicky Gonzalez has some writing chops. I thought the writing was well done, BUT I didn't love the plot/how everything came together. I feel like the author was on the cusp of some really interested ideas, but they didn't quite get there for me. I guess I kind of wished there was a bit more parallel between their toxic friendship and the haunted house. They seemed like two separate stories almost. The beginning of the story also felt well developed, albeit maybe a bit too drawn out, and then the ending all just happened so fast.

My favourite part of this book was the flashbacks of Ingrid and Mayra when they were teenagers. They felt like distinct, strong characters in this part, and I thought there were a lot of really good scenes there. The parts at the house just didn't do it for me. I can get down with an untraditional take on a haunted house, but I feel like this one had me more, so just scratching my head wondering, "Was this suppose to be scary/eeire/unsettling?". I hate to be that person, but this felt really close to not being horror. I thought it did do a great job setting some gothic atmosphere. The journal entries also just felt kind of pointless as they didn't really reveal anything that I felt like I hadn't already picked up from reading the summary.

The biggest tradegy was the sidelining of Benji. Like he was doing weird, interesting shit but I feel like we barely even got a taste of him and what his deal was.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

A haunting, modern day gothic horror novella.

Mayra will draw you into the boundless depths of the Florida Everglades and keep you spellbound for days upon end.

Is this a fever dream or something far more sinister?

Mayra what can I say? You are an odd story and an interesting one. Gothic, mystery, haunted? Yes. Friendships, toxisisty, teenage development? Also yes. I really didn't get much of a hold on. on this story, it was a bit too out there for me. Most likely because I wanted a gothic story and got a case study on teenage friendships indead. It is a good book, just not what I was expecting or wanting, or what I was told I was going to get. I think this will be a hit with a selecet group of people. I look forward to seeing it fitin.

Mayra reads like fever dream. Nicky Gonzalez spins a hallucinatory tale of Ingrid, whose life is comprised of working a dead end job and enduring bad dates. Her humdrum existence is interrupted by a phone call from Mayra, her former best friend, who invites her to spend a weekend in the rural Everglades at her boyfriend’s secluded house. Mayra and Ingrid once shared an intense, often toxic bond as teenagers but haven’t spoken in years. Obviously, as readers we know this isn’t going to end well. However, the journey towards that ending wasn’t what I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

If you’re going into this expecting gore and straightforward horror, you’ll likely be disappointed. Instead, Gonzalez has created a claustrophobic story of psychological horror that examines teenage friendships and the sometimes toxic bonds between women. It’s Gothic in the classical sense—a hungry house built on past sins, a landscape that feels like a character in itself. I loved Gonzalez’ lush prose and vivid descriptions of the swamps and suburbs. (I especially enjoyed the repeated motif of the “green glass room”). If intense, sorta queer friendships and a richly described Florida gothic landscape sound like your vibe, you’ll love this. I certainly did.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

The description of Mayra immediately caught my attention. Best friend drama with a touch of gothic? Count me in. I was drawn in by the promise of tension, secrets, and a dark atmosphere, all things I typically love in a story.

While the premise was definitely intriguing, the pacing was slower than I expected. It took a while for the story to really pick up, and I found myself waiting for the drama and tension to fully unfold. Some moments captured that eerie, moody tone well, but overall, it didn’t fully hold my attention the way I hoped.

This isn’t the kind of book I usually gravitate toward, and while it wasn’t a bad read by any means, it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That said, readers who enjoy a slower, more atmospheric build-up might find this one worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4/5

This was an enchanting story, one that takes you from the known all the way into the strange unknown where you are left questioning what you just read. It was definitely a slow burn, and it took its time slowly teasing you into the midst of the strangeness and by then you are hooked and you need to know what will happen next.

It felt hypnotic and strange and yet comforting in a weird way. I really enjoyed it and how it really wrapped up by the end leaving you with just enough answers but also so many more questions.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ebook ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

I expected a gothic, creepy haunted house book, but I'm not sure what I really got ... I didn't dislike it, I'm just not sure how to categorize it. Maybe I have a different definition of the word "haunted".
For the first half of the book, we get a bunch of flashbacks to a group of teenage friends who are maybe more 'frenemies' than true friends. Quite a toxic group of friends. This slow burn story is set in an isolated house in the Florida Everglades, which makes for a super creepy, atmospheric setting. It's a slow burn, and we are left expecting something bigger is going to happen. But then we get into a repetition cycle of - still in the house, more flashbacks, Mayra was a snot as a teen. Rinse and repeat. Then - woah, what's going on?! Mayra's in a swap? What? The ending of the book is so much of a fever dream telling, and it's just hard to really get grips on what's going on. Lots of jumping around as things get wonky, so that you're never really sure what is going on or who is speaking in the conversation.

It's not bad, but it's not great. I've been thinking about it since I finished it. But I can't rate it 4 stars - too many things I really didn't care for. So I'll go for 3 stars, and will cautiously recommend it to specific friends. I am interested in others by Nicky Gonzalez and would read others to see how they are.

Ingrid has no idea what to expect when she hesitantly decides to stay with Mayra, the larger-than-life childhood friend she always looked up to, envied, adored, and resented. Restless as she always was, Mayra had moved away several years prior, leaving Ingrid behind in their hometown of Hialeah, Florida. When she calls Ingrid out of the blue and invites her to stay at a mysterious and isolated house in the Everglades, Ingrid is fearful but overwhelmed by the desire to reconnect with the one person who once meant the world to her.

Things go well for awhile, so well that Ingrid starts to feel as though she is learning more about herself, letting go of old anxieties, and rediscovering a more mature, but equally intense bond with Mayra. But everything is not as it seems in the strange house; the architecture makes no sense, its space seeming infinite and claustrophobic. Time passes differently and soon Ingrid is having trouble differentiating one day to the next. Not long after, she finds her thoughts and memories are becoming jumbled as well, and to top it all off, Mayra’s boyfriend Benji is overtly accommodating, bordering on robot-like. Despite these red flags - or because of them - Ingrid finds contentment. Eventually the question becomes: are you really a prisoner if you love your prison?

Mayra isn’t your standard horror fare. It’s more along the lines of existential, psychological horror. There is one central supernatural influence but even that is extremely subtle - a creeping dread that slowly fills both the protagonist and the reader with a kind of panicked hopelessness. It’s a slow burn to be sure, and one that works surprisingly well.

I was in awe of how accurately Gonzalez portrayed the turbulent friendships of adolescent girls, fraught with jealousy yet also a desperate co-dependency. I saw much of my former (hell, even a little of my current) self in the timid, perennially-one-step-behind, never-in-on-the-joke Ingrid, and an amalgam of many of my closest girlfriends in Mayra.

I’ve been reading a lot of female first person POV books recently and when I realized this was yet another I worried I had reached my limit. However, Gonzalez’s style is all her own and I enjoyed getting caught up in her descriptions which were poetic and dreamy yet somehow never pretentious; Ingrid’s memories and perceptions of the world around her which were relatable but not predictable.

Those looking for more action-oriented, what-you-see-is-what-you-get horror may be thrown by what they find in Mayra. Truthfully the book is probably more accurately placed within the suspense category. Readers who appreciate eerie, atmospheric writing with a very introspective, character-driven plot will likely enjoy this debut.

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was Ingrid and Mayra against the world when they were growing up in FL. However, they grow apart when Ingrid goes to college and leaves the town of Hileah behind. When Ingrid receives a call from Mayra, inviting her to spend a weekend with Mayra and her new boyfriend in a very unique house, she decides to go. From this, it's very haunted house gothic. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as horror, but you felt the tension and claustrophobia in the story. Like Ingrid, you begin to lose part of yourself as time passes. I felt the end was abrupt, and I'm honestly not sure if this was intended. Either way, very fun!