Thank you NetGalley & Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I ... don't know what I just read. That's not a bad thing - but minutes after finishing Mayra, I find myself asking, what the f?

A twisty gothic novel about two former best friends reconnecting at a secluded house deep in the swamplands of Florida, Mayra follows Ingrid, who has long felt forgotten by her former BFF Mayra, who has invited her for a digital detox.

I liked Ingrid - I liked the way her anxiety was portrayed, and how awkward and out of place she felt. The setting was creepy as hell, and not just because it was set in Florida. Big weird house that seems endless that you never want to leave? Yeah, I'm good. No thanks.

I don't think I can say a lot about this book without spoiling it, but I will say that I spent the first 60% wondering what was happening, and the last 40% thinking what in the actual hell is happening. You should read it to find out for yourself.

Slow throughout but engaging enough to keep interest! Overall, good gothic atmospheric thriller! Will definitely follow this author from here on out

Nicky Gonzalez’s debut, *Mayra*, is a captivating gothic story about friendship, betrayal, and the isolating vibes of the Florida Everglades. The swamp almost feels like a character itself, reflecting the emotional struggles of the protagonists.

The story begins as Ingrid reconnects with her estranged friend, Mayra, drawing her into a secluded and unsettling house. Their complicated friendship unfolds, revealing Mayra’s charming yet threatening nature alongside Ingrid’s feelings of longing and frustration.

The house symbolizes their relationship, with its twisting hallways echoing Ingrid’s confusion. Mayra's boyfriend, Benji, adds jealousy and tension, while the writing vividly brings the swamp and house to life.

Though the plot focuses more on mood than action, the slow unfolding of secrets explores unresolved feelings. *Mayra* is a striking debut that will resonate with fans of psychological suspense and modern gothic fiction.

Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez was such an interesting and fast-paced read. Even though it was a short book, it kept me completely entertained and guessing the whole time. I couldn’t put it down and had to finish it in one day because I was so intrigued to see where the story would go. The mix of thriller, horror, supernatural elements, friendship, and even sabotage kept me on my toes—it was impossible to pin down until the very end. A truly gripping and entertaining book!

Mayra isn't really about Mayra but rather the narrator, Ingrid, and Ingrid's near obsession with her. While Ingrid and Mayra had been one time best friends through high school, they drift apart when Mayra moves to college and Ingrid feels spurned. Somehow, 10 years later, Ingrid's need to please leads her to following Mayra to a weird house in the middle of an isolated Florida swamp.

It felt like this book was trying to tell two different stories: one about a friendship gone sour and another about the weird house. The two stories together felt forced, partially because there is just not that much tension between Ingrid and Mayra. The tension exists almost entirely within Ingrid, to the point that the first half of the book, which focused so much on Ingrid's perception of her friendship with Mayra, felt unnecessary.

There's a lot of flashbacks to their youth and interrupted dialogue to weave in something about their past. In my opinion, it's all very mild and typical of teenage friendships. Mayra kind of sucks but Ingrid would have been anxious/a follower/incapable of making a decision with or without her.

This book is worth reading for the latter half alone though. Once Ingrid starts exploring the weird house, it story gets going and I went from almost putting this book down to finishing it in an evening.

The descriptions of the house are fantastic. It has a history that's reflected throughout its many rooms and renovations. There's a sense that something isn't right, both with the house and Mayra's boyfriend Benji who's also there, and it's well done, growing from something at the back of Ingrid's mind to an eventual all out panic.

Overall, I think it's pretty good and recommend it. How Ingrid discovers the house's secrets is clever. I really loved the ending. But I do think it might have been better if Mayra wasn't in it at all.

🐊 Book Review 🐊

Two friends reunite after years of being apart. They are staying at a house owned by one friend’s boyfriend. The location is out in the Florida swamp lands completely devoid of cell phone service or internet. The first few days are great until time seems to be endless and taking walks outside brings them back in one big loop. There is something off about the place and the boyfriend. Will they figure it out in time?

This was different. I went into it after reading the synopsis, thinking it would be a haunted house story or, that the friends would turn on each other. The first 75% of the book was very enjoyable but the last 25% were confusing and felt like a fever dream. There weren’t really any horror elements other than the feeling of being stuck in an endless loop of time and space in a house that doesn’t want you to leave. There is also not explanation as to what we are dealing with. A little more background into the house and the boyfriend would have provided cohesion to the plot so I could understand how and why these things were happening.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the arc. Publishing July 22, 2025. Available for preorder!

“A dream is the brain with its hands around your throat.”
📚
While Mayra’s premise immediately drew me in (gothic horror tale of two friends reconnecting at a mysterious house out in the Everglades), it wasn’t for me. It read like a strange fever dream and was “literary” in a way that didn’t feel approachable. Its pretentiousness created distance and pulled me out of the plot, which surrounds a toxic friendship where two girls might love or hate each other, and one has a major inferiority complex that she projects onto the other, whom she resents for having experiences outside of their juvenile bubble. Add to that a weird boyfriend and an even weirder house/setting, and things are just, well, weird.

The narrative alternates between memories (most of gross, immature teenage situations and choices) and the present-day visit to a house out in the Florida swamplands, along with tedious and seemingly irrelevant epistolary interjections (diary entries) that made things feel overly long, meandering, and repetitive (my eARC was only 181 pages but felt so much longer). I wanted more of the gothic/horror elements, which appeared only in spurts throughout before suddenly getting hot and heavy at the end, which felt unbalanced and rushed and too much like I was being told what was happening rather than experiencing it.

There were also many instances where I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief, such as when the main character repeatedly sleeps outside and/or goes walking in the swamp without ever encountering bugs or alligators or outside creatures of any kind, along with other nonsensical choices that I won’t elaborate on to avoid spoilers. I’m thinking this was supposed to be an exploration of identity, but it just didn’t work for me, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending this forthcoming release, scheduled for publication in July 2025, for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I initially requested Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez because I have a student named Mayra, and I was curious about the portrayal of her name in literature. The novel is a gothic tale about two former best friends reconnecting at a secluded house in the Florida Everglades. Gonzalez's writing is both evocative and atmospheric, drawing readers into a world where the boundaries between reality and the supernatural blur. While the book is engaging, some readers have noted that its surreal elements may not be for everyone.

What a dreamy gothic horror. It takes real skill to craft dread while the main character isn't worried in the least. Really great book.

This book didn't feel to be entirely what it was advertised as, which certainly isn't a bad thing. However, I found all of the letter stuff to be a little bit boring an nonsensical, and I do slightly wish that the story would have been allowed to progress without them. Florida swamplands are already creepy enough without the story within a story. I also think the flashbacks felt a little unnecessary too, especially for the length of the book.

3.5 stars.

Ingrid hasn’t heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, in over a decade. Mayra left Hileah, Florida, their hometown, to go to college and has been mostly absent from Ingrid’s life since.

Then Mayra reaches out with an invitation. She’s back in Florida and she asks Ingrid to spend a long weekend with her at the house where she is staying, out in the middle of nowhere. Ingrid is looking forward to reconnecting with Mayra; they had an intense friendship and she’s never found that with anyone else, plus she needs to shake up her colorless life a bit. She’s disappointed when she arrives at the house and finds that Mayra’s boyfriend, Benji, is the actual owner and he is there too. However, he proves to be a wonderful host and Ingrid and Mayra are enjoying their time together.

But the house is isolated and mysterious and Ingrid finds a journal belonging to Elizabeth who appears to have been at the house when she wrote it. What is really going on here?

Dreamy, nicely written tale which, in some ways goes where you might expect and in others, not so much. I liked it.

Mayra is one very odd little book. I went into it expecting a gothic haunted house story, and I guess it is kind of that if you have a very loose definition of the word “haunted.” But mostly it's about a toxic teenage friendship, and then in the final pages it turns into a fever dream.

I didn't mind the first 60% or so. In fact, it was rather enjoyable. There are lots of flashbacks to Ingrid and Mayra's teenage days, and the isolated house in the Florida Everglades makes for a super atmospheric and creepy setting for their present-day reunion. It's a slow burn, but you know it's leading up to something bigger. And then it gets a little repetitive. Yep, they're still in the house. Yep, more flashbacks. Yep, Mayra was kind of a twat as a teenager. Blah, blah, blah. And then there's the ending and it's all WTF is happening and where did this all come from and why is she in a swamp? I have so many mixed feelings about the ending. I mean, the premise is a good one, but I just didn't care for the fever dream-y parts. I don't particularly enjoy prose that makes me feel like I'm on hallucinogenic drugs.

But let's talk about the found journal for a minute. I'm always confounded when (and this is definitely not something that's unique to this book) someone finds an old journal and then proceeds to read it at a snail's pace. Like, oh, the person who wrote this journal is so mysterious … I think I'll read an entry a day. Who does that?? No one, that's who. So there's that, but then also the journal bits just didn't really work for me. I normally love epistolary sections in novels, but whatever-her-name-was (seriously, I don't remember and it's not worth searching the ebook for) is super boring. It's like when I was thirteen and would journal about how so-and-so “sat next to me on the bus today.” Or, rather, she's super boring right up until the end when she shows off her impressively bad decision-making skills. Like … really? How TF was that ever going to end well?

The text is also kind of … jumpy? Especially in the latter chapters when things start to get wonky. One minute they're talking about one thing and then all of a sudden it's later and they're talking about a completely different thing and you have no idea what's led to that conversation. Like, “Oh, it's great here oh f**k we need to escape.” Fast-forwarding the timeline without warning: too confusing, too extreme. (← That is a very Michigan-specific reference but trust me it's hilarious.)

I did enjoy how utterly freaking weird Benji (Mayra's boyfriend) is. He seems *almost* normal but at the same time it's obvious there's something wrong there. The “cleaning the windows” bit (you'll know it when you get to it) is super WTF-worthy and I loved it even if I still don't exactly understand the why.

So, yeah. I enjoyed parts of this novel and parts of it I didn't. I'm sure there are readers who will appreciate the whole of it much more that I did, but unfortunately I'm just not a fan of the whole fever-dream shtick. The premise for this book, however, is outstanding, and I'd definitely be open to reading more by Nicky Gonzalez in the future. My overall rating: 3.25 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is July 22, 2025.

“Haven’t you wished to crack open beside someone and leak into the same pool?”
Mayra is a really solid, impressive gothic debut exploring a toxic friendship between two women. But it’s more than it lets on, set in a house in the Florida swamp that’s slowly eating away at them. I was really looking forward to this because of its setting (I am a sucker for books set in Florida), and it definitely delivered on lush landscapes and an isolated, unsettling atmosphere. Somethings clearly wrong from the beginning, but you can’t really put your finger on it. We follow Ingrid and her childhood friend, Mayra, as they slowly descend into madness fueled by a haunted house and years of thinly veiled resentment. These characters were really compelling, and I really enjoyed peeling the layers of their friendship away as the story went on. It was a great short read that kept me invested the whole time. Would highly recommend to Southern Gothic fans.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I love toxic friendship stories. I went into this based on the reviews, believing that I would love it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I think there was just something about the writing style that did not work with me. Also, the constant descriptions about Florida. It was so descriptive. I felt at times that I was reading a book about the location rather than the characters. 3 stars.

Wow what a spooky ride it gave me women interrupted vibes but in the best way and this cover is absolutely gorgeous

I love a good second chance at friendship style story but when the duo turned into a trio I wasn’t having it lol

Holy shit. I'm not quite sure what I expected going into MAYRA, but it wasn't ... this? And I'm thrilled? I read this book in an entire sitting (and it's been a while since I've been able to do that with an adult novel). It DEVOURS you, before you even realize you're being devoured. A surreal, heady, suffocating, lyrical trip into one of the most gorgeously horrid hauntings I've encountered in a long time.

Dastardly (complimentary).

The emotions of friendship, yearning, and jealousy are explored with raw honesty, and it’s impossible not to feel swept up in the psychological spiral that slowly unravels Ingrid’s sense of self. The plot keeps you guessing, twisting, and turning with each new revelation. By the end, you’re left questioning how far you’d go to reclaim love or approval, and what you’re willing to lose in the process. Overall, a must read for fan of atmospheric, character-driven stories with an unsettling edge.

I really hoped for some creepy vibes, but at 40% I gotta tap out.

I was expecting some sort of southern gothic, creepy vibe with the girl and her boyfriend road-tripping on down south to see her ex-bff / friend? But nothing was happening. Sure, it had a creepy vibe, but it focused too much on their past friendship and the creepy vibes weren't there. There is a possibility of female obsession, and maybe control? But at nearly 50% I'd expect something more.

Reading this felt like experiencing a surreal yet vivid dream. Gothic horror at its best, made even more impressive by the fact it’s a debut. I’m still not entirely sure what was up with Benji but I was thoroughly unsettled every time he appeared on the page. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

this was a very good book! I love how the story took from these 2 children in a toxic friendship to their older selves and seeing how much they have changed, and still just how similar they still are to their younger selves

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!