Gosh, this book was quite unique: I have rated it 4 stars because I found it unusual, slow-burn, I had no idea where the story was going, I unconsciously picked up on something but I thought it was me not understanding the story, it was really a pleasant, languid read. I liked Ingrid's plain character and life, and Mayra's sexy and mysterious personality. I recommend going blind into this book: do not read the synopsis nor should you read any reviews to be able to get the full experience of this book.
An author to look out for!

Thank you so much for the eArc NetGalley and Random House Publishing!

I loved the author’s use of flashbacks to showcase Mayra and Ingrid’s friendship when they were teenagers. I’m a sucker for a good backstory and I loved that part of the story. It made it interesting, even though it was a bit slow to start. I also loved that the present day was set in the Florida Everglades in what seems to be an old house with some history, which gave me the creepy vibes I enjoy.

Benji, Mayra’s boyfriend, really creeped me TF out. If Mayra were my best friend, I would have told her, “You need to dump your boyfriend because he is giving me major killer vibes right now, and I don’t know if I can handle that.” However, I think he was a really good addition to the book and added more of that creepy thriller vibe I was picking up.

I’m not one to talk bad about a book, but I will tell you that it did take me a while to finish reading this book. Not because it was bad, but because the begging felt so slow and not as interesting for me. My other issue was that it was marked as a horror book, but while I read it, it was more of a creepy thriller, not horror. I’m not sure if it was just me, but closer to the end, everything seemed to move quickly and jumble up. I was a bit lost and had to reread a lot of what I had already read to make sure I understood. So, I felt lost after a while, and it made it less enjoyable to read.

Maybe it was just me, but those 3 things brought my rating down to 3 stars.

Overall, the idea for the book was good, and it had great parts. It just felt like it was missing something, and it had an uneven tone. Unfortunately, the story just didn’t captivate me enough, and it wasn’t for me in the end. But maybe others will like it.

Mayra kept my attention for the first 1/2 of the book and then the story got really odd and lost my interest.
Ingrid and Mayra were childhood (toxic) best friends and while Mayra left town for college, Ingrid stagnated in their Cuban neighborhood. Years later, Mayra calls out of the blue to invite Ingrid to a weekend getaway at a house in the Everglades and she impulsively accepts. Upon arrival, she learns that their reunion includes Mayra's weird boyfriend Benji. His family owns the hauntingly beautiful house, that is possibly haunted.
I enjoyed the flashbacks to the girl's childhood and appreciated the atmospheric mood created by the author but this book was a little too much for me.
The best part was Benji cleaning the windows. I had to reread that part to make sure that I read it correctly. It caught me off guard and made me laugh.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC :)

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I really enjoyed MAYRA By Nicky Gonzalez!

This is a story about two friends, Mayra and Ingrid, told from the perspective of Ingrid. The first half of the book is mostly Ingrid reflecting on memories of her and Mayra growing up together in Florida. Ingrid has a lot of complicated feelings about Mayra and I loved learning about their dynamic. It felt really relatable.

Even as adults, they have a strained, distant relationship. Mayra randomly invites Ingrid to come stay with her at a remote house in a swamp. The second half of the book explores their friendship as adults and the weird house they’re staying at as well as Mayra’s new boyfriend. I wouldn’t call this a haunted house story, but there is something creepy going on.

Like I said, the female dynamics, complicated but comfortable relationship between the women, and the creepy vibes were really gripping for me! I wish the shift in the story had tied in more of the beginning of the book but this was still absolutely unputdownable for me.

I hope to read much more from Gonzalez in the future. The writing and atmosphere were right up my alley!

MAYRA begins with our protagonist, Ingrid, getting a call from her childhood friend Mayra. Mayra doesn't often visit their home state of Florida, so Ingrid is cautious but excited when Mayra tells her she's in the state and invites Ingrid to visit. We get some moments of Ingrid's recollection here and there--how her and Mayra's friendship began, some conflicts and teenage growing pains--that flesh out the girls' teenage bond. The house Mayra is staying in (surprise, she brought her boyfriend!) is In. The. Swamp. No neighbors for miles.
So far, we have a great setup--two estranged-ish women who once shared an outsized bond in the way unique to tween and teen girls reconnect in an isolated labyrinthine house (and oh yeah the surprise boyfriend) and dig into the insecurity and confusion of what made their bond what it was. But what starts as an exploration into identity and belonging (and who we are in contrast to and because of those we love) turns into a surreal dark fairytale of...I'm not exactly sure what.
I hate to admit that maybe this book was too nuanced for me to understand it. Either that or it was a vague concept that was not executed well, and I'm prone to believe it's a ME issue, not a MAYRA issue. I wanted to love it. There were things about it I did love: the layers of Ingrid and Mayra's relationship peeling back to reveal toxicity, the interiority of Ingrid's character, the sense of isolation. But I wanted more. I was never sure what Gonzalez was doing with this story or why it mattered. Like I said, probably more of a me issue.

What a weird and trippy book. Ingrid receives a call from her childhood friend, Mayra, who invites her to a house in the Everglades for a weekend away. When Ingrid arrives, she a little disappointed to see Mayra's boyfriend there, but she decides to make the best of it. Soon after, the days start to blend, the house behaves strangely, and Ingrid and Mayra begin to reminisce on the past.

The author completely nails the intense relationship dynamics of female friendships during preteen years. Ingrid wanted so badly for Mayra to really *see* her, and I think there was more than a little bit of longing on both their parts. I really enjoyed Gonzalez's writing; it was fast-paced and breezily humorous. I found myself wanting to know so much more about Ingrid and Mayra. I wanted more interactions of them together, and I wanted this book to be longer. I am halfway happy with the ending, but it felt so abrupt. Don't leave me hanging!

Overall this is a very twisty gothic-yet-unconventional horror with cosmic elements and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror novels.

This is a strange novella. It has some beautiful writing, and paints very detailed pictures of the scenes and characters. It seems to take some inspiration from House of Leaves and Shirley Jackson. Very much a story that is more vibes than plot. My biggest criticism is the journal entries within the story seemed out of place and very much slowed down the reading experience. Perhaps on reread and additional analysis I would see the connections the author was trying to make. If you like stories that provide creepy vibes and feelings of unease and you do not mind less plot-this could be for you. I would definitely check out more by this author in the future, as she has beautiful writing.

Oh Mayra, what a trippy experience. Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez is an eerie horror with nods and themes akin to the island of lotus eaters of Greek mythology. Ingrid isn’t exactly living in bliss. She remains in the same hometown where she grew up, works as an assistant for a realtor and admits she isn’t necessarily proud of her job (even lying about her job at one point), and relents to participate in unsatisfying dates from apps. She is proud of her roots but admits there is some envy when she watches the success of her childhood best friend Mayra. Out of nowhere, Maya calls Ingrid to invite her to her vacation home. And Ingrid ultimately decides to go….
If I had to describe this story in one word, EERIE is the word I’d choose. The author Nicky Gonzalez nailed the eerie vibe of modern horror. This story took me back to Greek mythology, a darker Alice in wonderland, and a black mirror episode all rolled into one.

Pros: the story was quick, an easy read. The plot flowed well. I highlighted the crap out of this novel for sudden random banger lines.


Cons: at time I would read and it would become very tangential, and I would question where it was going. Ultimately most of the stories made sense at the end though. Is it bad that I wanted it to be MORE suspenseful? I feel like it was just getting good, exciting, climatic, and then it wrapped up. I kinda wanted more as a horror lover.

The people I would say would like this book would be people who like Alice in wonderland, cerebral non-linear storytelling, and (as it was suggested to me, and I agree) those who love Silvia Moreno Garcia’s modern horror.


Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it!

MAYRA was an interesting read. It was atmospheric, and there were moments of genuine weirdness. Like all debuts, however, there was room for improvement. The gothic element felt rather empty. Much of the book was spent revisiting the past between the two friends, even while in the secluded house. The story leaves much unanswered, but that’s not always a bad thing. All in all, entertaining, even if it doesn’t meet all the marks of a typical gothic novel.

Great book! It had all the fears of growing up. Make a choice. Turn the page or close the book. Enter the darkness if you wish!

This book blew my mind. Not necessarily in a "this is an amazing story" way, although it was decent, but more in a "how is it possible for a book to have this many flashbacks" way. Mayra and Ingrid's relationship is nothing short of toxic, and infuriated me in a way that brought me right back to high school mean girls.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC. Projected publishing date: July 22nd, 2025

The longer I sit with this book, the more I like it. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the ending, but I don’t want to leave spoilers here, so I’ll just say that if you like open endings that you can spend time picking apart after you finish reading, you will like this one.

The premise of this book was hilarious to me: imagine the your best friend that you had confusing feelings for in high school that you never really got over reaches out and invites you to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, and then when you get there, she reveals she’s staying there with her boyfriend that she never mentioned before. I haven’t been in that exact situation, but… I do know the feeling.

So that drew me in, and then the gothic, supernatural mystery only enhanced the character study and I found my heart breaking for both Ingrid and Mayra. I’d highly recommend this if you like slower paced, more character-focused books with ambiguous endings.

I felt this book was definitely a slow burn. I enjoyed the storyline and I liked how the author included the back stories of the characters in it. You get taken along on this ride of rekindled friendship but something else that is sinister is at play you just don't know at what degree. As the author drops little hints here and there that make you pause thinking did I read that right, you start to unravel things. I was hoping for a more climatic ending, but it still was good.

A very literal southern gothic (this takes place in a Victorian home in the middle of the everglades), this novel unfolds like a fever dream. A slowburn that primarily focuses on the adult dynamics of a complex, somewhat toxic childhood friendship - - all in an increasingly less stable reality.

An added layer for me was reading something by someone so clearly from south Florida? I've never seen Alligator Alley mused on lovingly in a novel before.

Anyway, I tore through this pretty quick. The pacing falters at times, but overall a good time. I'll definitely read Nicky Gonzalez in the future.

Ingrid receives a call from her estranged childhood best friend Mayra who invites her to a secluded house in the Everglades. Ingrid agrees and while there, has some very mysterious encounters while she relives memories of her past.

Some thoughts:

1. This was written extremely well.

2. This explores female friendship dynamics that can be toxic. It was raw, it was real and relatable. These relationships can be complex and I feel that Nicky Gonzalez captured it very well. I felt the awkwardness of some interactions they had and saw the reemergence of some old feelings between them.

3. I found the characters very interesting and they were fleshed out so well. Mayra and Ingrid had distinct personalities and I fully understood both point of views.

4. I know this was a gothic debut, however, this also had a cosmic feel to it, I think. There was some incomprehensible entity at the house, if I remember correctly. Also, some existential dread while being isolated. It was all very psychological and unsettling. I guess in a way, the sub-genres can share some thematic elements.

Overall this was an interesting read. The only gripe I had with it was that for all the atmosphere and buildup, I was expecting a more impactful ending and it just missed the mark for me, unfortunately.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Captivating and Unforgettable Read!

“Mayra” by Nicky Gonzalez is an absolutely stunning novel that pulls you in from the very first page. The storytelling is rich and immersive, with beautifully drawn characters that feel real and deeply relatable. Mayra’s journey is both heart-wrenching and inspiring, filled with raw emotion, unexpected twists, and a depth that lingers long after you turn the final page.

Gonzalez’s writing is poetic yet accessible, painting vivid scenes that transport you into the world of the novel. The themes of love, resilience, and self-discovery are masterfully woven into the narrative, making this a book that stays with you.

If you’re looking for a novel that will make you feel—one that is both thought-provoking and impossible to put down—“Mayra” is a must-read. I highly recommend it!

Stunningly written! I predict this is going to be a bit of a hit. The gothic twisty description and the bold, mysterious cover drew me in. Always here for a haunted house moment. I loved this book.

Mayra is a dizzyingly dreamy read. The kind of horror novel that doesn’t need grisly, macabre scenes to get under your skin, unsettle you. Instead, its horror exists at a steady, low pulse that feels like wearing an uncomfortable article of clothing: something you fret over and adjust, but ultimately succeed in ignoring until it bothers you again. (And it will bother you again. And again. And again.)

Gonzalez’s writing is lush and sultry, adding to the hazy atmosphere of the novel and apt for its setting in a Floridian swamp. The pace of Mayra moves just as languidly, with bouts of higher energy and terror akin to the feeling of overheating in the sun. Throughout, Gonzalez lays bare the turbulence of a past semi-codependent homoerotic teenage friendship through Ingrid and Mayra, alongside a very adult desperation of still wanting to be liked, and actively performing to get affection in front of an unwanted audience (ahem, Benji). Add a haunted house to all of that, and you have a beautifully serpentine novel, at parts dreamlike, at parts foreboding.

Though the novel did feel a bit rushed, towards the end, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It feels like it fits within the tradition of modern Latin American horror (from the continent), where beauty and terror and love and emotional strife all exist at the same frequency, and therefore blur together. It’s not a novel for everyone, though I think any horror fan will get something out of it if they give it a chance. (As will anyone who loves to read about toxic female friendships.) If you enjoyed Mark Z. Danielewksi’s House of Leaves or Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless, I think you’ll enjoy this.

(And, as an aside: I hope the choice to not italicise the Spanish in this book isn’t solely for the ARC—I hope it remains un-italicised. The switch between languages, without the usual italic warning, was the signal of a mind trying to make sense of something and looking for another route in another language, and I think that added to some of the jarring sensations of the novel.)

The first half is 5 stars. The second half didn't work for me but, there’s a lot of good stuff here! I would delight in reading more by this author.

I liked but didn't love this - it started out super strong and I was incredibly engrossed, but I lost interest as it went on and found myself not really rooting for any of the characters. I did appreciate the dynamics explored and the sort of obsessive (borderline sapphic?? was that intentional?? just me??) relationship Ingrid had with Mayra as it felt very real and honest. I wished it was spookier. it kind of dragged on. it was a creative plot and good writing, just maybe needed more edits or something. still a fun time! 3.5 stars rounded down~