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~

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was so strange (/pos). I’m not sure if I would qualify this exactly as a haunted house story, but it was enjoyable all the same. I feel like the center of the book did get a bit repetitive and I think only one journal entry at a time made the story feel like it dragged on. I did like the pros. I think it began feeling like a fever dream which I really enjoyed. I honestly wished there was more of it. I think the ending did feel fitting for the tone of the story.

This was a great debut and I’ll be keeping an eye out for Gonzalez’s next book.

Overall, this was *ok*. I am a fan of the gothic horror genre, and this leaned more into gothic thriller, which isn't my favorite. There didn't seem to be a big reveal, and I got bored with it around the halfway mark - to the point I started skimming it, waiting for something exciting to happen, which really didn't until the last 1/4 of the book.
I think the premise is great, and I enjoyed the setting immensely. The backstory between Mayra and Ingrid was good storytelling, but I wish that there had been more clear definition of what was backstory and what was present tense.

This horror thriller kept me guessing the entire way through the book. It was so eerie, but in the best way. This was a great debut novel and I can't wait to see what this author comes out with next.

Following Ingrid deep into the remote Florida Everglades while she reconnects with her childhood best friend who she has not seen in years, this novel drips with expertly paced tension. As the novel progresses, and celebratory dinners turn into mindless afternoons, Ingrid begins to loose her sense of self, replacing it with bits and pieces she finds throughout the ever shifting house Mayra's boyfriend is renovating. Fast-paced and well written, Mayra is a creepy read that will begin to make you question what part of it is actually real.

In Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez the main character (Ingrid) travels to the middle of the Florida Everglades for a short vacation with her bestie from high school, Mayra. Ever since their graduation years earlier, Mayra has been a bit aloof and Ingrid is excited to reconnect, but when she arrives at the house in the middle of nowhere, things are not exactly as they seem. And why is Mayra's kinda creepy boyfriend here, too?

There were a lot of things that I really enjoyed about this book. My favorite parts were the childhood flashbacks about Mayra and Ingrid. Mayra was that one friend who was always a bit of an a**hole but who was so fun that you were always able to forgive her. The friend who was so cool that you wished you could BE her. The friend who could care less what everyone thought about her to the envy of those who knew her best. I could relate SO well to Ingrid's anxiety and the way that she overthinks everything and compares herself to those around her. At one point she says she has a comfort zone the size of a closet. Same, girl. Same. The atmosphere of the house and the surrounding woods/marshland and the diary that Ingrid finds are all very alluring, moody, and creepy.

The only issue I would say is that the horror wasn't horror-ing ENOUGH. I think the best part of horror novels is the slowly building sense of unease and dread. We get that here, but not quite enough of it. There is one part with the boyfriend, Benji, that is quite disturbing but doesn't happen until probably halfway through the book. Gonzalez does a good job of letting us see the house through Ingrid's eyes - the delicious meals, the lazy days in the sun, chatting away with her best friend - but she doesn't allow us to see outside of Ingrid enough to be worried about her. When we are finally confronted with some of the true horrors of the house it is such a short passage with little explanation. I wanted an extra dose of the spooky.

But in the end, the overall story was interesting, the ending was perfect, and Mayra will be a character who sticks with me for awhile.

So this is an interesting book. The story starts out with Ingrid getting a call to meet up with an old friend in a vacation spot for a long weekend. I thought this story would be about friendships and secrets and have some real Southern Gothic vibes but it falls short of being a complete story. It was a bit too disjointed and Benji wasnt menacing enough although I didn't think he was supposed to be. The writing was excellent but the story felt incomplete.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for offering me a copy of Mayra for review. I love a fever dream feel to a book, which this author delivered. From the cryptic way an old friend invites the main character to stay at a somewhat gothic and secluded home, to the history of said friends and seeing flashbacks of growing up in a small town, this book gripped me. It did have a somewhat slow start, but I ended up really enjoying the buildup of the main character slowly adding pieces to a puzzle, very Nancy Drew meets The Twilight Zone! I wish this book were a bit longer, the climax of the plot felt somewhat rushed and had a whiplash aspect for sure. I think that some added foreboding and suspense would have aided in the overall finished product. This would have moved my overall enjoyment from really liked to LOVED. I will be looking forward to reading more by Gonzalez in the future, I'll keep my eyes peeled! 3.5 stars.

First off thank you Netgalley and Random House for the eARC.
What can I say about this book,
1. it was really well written, I cannot believe this is Nicky Gonzalez debut novel. The writing alone had me hooked and kept me engaged.
Herein lies the problem, I was engaged and really enjoyed reading the prose, however nothing every really happened. You would start piecing together what was going on, the atmosphere would become tense, and there was an extremely slow burn heading to something magical. Then it kind of fizzled out and turned into a bad LSD or Acid trip, I had to reread several passages of the last 15% just to make sure I could at least pretend to grasp what was going on.
Although I did not particularly like the story after the 85% mark, the first 85% was absolutely flawless.
I will definitely be adding Nicky to my authors to follow for no other reason alone than I really enjoyed the time I spent reading her artistic way of tying the English language together.

I really liked this book but had to ding it one star because at one point I could only suspend my disbelief so far. Although I didn’t really like any of the characters (there are really just three main characters), the story was good and the house coiled like a python in the midst of the Everglades was really cool because like the python, the house felt somewhat invasive in that setting; of course, it also made it seem that much more real.

Having been to the Everglades, though, I would never have tromped through the marsh like Ingrid does—not only are there massive pythons out there, but rattlesnakes, coral snakes, and cottonmouths, all of which are very venomous. And there are alligators, Florida panthers, bobcats, black bears, and snapping turtles not to mention poisonous plants and mosquitos. I think Gonzalez could have limited the story to the area right around the house with the same effect.

That being said, it was a freaky idea and very well executed. I definitely felt the surreality of it all.

Unfortunately, this book is let down by marketing it as a Southern gothic haunted house story.

While I appreciated the prose, reflections on friendship, culture, and the ties that bind us, I was let down by everything else the book promised to deliver. The first 30% of the book is our central character reflecting on her slight obsession with her unlikable childhood friend. None of which appears to be dark or sinister. Then we arrive at the house in the middle of the swamp. Yes, we get a stop at the local convenience store to get a flavor of the locals and a Hill House-esque warning of “where you’re going no one will be able to hear you scream.” But, there is no sense of dread, no building tension, little description to set the mood. We dive into more childhood memories and brief interactions with the modern day friend and her third wheel boyfriend, who is supposed to be mysterious but acts like their personal chef. And yet, here we are at 50% of the book and nothing has happened - no thrilling mystery, no ambiance, no feelings of dread.

Unfortunately, this was a slog to finish and the pay off was a rushed fever dream that didn’t make much sense to resolve the promise of a true haunted house story. If this book was properly marketed as a work of literary fiction with elements of a family mystery and a loss of self, I believe it would find its true fan base. As it stands this was a disappointing Southern Gothic haunted house story.

If there are words to describe MAYRA, it’s unsettling, unnerving, and atmospheric.

The narrative follows Ingrid, who, after years of estrangement, receives an unexpected invitation from her childhood friend, Mayra. Mayra, once a fearless rebel from their hometown of Hialeah, now resides in a secluded house deep within the Everglades. As Ingrid navigates the treacherous journey to this remote location—marked by poor directions, lack of cell service, and the ominous presence of the swamp—she is both intrigued and unsettled by the reunion. Upon arrival, Ingrid finds Mayra much as she remembers: sharp-witted, effortlessly beautiful, and defiant. However, the presence of Mayra’s new boyfriend, Benji, and the resurfacing of past conflicts soon disrupt their reunion. The trio’s interactions within the labyrinthine house, surrounded by the lurking dangers of the swamp, blur the lines between reality and illusion, leading Ingrid to question her own sense of self.

As a reader, Nicky Gonzalez’s writing really puts you in this haze where nothing is what it seems for the main character Ingrid. Time and memory blurs for the characters in this gothic haunted house novel. For a debut author, Nicky knocked it out of the park. Big thanks to Netgalley and Random House publishing for the advanced copy!

In the secluded swampy lands of Florida, there is a strange house where two childhood friends reunite with a resurgence of memories, good and bad, and revelations of a strange nature in Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez.
After receiving a call after years without hearing from a childhood friend, Mayra, who left their hometown Hialeah for college in New York, Ingrid is extended an invitation to spend a long weekend at a house in a remote area of the Everglades, which despite her hesitation she knows she’ll eventually accept as she’s always been captivated by and clung to the safety of Mayra. Before even arriving at the house danger looms: from the directions that need to be written down as cell service isn’t reliable to the biting creatures lurking in and around the swampy waters; once at the house, a sense of calm descends but danger remains, if only hidden further beneath the surface. As the friends reconnect, old disagreements and jealousies are rehashed, witnessed by Mayra’s new boyfriend and the house’s owner, Benji, placing a sense of unease over an otherwise peaceful and rejuvenating escape from daily life. Exploring the oddities of the house, with its many colorful rooms and hallways to get lost in, time passes strangely and the pull of the outside world diminishes, but something, about the house and property, is unsettling, compelling Ingrid to regain herself despite the surreal wonders promised, especially after what she read in the diary she found in her guest room that so eerily echoes what she’s experienced before arriving and experiencing since arriving.
In a setting that is surreal, with touches of dark faerieish wonder and lessons threaded throughout contributing to an eerie undercurrent pulsating beneath the surface trying to make itself known, the narrative is consuming and unbalancing as it explores friendships and the lengths you can go to both find and accept yourself, with the insecurity that accompanies that journey well-depicted. The house has a looming presence that is creepy, not necessarily menacing but certainly strange, which is compounded by the depiction of life experiences in the diary that Ingrid finds in her room that echoes her own experiences, facilitating a strong sense of misgiving within her that the house is an epicenter for unnatural events, which starts innocently enough with an unusual sense of calm and peace and strangely built rooms, then becomes progressively stranger with time’s odd passage and Benji and Mayra’s weird behavior, and ultimately peaks with the uncomfortable maw of a room and the house speaking directly to the characters. There’s a delving into Ingrid’s memory to flesh out her captivation and relationship with Mayra that was established in their middle school days up until they parted ways after high school; given that there was a kind of estrangement between them in their young adulthood, there’d be a lot to explore in their reunion but while the narrative places an emphasis on their dynamic, now that they’ve been drawn back together by the house they’re behaving as if no time has passed, apart from a few moments of disagreement, which pass relatively quickly, as they instead focus on the house and surroundings, but the unsettling nature of the house itself isn’t explained or explored enough to address the abundance of questions that arise to understand its origin and impact more thoroughly.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was incredibly a well written Southern gothic exploring toxic female friendship and the last 10% felt like a fever dream. I loved it.

****Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.***

I really wanted to like Mayra, but honestly, I just didn’t get it. The premise had so much potential—an eerie house in the middle of nowhere, no cellphone signal, a friend’s creepy boyfriend—all the right ingredients for a compelling, suspenseful read. But as I kept reading, I found myself waiting for something to happen. By the time I was 60% in, I still felt like the story hadn’t really gone anywhere.

The main character, Ingrid, seems stuck in the house, unable to leave, and she discovers a journal from someone who had been there long ago. This discovery felt like it should have led to something bigger, but instead, the story remained stagnant. And then came the ending—a complete blur. It felt rushed, and I finished the book still unsure about what actually happened with the house, which I assume was supposed to be the central mystery.

Maybe other readers will connect with Mayra and appreciate what the author was trying to do, but unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them. That said, I do look forward to reading more from Nicky Gonzalez in the future.

A bit slight, but not half bad - a haunted house story that's mainly about two old friends who've grown apart, reflecting on the sadness of their divergent lives. It's well written and I like the way the creepiness drips slowly into the narrative like a horrible dawning realization. Horror fans picking it up on the strength of the cover and description may feel a little let down - on the spookiness scale it's a few degrees milder than Hill House, which is pretty mild as haunted house stories go - but I enjoyed its depiction of an intense girlhood friendship in a small town and observations on the marks we leave behind on each other.

This book was slightly different than I expected but in a good way. This book is a fever dream in a horror setting, and I loved it. If you can get through the slow beginning, it will be worth it in the end.

This is an amazing literary horror--immediately immersive. It's like a lush fever dream, and I didn't want it to end. Can't wait to recommend this to everyone I know who likes slightly weirder fare.

I found this book to be a little odd. It’s listed as a story about a gothic haunted house, however I found that most of the story focused on the friendship. I found the story to be entertaining but there were definitely some really parts of the book where I had to push through. Thank you to the publishers for sending me an ARC of this book.

Nicky Gonzalez's debut novel tracks the reunion of Ingrid and Mayra, childhood best friends whose connection has long since dissolved. When Mayra unexpectedly invites Ingrid to a secluded house in the Florida Everglades, what begins as a potential rekindling quickly transforms into something far more unsettling. The story weaves between past and present, revealing the intricate, often fraught landscape of their friendship—a relationship that was never comfortable, which in fact, seemed awfully fraught, tenuous, and one-sided, with Ingrid never quite knowing where she stood with Mayra. Ingrid's imagination drives the narrative, making her an unreliable yet captivating guide through the novel's increasingly strange terrain. Her internal world is so big, so ridiculous, that even when the plot threatens to unravel, she remains compelling. The house itself becomes a character—isolated, labyrinthine, as mercurial as the swamp surrounding it—mirroring the unpredictable dynamics between Ingrid and Mayra. While the book occasionally feels like it's losing its way, particularly towards the end, there's an undeniable magnetic pull to the story that keeps you turning pages, curious about what bizarre turn might come next.