I'm still trying to process what I just read! I liked the way the author created the atmosphere of the book, you really could feel the climate of Florida. Ingrid was an interesting character and Mayra was unusual. You don't find out what is happening until the last part of the story and then you're really not sure what just happened! I ended up liking this book.

What would we do to rekindle that perfect childhood friendship?

Ingrid has missed having a best friend. You know, the friendship before bills and responsibilities kicked in. That deep friendship where when a question was posed, you knew either of you could answer it - because you knew each other so well. Ingrid has missed that since she lost her best friend Mayra. They drifted apart after high school when they went life took them 2 different directions.

But Mayra calls Ingrid out of the blue and invites her to a remote house for the weekend, maybe a long weekend? However long Ingrid can stay, Mayra would love to see her. But can we really recapture old friendships like that? What would we have to give up to have a friend like that again?

This was an interesting and quiet story. The first half is really just getting to know the two main characters and really setting up that previous friendship and to catch them up to the now. The second half felt a little slower until I hit that last 10 percent. The story really turned from there - and the fever dream quality melted into that interesting horror element and really drew me in. I liked looking back over the story, in the end, and seeing all I could see from that different viewpoint. What a deliciously dark story but one that took a moment to fully reign me in. It was worth the wait.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

While I was hoping for gripping swamp horror and a nasty evil house, I still found myself enjoying what Mayra had to offer.

This story follows Ingrid as she unpacks her past relationship with her ex best friend Mayra. Their relationship is a complicated one and as they grew apart, so too grew Ingrid’s resentment.

Perspective changes everything and some relationships are seasonal, as difficult as that can be to experience. This book does a beautiful job of exploring that. Despite enjoying the connection Mayra and Ingrid shared and getting to process their relationship with them, I found the horror elements to be rather lacking which is a bummer because this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

The haunted house gimmick is interesting, the false villain thing is not my favorite choice, and I would’ve loved more in depth exposition on what’s actually going on.

It wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free E-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

We follow Ingrid through her journey to reconnect with her old friend Mayra, when Mayra invites her to a cabin in the swamp. This cabin is anything but normal, and continues to be a source of confusion and mystery. While some pieces of this story are resolved toward the end, most get left hanging in an unsatisfying way. I enjoyed the concept of this book, but I felt like certain things were set up for a big reveal and then we're never addressed again. Most of the focus of the story was around toxic friendships, and less on anything beyond some lightly atmospheric horror. No spoilers, but I think if the author had addressed some of Benji's behaviors I would feel differently about this book.

Mayra is a strange, atmospheric read that starts as a slow-burning tale of toxic friendship and ends in full fever dream. The first half is genuinely compelling, with eerie flashbacks and a haunting Everglades setting. But the pacing stalls, and the surreal final act feels jarringly out of place. If you like your gothic with a side of psychedelic chaos, this might be for you—but it left me more confused than satisfied.

Monster House (one of my favourite childhood movies) meets the Florida Everglades (nature’s scariest other than the ocean, probably).
The message of detachment and apathy, but at what cost.
A great modern gothic, I really hope people pick it up upon release!

I love a gothic horror in a swamp. Sign me up!!! Unfortunately, there was less horror in the swamp, and more toxic friendship literary fiction than I expected. Overall, it was a good and short read; and had I tempered my expectations a little more, I would have enjoyed it more. There is a small sense of creeping dread that goes to a crescendo at the end, and I think the threads did tie together well. A big thank you to Random House for the free eARC in exchange for my thoughts, and to Colleen for the buddy read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Nicky Gonzalez for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Mayra coming out July 22, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really love horror stories, so I was excited to check it out. I definitely enjoy the Spanish stories. However, this wasn’t really for me. I was a little confused with it. I would check out other books by this author.

Ingrid is invited by her childhood friend Mayra to a unique house in the swamp.

Mayra is an interesting, unsettling book. It builds a great, eerie atmosphere, but in lieu of a neat, tidy resolution provides a thought-provoking ending. Some readers may find it frustrating, but it works.

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. The window scene (no spoilers) genuinely made me feel a little sick.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Friendships are renewed in the heart of Florida, and the mysticism of the property brings back all those teenage ramifications. Although 3 may not be a great idea to relive those old memories. I enjoyed the flashbacks to their younger selves. When they become involved in their stay, they start to lose touch with the outside world. This was an interesting novel, with so many dynamics. As it concluded, I found the ending to be unique and left me pondering how they got there. I do like an ending that leaves one in speculation and to their own imagination. A unique novel.

Unfortunately, I think this was a case of the marketing not matching the story well. Based on the synopsis, I expected a horror book with literary fiction elements, but this is the other way around. This a literary fiction book with some horror elements. It centers mainly on a toxic friendship that is being rekindled between Mayra and Ingrid, who grew up together in Miami. The backdrop for the friendship rejuvenation is a kind of weird house. But it takes a while to get to anything creepy, in my opinion. I felt like we got a ton of flashbacks of their friendship, which was nice, but I was just expecting something more horror-forward. The author's writing was really good, and I think for what the story is that it accomplished what it wanted to do. I would be open to trying another book from this author in the future, especially since I will be better able to temper my expectations.

A dreamy, surrealist, horror debut novel. Though a bit overwritten in the first few chapters, it certainly finds its teeth. Mayra offers an honest exploration of girlhood, womanhood, and the inherent sapphic intensity of friendships between teen girls that cannot be erased with either time or distance.

I inhaled this book... Ingrid and Mayra's friendship captures so closely every best-friendship I've ever had with women. This book felt like my fun-house dreams in such a lovely, terrifying way, and brought to life that monster that tears us away from those friends whom we can barely live without.

What an odd little book.

I enjoyed it. Heavy on the kinda toxic bestie vibes and lower on the horror until well well into the novel. But that did kinda make me antsy during the rest of it. Waiting for the scary to drop.
Ingrid hasn’t heard from her bestie in a long time and when Mayra invites her to her house in the Everglades she jumps and the chance to reunite.
It flips back and forth to when they were teens to now in the swamp.

Weird, eerie and I’d be interested in a reread.

Thank to netgalley and random house pub for an eARC

I went into this expecting far more eeriness than what was actually here. It didn’t work out too well for me because it was so much more of a character study and I soon found myself losing interest. Going into this with different expectations would make this a bit better, but if I had realized what it was I personally would not have picked it at all.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book expecting something eerie. The cover gave me horror vibes. The synopsis promised danger, mystery, an isolated house in the swamp. Classic creepy setup, right? But that's not really what I got. And honestly, I’m still not sure how to categorize it.

In my opinion, this isn’t a horror novel, though I realize horror can be subjective. What creeps out or horrifies one person may be nothing to someone else. I found this to be more of a slow-burn character study that dips into weirdness near the end. At its core, it’s a coming-of-age story told through memory and reflection. That’s the part that worked for me. The horror elements? Not so much.

The book follows Ingrid as she reconnects with her childhood best friend, Mayra. The two haven’t spoken in years when Mayra invites Ingrid to spend the weekend at her boyfriend’s house deep in the Everglades. It’s remote, with no cell service and an ominous atmosphere that should have laid the groundwork for a tense psychological thriller. But tension isn’t the driver here. Nostalgia and identity are.

Through flashbacks, we learn who Mayra and Ingrid were growing up in Hialeah, a Cuban neighborhood near Miami. Mayra was wild, rebellious, unfiltered. Ingrid was quieter, more observant, and unsure of where she fit in. These scenes are the heart of the book. Watching these girls grow up felt honest and grounded. The writing captures tiny moments of teen intensity. The kind that shape your view of the world forever.

In the present, the dynamic between the two women has shifted. They haven't seen each other in years. Ingrid is still trying to figure out where she is headed in life, while Mayra seems almost ashamed of her past. Like she would rather leave who she was behind and forget about it. And then there’s Benji, Mayra’s boyfriend, who invites Ingrid to open up about her childhood, which she has no real problem doing, but it bothers Mayra. She’s not proud of the person she was back then and doesn't want to talk about it.

The tension in the book comes from those unspoken things. Old wounds, unresolved emotions, and the unsettling feeling that something is off—not just with the house, but with the entire situation, and the introduction of a mysterious journal only adds to the mystery. I thought maybe this would be where the horror would be introduced, and while it added a bit of creepiness, it wasn't enough. The horror element only really kicks in during the final chapters, and even then, it’s more surreal than scary. It’s a little trippy, a little confusing, and feels somewhat disconnected from the rest of the story.

If I’m honest, I think the book would’ve been stronger without trying to wedge in those final horror beats. The coming-of-age material stands on its own. The emotional weight, the exploration of friendship and identity—that’s where this story shines. The genre-bending stuff felt unnecessary, like it was trying to add a layer the book didn’t need.

One thing I will say: I listened to an ALC of this title while reading and the narration by Frankie Corzo is fantastic. She captures the tone of each character with precision—Mayra’s recklessness, Ingrid’s hesitation, Benji’s curiosity. Her voice added texture to the story and helped carry some of the more ambiguous moments near the end. If you’re an audiobook listener, it’s worth grabbing the audio version.

Overall, I liked this book for what it was: a sharp, intimate story about friendship, identity, and the blurry space between who the characters were and who they’ve become. I wouldn't call it a horror novel, or even really a thriller. But it is a solid debut that knows how to explore complicated relationships with honesty and a little weirdness on the side. Just don’t go in expecting scares. If you do that, you won’t be overly disappointed.

Set in the swamps of Florida, two old friends reunite and instantly things get weird. Mayra has a new boyfriend, and Ingrid is getting used to this new Mayra and her new living situation. Issues start between the two friends and their living situation/reunion starts to fizzle.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me. The plot felt disjointed, the characters were frustrating, and the pacing made it difficult to stay engaged. I kept hoping it would eventually click or start to make sense, but that moment never came. It ended up feeling more like a scattered stream of thoughts than a cohesive story. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Unfortunately this one was just not for me. I think it's time I admit gothic horror might not be for me. Also, swampy horror I have almost yet to see done right. I ended up having to DNF this one. It was terribly slow and I was not vibing with the two MCs at all. It wasn't getting to the horror aspect either.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Random House Publishing for this eARC. Unfortunately this is for a specific kind of reader, and that is not me. “Mayra” is a slow and atmospheric type of literary gothic horror, similar to The Haunting of Hill House, Rebecca, and House of Leaves. It is very light on the horror aspect until the last 10% or so. The book mainly focuses on the toxic friendship of the narrator and the title character. I didn’t find it interesting.