⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

thank you Will Lyman, Random House Publishing and Nicky Gonzalez for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

So this book was not really what I was expecting when I hear a ‘horror’ book, but it really is a great example of gothic horror.

If you’ve read any of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s works, this book I would put right up with her because boy is it unsettling.

Ingrid gets a call from her high school best friend, Mayra inviting her to a weekend getaway to a vacation home in the middle of the Florida Everglades- no service, no technology- just a detox from technology for a simple weekend.

Ingrid and Mayra’s relationship is heavily detailed in this book between current day chapters and flashbacks to their schooldays before they graduated. I feel like these flashbacks could have been cut down IMMENSELY to make way for more of the unsettling aspects of the house but the reader gets a really good sense of their relationship and how Ingrid may have misinterpreted some events in their past, and how the rectify those.

One thing that was slightly disappointing was that the creepiness factory didn’t really ramp up until 3/4 of the way through (65-75% through specifically) but the author does a really good job with incorporating the unreliable narrative trope into the modern day sections and putting little unsettling hints here and there.

The ending was really an interesting thing, and I would recommend this to someone who may like thrillers vs horror, because I was expecting more actual horror aspects within the book which never really happened.

I think though anyone who enjoys a book that you have to really pay attention to and is more atmospheric horror vs overt would really enjoy this story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I started the book excited to see Latina characters thrive and take center stage literally just living their lives. I feel their Latin background could have been explored further and deeper without venturing into gratuitous territory and I’m sad it wasn’t more present than in some slang and specific locations mentioned from their childhood. I actually feel the opposite than several of my fellow ARC reviewers. I was kind of getting annoyed with Ingrid and beginning to find her insufferable when The Unhinged Fever Dream part began. Or rather, once The Window Cleaning bit happened, my back snapped to attention, and once I was able to clear my grimace I really began to enjoy the story.

As a bi Latina, I was really hoping that the sexual tension between Mayra and Ingrid, or at least Ingrid’s bisexuality would be touched on a bit more. It was barely really addressed, but I’m still glad the author didn’t bury the gays I guess.

My other bone to pick is that while I appreciate the author doing a lot of showing rather than telling, help a girl out and tell me some stuff, you know? Like. Ok, you dropped in the tidbit about the eyes in the diary and then mentioned them again when speaking about Benji a few chapters later, but a little more exposition, without having to give us the “How This House Became a People Eater” explanation wrapped in a bow would have been appreciated!

I will also add that there are some truly beautiful bits of prose scattered throughout the book that even if this Grady Hendrix-esque gothic horror isn’t your normal cup of tea, make for a worthwhile read.

I love a book that feels like a fever dream and makes you question every bit of reality until the end. It’s not always easy to develop a twisty gothic book that delivers a resound punch at the end, but this book truly took some turns that I didn’t see coming. This story follows two long-lost childhood friends that adventure to a lonely house in the middle of the swamplands of Florida to reconnect and stay a while. The house has rooms that shift and rooms that find you and rooms that change you. But which room is yours?

I’m so excited to see future books from this author and can’t believe this is a debut!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this book.

Complex female friendship reunion in a mansion that’s giving haunted funhouse fever dream vibes. It started off slow, but by the end I was so creeped out. Worth checking out at release.

“Mayra” by Nicky Gonzalez is a truly unique and odd experience in the best possible way. From the very first page, I was entranced by the author’s beautiful writing—each sentence feels like it was crafted with the utmost care. I found myself highlighting something on almost every page, as the prose is not just beautiful but poetic, making it easy to lose yourself in the rhythm of the words. The novel takes you on a hallucinogenic fever dream, where reality and fantasy blur seamlessly. It’s a wild, captivating journey that leaves an unforgettable impression. The haunted house vibes are also executed to perfection, which is a tricky element to pull off in literature but Gonzalez nails it. The eerie atmosphere and unsettling tension create a sense of being trapped in an otherworldly place, making the narrative all the more immersive.

I also admired how well Gonzalez developed the characters, especially Mayra and Benji, despite the story being told from Ingrid’s first-person perspective. Typically, we get a limited view of other characters in such a narrative, but here, I felt I really got to know Mayra—particularly her teenage version—and Benji in a way that’s rare for first-person accounts. This debut has me craving more of Nicky Gonzalez’s writing, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. Gonzalez’s talent for blending surrealism with deep emotion creates a work that is both haunting and mesmerizing. If you’re looking for something unconventional, this is a must-read.

This was weird but very interesting. The author did a very good job at making this very atmospheric swamp/marshlands in the middle of nowhere setting and I felt like I was there. It was very easy to picture in my head and it was like I was watching a movie. I liked seeing the descent into madness that our main character Ingrid experiences. I just feel like I wanted more from this book. But I will definitely look out for this authors next release!

2.5 stars...first off thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC. I really wanted to like this book but it kind of fell flat for me. Nothing really happened until like the last 15% of the book. So I was bored for a majority of the book but I finished it because I wanted to give this book a fair shot and maybe time to redeem itself. I thought it was going to be more than it was. No real character development the plot was meh. I don't think I would recommend it in all honesty

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to preview Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez in exchange for my honest review. This was an odd one! Mayra starts out with an interesting premise- an invitation to stay with an old friend for a weekend at a big, old house in the middle of nowhere. Once the narrator, Ingrid, arrives at her destination, things get more and more weird until the end. The house and it's caretaker, Mayra's boyfriend, are deeply strange and disorienting. I won't say more as I don't want to ruin the fun for future readers.

I didn't know what to expect with Mayra, and I like what I got.

Ingrid receives an invitation to visit an old friend she hasn’t spoken to in years. Mayra is staying at a strange house in the middle of nowhere. Ingrid goes with the intention of staying for 2-3 nights. Before she knows it, though, she’s been there for several days. Even worse, her memory doesn’t seem to work as well as it used to. That’s the basic plot of this super slow-moving thriller that was perfectly adequate, but no better than that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

DNF - There is certainly a readership for this book but I am not among them. I could not connect with the style in which this was written so I kept feeling unmotivated to go on.

Mayra was such a fun read! I loved how mysterious and bizarre it was as the story went on. I found at times the pacing was a bit slow but once it got going it took off. I also don’t really understand why this was called Mayra? I think there are more fitting titles for this book but that’s a small complaint. I really enjoyed this one and will recommend it highly.

I didn’t feel that this book lived up to its description as being a gothic horror novel. It was definitely gothic but there really was no horror. I found the writing itself was good but the plot was very thin. I kept hoping that the ending would be worth the wait but it was also kind of meh.

I love a good gothic horror, Mayra is equal parts awful friendship and what the heck fever dream. While I was really hoping for a deep haunted southern gothic twisty tale the “haunted” factor fell short for me. However I do recommend it as it was a fun escape full read.

Mayra follows Ingrid as she reunites with her childhood best friend, Mayra, in a secluded house, deep in the swamplands of Florida.

While this book is described as a twisty gothic tale, it felt, to me, a little more like a sweltering suspense mixed with an unsettling-maybe-haunted house story. And underneath all of that, there's
an element of a coming of age story, told through Ingrid's memories that she shares with Mayra, as they grow up together in Hialeah, Florida. Honestly, whatever more niche genre you want to put this one in, it does something that really work.

The cast of characters is small and intimate, with Ingrid and Mayra being joined by Benji, Mayra's somewhat quirky boyfriend. Through Ingrid's time at the house and her shared memories with Mayra, the reader really comes to be endeared to these women, as they spend their days (and, maybe more importantly, their evenings) in this strange house. The setting of the house and its surrounding marsh is both dreamy and creepy, and Gonzalez's writing is really suited to enhance these feelings with each description of the rooms that seem to pop up out of nowhere and winding marshlands that encircle the house.

Overall, this was a really creepy and, somehow, fun read. I enjoyed getting to know Ingrid and Mayra through the memories Ingrid shared throughout the story, and I truly cared what happened to these young women in the end. While I did find myself wishing there was just a little bit more (more slow reveals, more hints of what was really go on, more explanation of the ending), I did have a really good time with this book.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the Arc of this book!

I really liked this! In part, it's an examination of friendship--how friends grow together and then apart, and the complicated feelings of adolescent obsession. And, it's also a well-crafted submersion into oblivion--the writing of the way in which this "haunted" house preys on occupants was perfect in my opinion. I think I'm most impressed by Gonzalez's ability to weave these multiple elements together that makes them all engaging. There are some incredibly poignant observations in here, and I'm definitely excited to see what Nicky Gonzalez writes next.

Projection is a form of magic, sometimes cruel, other times not.

Ingrid and Mayra were once best friends, but as time passed, distance and life created a wedge between them. Despite this, they’ve always shared a bond that’s easy to pick up again. So, when Mayra invites Ingrid to catch up at her boyfriend’s remote home, Ingrid readily agrees.

Hauntings don’t always involve ghosts. We can be haunted by the past, or by futures we never realized. Memory itself is a form of haunting. People and places can cause us to regress into versions of ourselves that still linger in our psyche.

There’s a unique kind of horror in having your worst fear about yourself confirmed. But something more than memories and fear permeates this house—something strange lives within its walls.

I enjoyed the first part of the book, but found myself struggling with the pacing in the second half. While I highlighted a few passages and appreciated the concept, I wasn’t entirely sold on the execution.

A special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC!

The story is about two friends reuniting, while staying at a house owned by one’s boyfriend- completely void of cell service and internet in the FL swamps.

This story lacks some substance. The first half of the book was very enjoyable, but the last half was confusing. Most of the book felt like you were in an endless group of time and space that doesn’t want you to leave. There wasn’t enough written about the background of the home and boyfriend, which could have helped. Overall I wasn’t a big fan, 2.5⭐️

Damn, “Mayra” had me touching grass just to feel something real… What an eerie, disorienting, odd, beautiful debut from Nicky Gonzalez!

If you like weird creepy houses, and feel like going on a fun little fever dream, add this to your summer TBR stat

Thanks so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for a review

This was an odd little book. Toxic friendships that they just can't let go of for whatever reason.

So much angst and not a lot of haunting. And the ending?


NetGalley/ July 22, 2025, Random House

Florida Everglades Gothic, creepy topsy turvy house, isolation, toxic female friendship 🐊

Ingrid has always been drawn to Mayra like a magnet, and that pull still exists even after Mayra has grown up and moved on to bigger and better things, leaving Ingrid behind. But when Mayra calls out of the blue and wants to reconnect, Ingrid is drawn back to her. This time in an isolated house, deep in the Florida swamp.

I loved the dreamy, mystical atmosphere of the house and the swamp setting. I find that lost sense of time, "how many days have gone by?" haziness to be incredibly creepy and it works really well here!

Mayra left me wanting just a little bit more, more from the characters, more history, more backstory. But Gonzalez writes the setting so very well that I would still recommend this one for a really hot summer day, where you can get lost in the story, like our protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC 🐊 Mayra publishes in July 22!