Thank you Netgalley for the arc. It was a very good read. It was creepy and I loved it. I would recommend reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book was truly a five star read for me! That being said....the sapphic undertones were NOT enough for me!!!!!!! And while the ending was definitely fitting and made sense with the characters being who they were....I wanted it to end happier! All of those things out of the way, I truly adored everything about this book, it really did bring a sort of nostalgia for my teenage girl years too. Codependent female friendships and all! Seriously though, an amazing southern gothic horror read that you will continue to think about long after you've finished reading it!

This book felt like a fever dream ( and I usually like those types of books) but this one did not quite sit well with me at all. I think it was trying to do what The last tale of the flower bride was trying to do but it did not land. It like the vibe, the gothic and subtle haunting feeling. I liked the themes of talking about.a toxic teenage friendship and how much it effects us well into adulthood. I liked the writing but the story fell flat for me, so I had to do myself a favor and stop reading about half way.

"Mayra" by Nicky Gonzalez had potential, but it just didn't quite work for me. The premise -- a fraught friendship with slightly sapphic undertones rekindled under eerie circumstances -- had a lot of potential, but the execution never fully came together.

The book felt repetitive, circling the same tensions without much payoff. The structure was choppy, jumping around in ways that interrupted the flow. And when the "big reveal" finally landed, it unraveled into a fever-dream sequence that was confusing, poorly explained, and ultimately unsatisfying. If the central mystery is this murky and the resolution this ambitious, what was the point??? I'm all for a book ending with a sense of intrigue or allowing the reader to reach their own conclusions, but this was not that. This was more like... what the hell was that? and not in a good way.

That said, Gonzalez has a spark in her writing and I'll give her next book another shot. But Mayra left me underwhelemed.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for the advance copy.

pretty awesomely creepy at points although the word gothic is about 100% not how i'd describe this. it feels like it should draw more comparisons to smth like Rouge then a gothic. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Behind the green glass door...Caught up in a life that feels monotonous, Ingrid gets some excitement when her childhood bestie comes back to town. Ingrid travels to stay with Mayra and her boyfriend at his remote family home, where the mundane becomes refreshing...with a side of sinister. Something isn't quite right and if Ingrid doesn't figure it out soon, she'll be caught in the grasp of something she doesn't understand.

When I received the eARC of this, I decided to go into it blind. All I heard was gothic and southern and bam, I was hooked. Immediately I found myself identifying with the main character and it helped to pull me into the story. As I was reading it felt like nothing was really happening and yet I could stop reading it. Reflecting on what I've read the signs were there, but subtle. And that's exactly what this is: a subtle horror. I wouldn't necessarily say it will scare you out of your wits, but it's definitely something that I'll be thinking about for a while.

If you are looking for something mind puzzling then this is it - you'll think you know what is going on, but something will happen, and it will confuse you. Pretty sure that's the point...to confuse you, just like the main character is confused. Nicky Gonzalez did a wonderful job leaving me baffled and a little disturbed at the end. 4 stars - highly recommend.

*Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for providing an eARC for an honest review.*

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Where do I begin with this book?

Mayra is Nicky Gonzalez’s 240-page debut novel about a gothic tale of childhood friendship renewed. Childhood friends Ingrid and Mayra grew apart when they went to college and left their toxic relationship behind. Now, Mayra is back in town with a new boyfriend and she wants to reconnect in an old mansion in the middle of the Florida Everglades.

Told in first person, the narration feels introspective but verges on the side of dull in places. At least once a chapter, I found myself skimming until it picked up again.

It’s a quick read that feels too fast, as if the characters weren’t developed enough. Mayra will be available on 7/22/2025 for $28 in hardback through Random House Publishing.

2/5 Stars

Mayra is a perfect example of what makes gothic literature so appealing. It’s not action packed and in your face. Slow and subtle, as it walks the reader through eerie and unsettling feelings. Nothing is overt but you get the sense that something is very wrong. I loved it! Gonzalez writes beautifully which is the strength of this story, along with the setting and characters.

*If you are looking for something plot-heavy and action packed then this may not be for you.

Very thought-provoking. I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly, but I feel like I'll be dwelling on it and the implications for awhile.

Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez starts out as a story between two really close girlfriends and then it turns very very strange. Mayra and Ingrid basically grew up together. They were close as young girls and as they grew older, they maintained their friendship. Mayra knew Ingrid's mom and spent lots of time at their house. They do the ridiculous and silly things that growing girls do...some things incredibly questionable. But then towards the end of the book there is a house that Mayra moves into with Benji, who is really odd and Ingrid goes to visit them in what I think is St. Pete. I've never known St. Pete to be in a swampy area, but nevertheless this house is in a swamp. And then scary things begin happening. A house that puts them to sleep and takes themselves away from who they are...it is.a house with many many rooms, some created by Ingrid's memories, most definitely it is a creepy haunted house, one where Benji the owner eats dust and cobwebs! yuck!
This is a fun and quirky fast book to read and it is beautifully written..!

Thank you to Random House for the invitation to read this story and thank you to Netgalley.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. It started out well enough and kept me intrigued to find out what exactly was going to happen but then it just got weird, too weird.

Genre: Described as a Gothic thriller
Descriptors: Toxic friendships, Isolation, Florida, swamplands, weird, not horror.
Favorite scene: Benji at the window. When you get to it, you'll know.
Point of view: Flashbacks present throughout
Spice: No
Standalone: Yes
Would I recommend? No

If you enjoy "atmospheric horror" or more of a gothic horror vibe, this would be up your wheelhouse.

Ingrid and Mayra are the definition of a toxic friendship, and while we can only really see and understand Ingrid's side of the decade long friendship we are thrown into a fever dream like scenario when Ingrid goes to visit Mayra in the Florida everglades for a "digital detox".

In a house that is seemingly adding new bits on every second, a friendship always two seconds from exploding, a neat freak boyfriend who gives off creep vibes, and a mysterious journal; you get Mayra.

Thanks NetGalley & Random hosue for this eARC.

As much as the description pulled me to this book—gothic, dark, South Florida — I just couldn’t get a grip on it.

Mayra is a slow burn of ex-high school friends meeting again in their mid-20s under strange arrangements.

I read about half the book and still couldn’t pick up on exactly what was going on there. It seems like both Mayra and Ingrid were…hypnotized? …by Benji and his family’s land in extreme Southwest Florida. I couldn’t like either female character. Ingrid seems to have never grown up from a self-fulfilling crappy experience in high school where she thought Mayra was her friend. Mayra seems like she is forever looking for her next stepping stone to some unknown higher existence in society. I guess?

I put this book aside for a few weeks to see if it would resonate and “call” me back in to finishing, but it unfortunately just didn’t.

I didn’t see either Ingrid or Mayra as trustworthy or fictionally untrustworthy in a good way.

I think this book just wasn’t the right fit for me.

DNF

I appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC.

I don't know if im surprised negatively or positively it wasn't what i expected, it didnt feel hunted in the slightest but the toxic friensdhip was rather interesting then it got really repetitive with flashbacks basically saying the same thing.
The second part i dont know what to think it was very WTF where does this come from and i was more worried with that than with what was actually happening. There is some interesting fucked up thing like Benji but overall i enjoyed the book more than not

found this book to be atmospheric, with its vivid descriptions of the Everglades and the eerie, almost hypnotic setting of the house drawing me in. The oppressive isolation of the swamp and the haunting imagery of alligators lurking beneath the water mirrored Ingrid’s unraveling sense of self, creating a vivid and unsettling backdrop. I appreciated how the author captured the complex dynamics of early friendships through Ingrid and Mayra, exploring the dizzying pull of love and acceptance with depth and nuance. While I felt the pacing was slow and little happened until the final moments, the author’s ability to immerse me in the setting and build tension through Ingrid’s growing unease kept me engaged throughout. The labyrinthine house, much like the relationships within the story, seemed to trap and distort time, making it easy to lose myself in its mysterious allure. Though the climactic reveal came late, the rich, atmospheric writing and exploration of personal connections made the story deeply memorable.

This book is an evocative read for anyone who enjoys psychological tension wrapped in lush, haunting prose.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

This book was a very, very slow burn about a very, very toxic and complicated female friendship. It was also delightfully eerie, unsettling, and beautifully descriptive.

This book had an awesome premise. It's also definitely a type of love letter to South Florida and did a great job of giving the reader an impression of Ingrid's daily life and experiences in Hialeah. That being said, the vibe was definitely less "love" in the traditional sense, but more like the fierce protectiveness of a junk yard dog defending a place that they can't escape and don't particularly like, but it's the only home they know. It was sometimes tough to trudge through the negative, bleak, bitter vibe in which Ingrid seemed to thrive (in her words, she "viewed life through puke-colored glasses").

Most of the story alternated between the events of Ingrid's adolescent friendship with Mayra (including a lot of open hostility and resentment about Mayra not going to a community college with her, but instead leaving her to go to Cornell) and Ingrid's present day experiences while she is visiting Mayra at Mayra's boyfriend Benji's family house in the Everglades. Benji is definitely not-quite-normal, but we don't hear much about him (until the last 5% of the book) other than he likes to take care of the house and care for his guests. Towards the end, Ingrid discovers a diary from a distant relative and that only served to inform the reader that someone had similar experiences but needlessly stretched on for several pages. Towards the end of the book, it all felt very rushed and thats where the eerie experiences came together to answer some questions. The last 10% of the book was haunted house.. adjacent. The description in the book was fantastic and the writer is clearly talented. However, I wished the pacing was better and that there was less repetitive introspection and more information or at least breadcrumbs about Benji and the house, including more creepy factor, throughout the book- instead of rushing it all in at the very end.

No question this is beautifully written, but based on the above, I opted to give 3 stars. I hope to be able to read more of Nicky Gonzalez's work in the future!

Disappointed by the mundane life she’s built for herself, Ingrid finds herself with the opportunity to connect with Mayra, her troubled childhood best friend at an isolated bungalow in the remote peace of the Florida Everglades. Despite the Idyllic setting (and delicious foods supplied by Benji, Mayra’s almost too friendly chef boyfriend), it soon becomes clear that everything is not quite what it seems.
While enjoyable and a quick read, I found that the authors skills outpaced the story they were attempting to tell. As other reviewers have mentioned, I was not nearly as interested in the portions of the novel that include the history of the house and the former owners. It may be an issue of personal preference, but the author’s writing seemed much stronger and compelling when writing from their own experience. In comparison, the supernatural elements of the book don’t feel as relevant or interesting as the current experiences of our narrator, Ingrid.
Gonzales’ prose is lush with descriptions of the local flora and fauna, painting vivid images of Florida. In the tradition of southern gothic, it walks a fine line between the real and the unreal with paragraphs loaded with a heaviness that invokes the oppressive heat and humidity of a Florida summer day. Particularly, I thought the characters sexuality and personal culture to have been handled with expert care. The ‘toxic homoerotic childhood friendship’ is familiar to many queer women, and Gonzales allows the audience to slowly examine this dynamic through a series of flashbacks and tiny, small moments of affection between Ingrid and Mayra without naming it. Ingrid’s queerness is largely unexplored, existing mainly in complex fantasies not because the author shies away from it, but because Mayra simply isn’t willing to examine what it might mean for her, or likely, the reactions of others.
While Mayra was not my favorite read, I am incredibly optometry about future works from Nicky Gonzales as they continue to grow their skills and find plots that allow them to better show off their mastery of descriptions.

Mayra is a weird one—in a good way, but also in a what did I just read? kind of way. I went in expecting a gothic haunted house story, and while there’s definitely a creepy, isolated house in the Florida Everglades, the real focus is on a messy, toxic teenage friendship. Then, in the last stretch, things go totally off the rails into a fever dream, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

The first half is solid—moody, atmospheric, and full of flashbacks that build up Ingrid and Mayra’s complicated past. But then it starts dragging a little. More flashbacks, more wandering around the house, more proof that Mayra was kind of the worst as a teenager. And then, boom—the story goes wild, with surreal, disorienting scenes that either totally work for you or leave you feeling like you accidentally took something hallucinogenic.

I didn’t love everything about this one, but the writing is great, and the setting is awesomely eerie. It’s more literary gothic than straight-up horror, so if you like slow, unsettling stories with a bit of psychological weirdness, you might vibe with this. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for what Nicky Gonzalez does next!

Thank you NetGallery & Random House Publishing Group!

The author did an amazing job at writing the atmosphere into this book. The spooky, swampy, dark setting was done immaculately. The writing overall was phenomenal but I struggled a bit with the plot. I enjoyed watching the main character falling slowly into madness but this book made me feel glad I was no longer a teenager. This book felt like a fever dream (possibly in a good way?).

LOVE THIS COVER ART. So lush and ominous, genius. Beautiful work done by Andreea Dumuta.

Mayra was a meandering, eerie gothic tale with lyrical, dreamy prose—starting off as a friend group reunion that spirals out into a complete fever dream. If you liked Bunny you'll definitely like this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.