You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado is a modern gothic horror steeped in family dysfunction, supernatural menace, and a storm that traps everything—secrets, grudges, and demons—inside one house.

When patriarch Papi Ramon dies, his will shocks the wealthy Abreu family with one chilling line: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” From there, tensions flare, alliances crumble, and a night of accusations and violence unfolds, where the worst thing imaginable turns out to be family.

Tirado weaves together generational trauma, greed, and gothic horror in a way that kept me flipping pages to see which revelations and betrayals would come next. The claustrophobic setting, the unraveling of old family wounds, and the question of whether the real evil is supernatural or human made this a compelling read.

That said, I did feel the story dragged a little at times and some of the beats became slightly repetitive. Still, the tension and atmosphere carried me through, and the final payoff was worth the ride.

If you enjoy gothic horror with sharp family drama and a creeping sense of dread, this one is well worth picking up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I feel like the plot didn't go anywhere after a while and the reveal at the end didn't feel as satisfying as I thought it would. I appreciated the note at the end explaining the conflicts between Haitians and Dominicans, and I thought the way the author handled that in the book was good.

Thank you Vincent Tirado, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a very slow, luxuriously paced gothic that hinges on toxic family relationships, so if you're a fan of Knives Out or even The House of Usher, I definitely recommend giving this one a try!

So Knives Out, Hereditary, and The Fall of the House of Usher walk into a bar...

You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom focuses on the wealthy Abreus, who have gathered for the reading of their patriarch's will, and the estranged granddaughter who returns to sit through it. This was a wild ride - from the demon-hunt the deceased puts the family on, to the questionable memory and motive of almost every character, to the mic drop line at the very end of the book. Without revealing too much, I will say I'm very glad they didn't pull the "it wasn't ever supernatural, it's all in your head" card at the end. There be demons here, folks.

This book was so good. I loved the gothic theme and the deeper Dominican/Haitian implications that were woven through it. The ending was so good.