Helpful Score: 6
This was a very well done book I wish I hadn't read. My library has it shelved in science fiction but I would put it squarely in the horror category. It was page turning, but the lines crossed were so terrible I'd rather not have read them. In the acknowledgements the author thanks her mom for "letting me watch scary movies and read scary books as a kid." If you also enjoy them, then please enjoy this book. If you don't enjoy scary movies and think the beautiful cover on this book is a sign of a beautiful story, take a pass.
Helpful Score: 4
Mexican Gothic lived up to the hype of being a scary gothic horror tale that will have you racing through the entire story to find out what happens next. We follow Noemi as she goes to the Mexican countryside to look in on her newlywed cousin who is not in good spirits, or health. She stays in the gothic mansion that is in complete disarray and soon finds that everything is not what it seems. There is something sinister hiding in the walls around her and everyone in this strange family are hiding a much larger horrifying secret than just the ghost that haunt the space. Something truly evil is living and breathing within this house and it is feeding off the people who are inside. Everyone appears to be the worse examples of themselves, but Noemi is determined to get to the bottom of the strange mystery and save her cousin before it is too late.
Silvia Moreno â Garcia has created a world that is as fascinating as it is horrifying. You can't help but want to speed through the pages in a fury to find out what happens next while being completed terrified by what is happening around the main protagonists. Silvia's storytelling is so colorful and detail that you feel like you are living in the house and experiencing the doom and gloom happening everywhere. I found myself reading every chance I had because I had to know what was going to happen next. It was thrilling to have that adrenaline rush from the fear and anxiety you feel with the characters.
Mexican Gothic is a spine-tingling, heart pounding, gothic haunted house tale that will make you sleep with the lights on and see monsters in the shadows. Beware for your eyes may not be playing tricks on you!
Silvia Moreno â Garcia has created a world that is as fascinating as it is horrifying. You can't help but want to speed through the pages in a fury to find out what happens next while being completed terrified by what is happening around the main protagonists. Silvia's storytelling is so colorful and detail that you feel like you are living in the house and experiencing the doom and gloom happening everywhere. I found myself reading every chance I had because I had to know what was going to happen next. It was thrilling to have that adrenaline rush from the fear and anxiety you feel with the characters.
Mexican Gothic is a spine-tingling, heart pounding, gothic haunted house tale that will make you sleep with the lights on and see monsters in the shadows. Beware for your eyes may not be playing tricks on you!
Helpful Score: 3
I was kind of mixed on this one. It's touted as a gothic novel and takes place in Mexico in 1950. The main protagonist, Noemi goes to the Mexican countryside to a place called High Place after her father receives a cryptic letter from Noemi's cousin Catalina. High Place turns out to be an old mansion that has been neglected. It is very gloomy, has patches of mold throughout, and only has a limited amount of electricity so the residents have to use candles and oil lamps for light. It's located in the mountains and is damp and cold and can only be accessed by a very narrow mountain road that tends to washout in the rainy season. When Noemi arrives, she finds Catalina in bed and pretty much out of it. Her husband Virgil and the rest of the family are very inhospitable with the exception of the youngest son, Francis. The patriarch of the family, Howard, is old and near death but he still seems to control the household. The house is full of symbols including many depictions of the ouroboros (a snake eating its tail). Noemi begins having vivid nightmares as the house seems to infect her mind. But what is really going on?
The novel took a long time to actually get to the horror of the story. The first two thirds of the story have Noemi trying to figure out what is really happening at the house and trying to understand what is wrong with her cousin. Then the last part of the novel reveals what is really happening and how the family is being controlled by Howard. I seemed to have spent a lot of time waiting for something to happen and then when it did, it was like reading an old story by H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard from an old issue of Weird Tales. I do like to read these types of stories occasionally but I'm not sure if this really worked too well for this novel. I did enjoy the setting in the old house at High Place but overall I would only mildly recommend this.
The novel took a long time to actually get to the horror of the story. The first two thirds of the story have Noemi trying to figure out what is really happening at the house and trying to understand what is wrong with her cousin. Then the last part of the novel reveals what is really happening and how the family is being controlled by Howard. I seemed to have spent a lot of time waiting for something to happen and then when it did, it was like reading an old story by H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard from an old issue of Weird Tales. I do like to read these types of stories occasionally but I'm not sure if this really worked too well for this novel. I did enjoy the setting in the old house at High Place but overall I would only mildly recommend this.
Helpful Score: 3
Nicely creepy gothic tale, rather short for a novel. This is set in 1950 - the descriptions of Noemi's clothes and comments about her life give us a good clue, but since the majority of the book takes place in the mansion it could have been any point in time. It is fairly slow to start. You get a little weirdness right away, but it stays at just a touch until very close to the end, and then gets rather horrifying. I would have liked a bit more concern from Noemi about Catherine in the beginning, she seemed just to accept being kept away. But then...1950's debutante from a very macho society...if you think of her that way, she shows a lot of courage. Very atmospheric, very creepy but not horrifying, not gory but some gross bits.
Helpful Score: 3
Quite creepy and well done. It kept me turning pages and I had some ideas about what I thought may be going on but it is a more twisted tale than I imagined. I was very happy with the ending though.
This smartly written thriller which features shades of genuine gothic Victorian novels like Wuthering Heights, with perhaps a smattering of Poe-esque Fall of the House of Usher thrown in for flavor (complete with a creepy, English-style gothic manor, no less), is one of the more creative horror/thriller novels I've read of late.
Noemà Taboada is a carefree socialite, born to wealthy parents, who is struggling to find herself amidst the constraints of her own family's traditions and culture, set amidst 1950 urban Mexico. She's a bit of a rebel who enjoys dancing, smoking, and learning: she attends college with the intent of (maybe) becoming an anthropologist, although her interests seem to change as often as her stylish wardrobe. One gets the sense that she's somewhat of an embarrassment to her rather traditional family, who would like to see her settled down and getting on with life, that is, with a husband and family... like her cousin.
Her fortunes and circumstances change when her family receives an odd and rambling letter from the cousin, who married an upper-crust but not necessarily wealthy Englishman, which disturbs the whole family. Noemà is dispatched by her father to find out what the trouble is. She travels to an isolated, crumbling manor house in the remote countryside, where she quickly finds that things are not what they initially seem.
The family is more odd than the letter, to say the least - their carefully-crafted artifice casts them as traditional, stodgy British upper-class, once wealthy, but now, it appears, little more than destitute, now that their mines have closed and flooded amidst the Revolution in 1915, more than a generation prior. In short order, however, Noemà gets the unsettling sense that something more sinister lies just beneath their meticulously-maintained facade.
Notwithstanding their air of punctilious formality, Noemà immediately senses that something is badly out of place... and that she's not wanted, or welcome. Her cousin, it seems, is sequestered in her room, essentially confined to her bed, although willingly or not is indeterminate. What's more, the house reeks with an oldness, a foulness, an ancient evil that Noemà can't quite identity, which seems to have corrupted her cousin's once-cheery disposition and hangs in the air like a dense fog she can't escape.
The house could be symbolic of the decay of their entire way of life that is no more - that is, the massive exploitation of native laborers, who worked themselves to death in the family's silver mines. After their lifeblood of silver (ironically, which is associated with purity and justice) dries up, the house itself begins to decay, like a decomposing corpse, rotting from within. As Noemà begins to discover more, especially details of the family's tragic history, things take a sinister turn when she, too, begins to experience seemingly supernatural events and disturbing dreams, all of which point to something utterly horrible, yet undefined.
Don't want to give too many spoilers here, but there's some serious foreshadowing in the descriptions of everything being covered in a strange mold, from the walls, to the books, to the family itself (which was where I initially thought the trouble may be: black mold can cause everything from hallucinations and schizophrenic-like symptoms to seizures, severe brain damage, and eventually death... but in this case, it's much worse. I've read a number of books which somehow tap into the sinister nature of fungi and their place in nature. As the book states, actually: fungi can enter into symbiotic relationships with plants, and, in this case, apparently humans as well, in a way that Noemà can scarcely imagine.
This dark, atmospheric thriller is a complex and enjoyable read. It's been described as a prototypical work of postcolonial fiction, drawing on themes such as colonization and class disparity, in the form of the English overlords who choose to name their manor High Place, which looks down forebodingly on the small, colorful town full of vibrancy and life. There is a fair bit of discussion about eugenics, which may initially seem somewhat out of place, or a side point, but the sinister nature of this field of study becomes terrifyingly apparent once things take a turn for the worse. There's a reason why bloodline is important to this English clan - it determines to a very great degree whom they can and can't consume.
It's curious that the author has Noemà herself springing from a wealthy family, albeit a self-made one. Some have argued that the Doyle family is a symbol, like the snake eating its own tail, the symbol of eternity or infinity, of the pervasiveness of colonialism - it's embedded like the fungus in the wallpaper, the very walls of the house, omnipresent and sinister, and inescapable. Those trapped in its web imbibe its ancient remnants with every breath they draw, and despite even cognizance of its presence, can never escape it.
Nor, it seems, can Noemà escape the confines of even her own family - as a woman, she is largely considered the property of her patriarch father, whose permission she needs for everything in her life, including furthering her education, which offers some limited means of escape, true independence, and self-determination.
As stated, this is a complex and sophisticated novel that I very much enjoyed, although it's a bit of a departure from the more traditional horror I usually read. Highly recommended if you're a fan of this particular genre, and like well-paced, meaningful novels as smart and outspoken as the main protagonist.
Edit Review
Noemà Taboada is a carefree socialite, born to wealthy parents, who is struggling to find herself amidst the constraints of her own family's traditions and culture, set amidst 1950 urban Mexico. She's a bit of a rebel who enjoys dancing, smoking, and learning: she attends college with the intent of (maybe) becoming an anthropologist, although her interests seem to change as often as her stylish wardrobe. One gets the sense that she's somewhat of an embarrassment to her rather traditional family, who would like to see her settled down and getting on with life, that is, with a husband and family... like her cousin.
Her fortunes and circumstances change when her family receives an odd and rambling letter from the cousin, who married an upper-crust but not necessarily wealthy Englishman, which disturbs the whole family. Noemà is dispatched by her father to find out what the trouble is. She travels to an isolated, crumbling manor house in the remote countryside, where she quickly finds that things are not what they initially seem.
The family is more odd than the letter, to say the least - their carefully-crafted artifice casts them as traditional, stodgy British upper-class, once wealthy, but now, it appears, little more than destitute, now that their mines have closed and flooded amidst the Revolution in 1915, more than a generation prior. In short order, however, Noemà gets the unsettling sense that something more sinister lies just beneath their meticulously-maintained facade.
Notwithstanding their air of punctilious formality, Noemà immediately senses that something is badly out of place... and that she's not wanted, or welcome. Her cousin, it seems, is sequestered in her room, essentially confined to her bed, although willingly or not is indeterminate. What's more, the house reeks with an oldness, a foulness, an ancient evil that Noemà can't quite identity, which seems to have corrupted her cousin's once-cheery disposition and hangs in the air like a dense fog she can't escape.
The house could be symbolic of the decay of their entire way of life that is no more - that is, the massive exploitation of native laborers, who worked themselves to death in the family's silver mines. After their lifeblood of silver (ironically, which is associated with purity and justice) dries up, the house itself begins to decay, like a decomposing corpse, rotting from within. As Noemà begins to discover more, especially details of the family's tragic history, things take a sinister turn when she, too, begins to experience seemingly supernatural events and disturbing dreams, all of which point to something utterly horrible, yet undefined.
Don't want to give too many spoilers here, but there's some serious foreshadowing in the descriptions of everything being covered in a strange mold, from the walls, to the books, to the family itself (which was where I initially thought the trouble may be: black mold can cause everything from hallucinations and schizophrenic-like symptoms to seizures, severe brain damage, and eventually death... but in this case, it's much worse. I've read a number of books which somehow tap into the sinister nature of fungi and their place in nature. As the book states, actually: fungi can enter into symbiotic relationships with plants, and, in this case, apparently humans as well, in a way that Noemà can scarcely imagine.
This dark, atmospheric thriller is a complex and enjoyable read. It's been described as a prototypical work of postcolonial fiction, drawing on themes such as colonization and class disparity, in the form of the English overlords who choose to name their manor High Place, which looks down forebodingly on the small, colorful town full of vibrancy and life. There is a fair bit of discussion about eugenics, which may initially seem somewhat out of place, or a side point, but the sinister nature of this field of study becomes terrifyingly apparent once things take a turn for the worse. There's a reason why bloodline is important to this English clan - it determines to a very great degree whom they can and can't consume.
It's curious that the author has Noemà herself springing from a wealthy family, albeit a self-made one. Some have argued that the Doyle family is a symbol, like the snake eating its own tail, the symbol of eternity or infinity, of the pervasiveness of colonialism - it's embedded like the fungus in the wallpaper, the very walls of the house, omnipresent and sinister, and inescapable. Those trapped in its web imbibe its ancient remnants with every breath they draw, and despite even cognizance of its presence, can never escape it.
Nor, it seems, can Noemà escape the confines of even her own family - as a woman, she is largely considered the property of her patriarch father, whose permission she needs for everything in her life, including furthering her education, which offers some limited means of escape, true independence, and self-determination.
As stated, this is a complex and sophisticated novel that I very much enjoyed, although it's a bit of a departure from the more traditional horror I usually read. Highly recommended if you're a fan of this particular genre, and like well-paced, meaningful novels as smart and outspoken as the main protagonist.
Edit Review
* * * *. Gothic Horror. A young woman travels to a secluded mansion in the hills of Mexico after she receives a troubling letter from her married cousin.
What follows is an atmospheric story that slowly escalates its mysteries and tension until the exciting BLOODY(!!!) end.
What sets this book apart is that in this story the author manages to infuse various themes like misogyny, feminism, racism and other themes.
My only critique is one minor subplot is left unresolved. It's so minor, you probably won't even notice.
Highly recommended.
What follows is an atmospheric story that slowly escalates its mysteries and tension until the exciting BLOODY(!!!) end.
What sets this book apart is that in this story the author manages to infuse various themes like misogyny, feminism, racism and other themes.
My only critique is one minor subplot is left unresolved. It's so minor, you probably won't even notice.
Highly recommended.
