REVIEW || ‘Mexican Gothic’ by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
I’m not sure if I’m still in shock and awe at it’s majesty or if I’m completely horrified - and that’s how I know Mexican Gothic was an absolutely perfect read.
★★★★★[5] Stars
“She was the snake biting its tail. She was a dreamer, eternally bound to a nightmare, eyes closed even when her eyes had turned to dust.”
-Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
★★★★★
5/5 Stars
I’m not sure if I’m still in shock and awe at its majesty or if I’m completely horrified - and that’s how I know Mexican Gothic was an absolutely perfect read. This book gave me serious du Maurier vibes, so picture a very similar atmospheric, gothic novel with the classic tropes of Rebecca but with a splash of eugenics, psychedelic mushrooms and dark alchemy. Sounds dark and twisted and creepy, doesn’t it? Hint: it SO is. But it’s also much, much more.
Plot spot:
Noemi Taboada is a wealthy socialite from Mexico City, and the story starts with her father sending her on a rescue mission of sorts. Noemi’s cousin, Catalina, has written a rather crazed letter that seems like the rantings of a mentally ill individual. She mentions the house has ahold of her - she talks of hauntings, poisonings, rot and decay, etc. So naturally, Noemi’s father sends her to investigate, assess the situation and to bring Catalina home to receive psychiatric treatment. What Noemi finds at High Place, the home Catalina, her husband Virgil and his dark&twisted family share, is so far beyond anything she could have ever imagined. And the longer she stays, the more she realizes Catalina really isn’t crazy after all.
Top 3 Reasons I Loved It:
1. Supernatural elements fit together perfectly and were horrifically believable.
Normally I don’t gravitate towards anything with supernatural or other world-ly vibes, but this book may have changed my ways. While it was still a complete mind-blow, the intricacy and details with which Moreno-Garcia developed the supernatural elements played out beautifully and made complete sense [which added even more to the horror].
2. The haunting descriptions are an assault on the senses [smell, sight, taste, touch] in ALL the right ways. You can smell the room with Noemi, picture it, taste it and even imagine how things felt in her hands. I can't. It's so, so beautiful.
Colorful descriptions and haunting metaphors really set the scene and create the aura of darkness infused in High Place. There were pages I re-read by choice just to ensure I was painting the proper picture of the beautifully rotten and decaying world in my mind. The author’s use of color as a tool really allows readers to paint the scene alongside her. And not just with piece-parts, but with vivid clarity and understanding of the scene around them. I almost felt like I was reading a movie, if that makes sense…? [probably not, but go with it]
3. Hella-great character development at an appropriate and sensical pace.
Don’t you hate when authors try to throw character development in at the end? We’ve all seen it…feels like an afterthought and leaves you feeling angry that they even bothered. Well that’s so far from the case in this one. At first, Noemi appeared to be a spoiled, naive heroine who thought of few others but herself. But my opinion of her changed at a very appropriate and enjoyable pace throughout the book. By the end, it’s hard not to openly cheer for her and applaud her bravery and bad-a**ery and overall girl boss status.
Final Thoughts
I’m sure you’ve all seen that Mexican Gothic was a Goodreads Reader’s Choice Winner in 2020. And I’m sure you’ve heard about it, read a lot of reviews or seen the beautiful cover on 1000+ #bookstagram posts. I realize I’m not the end all be all here, but don’t pick up another book from your TBR shelf until you devour this one. Things that go ‘bump’ in the night will suddenly take on a whole new meaning, and I promise this is one story that will leave you haunted, yet desperately wanting more.
REVIEW || 'The Girl Before' by Rena Olsen
“So how can my normal not be normal? If it is what has always been, isn’t that normal? And how can that be wrong?”
★★★★★ [5] Stars
“So how can my normal not be normal? If it is what has always been, isn’t that normal? And how can that be wrong?”
★★★★★
5/5 Stars
Holy dark&twisted, Batman! I consider myself a psychological thriller aficionado (because really, in this day and age, who isn’t?!), but “The Girl Before” took that genre to an entirely different level — and in the best way.
Without giving too much away, I can tell you the story revolves around Clara Lawson, a 23 year-old girl who finds herself taken from her home and led to a room for questioning. As she’s dragged from her home, she hears her husband urge her to stay quiet and say nothing…The chapters alternate between “now” and “then” to paint a perfect picture of Clara’s dark, disturbing reality.
Olsen does a brilliant job bringing Clara’s emotions and inner turmoil to life. Often times, I find myself wanting more in psychological thriller protagonists — more development, more raw emotions, more believable scenarios. “The Girl Before” left me with NONE of those feelings. Clara’s development through the novel progressed (and regressed) appropriately, and to me, it was exactly as it should be for a protagonist in her shoes. I don’t know that I would have changed a thing about the novel, and that’s a rare statement coming from me.
I hate that I read this so soon after it was published…now I’ll have to wait a hot minute for her next book. Good thing every author is on the dark & twisty bandwagon and there are (quite literally) thousands of options to keep me occupied through at least 2025.
**Sidebar: while this novel is amazing in every way, it does touch on some serious themes including rape, murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, prostitution and abuse. If any of these are triggers for you, I’d recommend skipping this read.