HOBBIES OVER COFFEE

It is safe to say that Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favorite authors and when Mexican Gothic was announced I preordered faster than anything I have ever done in life. Then when it popped up on NetGalley I didn’t expect to be approved, but was ecstatic when that email popped up.

And wow. You, guys. I was not ready.

• Title :  Mexican Gothic
• Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Genre :  Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Horror
• Pages :  352
• Own/Borrowed/ARC :  eARC provided through NetGalley
• Publication Date :   June 30, 2020

GoodReads Link /Synopsis :  From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes “a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror” (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico—“fans of classic novels like Jane Eyre and Rebecca are in for a suspenseful treat” (PopSugar).

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

The story begins by introducing us to Noemí at a party and giving us a little insight about who she is as a person. She had convinced her date to wear a papier-mâché horse head and that she would wear a horse jockeys outfit, but last minute changed her mind instead and wore a beautiful green gown leaving her date to spend the night dressed as a horse.

She is called home early from the party by her father. He is worried about her cousin Catalina who recently married someone they barely knew and has mailed him a strange letter. A letter in which they ask Noemí to please come rescue them. Noemí is reluctant to go to her cousin but her father insists that she uses her stubbornness to figure out what is going on with her cousin and in exchange, he’ll allow her to attend the National University.

Upon arriving to High Place, she is met with strict rules. No smoking, no going into town, no hot water, no leaving of curtains open, no seeing her cousin, who they tell her is suffering from tuberculous, without their say so, and no talking, definitely not during dinner.

We then follow Noemí as she tries to get to the bottom of her cousins illness using what little resources she has at her disposal and tries to understand exactly what happened to her. Slowly, she untangles not just what is happening to her cousin but also the history of High Place and the family within it.

Mexican Gothic is a creepy horror story that reminds me of old Mexican horror movies I used to watch with my mom growing up. It is atmospheric and you are taken along for the ride with Noemí as she questions her surroundings and the people around her. The fog that envelops the house helps the mood of confusion and not being able to see what is coming in this story. Even I began to question everything, were the cousins being poisoned? Were there ghosts? Was there something else foul afoot?

And the attention to detail! From the clothes to the wallpaper to the mention of eugenics, everything was well researched and accurate to the time period it was set in and really helped me visualize the story.

Noemí is filled with flaws, stubbornness and pride, but that was made her an interesting character to me. She uses her stubbornness to try to help her cousin and stayed strong in the face of the Doyle’s, who didn’t want her there and kept her in the dark for as long as they could. There was a moment where she was ready to call it quits and I couldn’t have agreed with her more at that point given everything she had been going through.

Francis was a nice balance to everyone else in the book who all were very strong, he was timid and had his moments of development as he tried to help Noemí as best as he could.

There is a character whose fate is vague, to me at least, and I wanted to know more about what it meant not just for them but for Noemí as well.

The romance, or what seemed to have been a romance, also seemed unnecessary to me. But that is just my personal opinion on that part of the story and the two characters it involves.

I also wanted to know more about Catalina, seeing as Noemí was only there because of her. I wanted to hear more about her time at High Place before having sent the letter to Noemí’s father. I know that Catalina wasn’t allowed to interact much with Noemí and that’s why we don’t get much from her, but I would have loved to have got to know how Catalina did some things that she had done before Noemí’s arrival.

Mexican Gothic is a creepy horror story that not only finds its way to shock you with what happens in the fantastical but finds a way to also add elements of real world horror. Eugenics, racism and colonization are mentioned and touched upon in the story, it is not the main focus but the fact that it was in there made me, I don’t want to say happy but I liked that they were mentioned. I liked how they were brought up and how Noemí handled it when faced with it. This story is a bit slow to begin with but once you are sucked into the mystery of who the Doyle’s are and what High Place is it’s a nonstop roller coaster. The end leaves you with a mouth slack at what kind of twists and turns it takes and how it is revealed.

I recommend this for any fan of horror.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Del Rey for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings for cannibalism, child death, incest, gore, racism, sexual assault ( if there are more triggers that I might have forgot to add on here, please let me know and I’ll add them )

My Rating :