Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets...

After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed 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. Noemi is an unlikely rescuer, preferring parties to sleuthing. But she's also tough and smart and is not afraid: not of her cousin's new husband; not of his father, who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade her dreams with visions of blood and doom. Her only ally is the family's youngest son but he is also hiding something dark about his past. There are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. Soon enough, she begins to be mesmerized by the terrifyingly seductive world of High Place and may soon find it impossible to ever leave.

O.M.G. this book met all of my expectations yet was still so shockingly different for what I was prepared for. I was worried this book was too hyped up and that I wouldn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the world seems to be I couldn't have been more wrong. I'm new to thrillers and VERY new to horror but I'd definitely describe this book as the perfect horror. It wasn't a very "edge of your seat" mystery but it was definitely terrifying. Taking place in the 50's gave it the perfect creepy vibes, reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House.

Noemí is a vapid socialite who lives to party and would rather string men along than risk losing her heart. The one thing she does truly care about is her cousin who is like an older sister to her. Noemí arrives to this gothic, rotting mansion to stay with the strict and secretive residents of High Place and help take care of her sick cousin. The longer she stays the more threatening she finds not only her hosts but the house itself and whatever her cousin is sick with, it definitely isn't tuberculosis like her husband would have Noemí believe. The only person willing to help her is Francis, the youngest resident of the house. But he himself is unable to fully divulge the true going ons of High Place. There were twists and turns throughout the entire book that kept me hooked.

I loved the characterization. Noemí isn't your typical heroine, she's girly, she's confident (if not slightly cocky) but these traits, instead of making her weak, give her the ultimate strength. No insecure "she didn't even know how beautiful she was" types here (hallelujah, we don't need any more Bella Swan's thanks). Francis was initially weak and boyish but his character was much more than what he first appears. The patriarch of the family, Uncle Howard, is as disgusting and terrifying as you'd believe a racist, sexist, old fashioned, ailing old man would be, Moreno-Garcia almost did too good of a job with this one, I felt as disgusted as Noemí every time this one made an appearance. I loved how intricately detailed each character was but each had just enough ambiguity for me to create them in my own imagination. 

 

The plot was somewhat cliché but yet the author managed to make it entirely her own. How many times have you heard a story of a house deep in the woods, isolated from a town, with a creepy family living inside and the house itself having it's own entity? I promise you, this book was so unique even with that familiar plotline. The best part? You'll never guess the ending! (Or at least, I definitely couldn't!). The only downside to this book was that it took me forever to read and the reason it took me forever to read, was that some of it was too disturbing to power through and I had to take a lot of breaks. Not like "gory disturbing", but definitely uncomfortable to imagine, maybe a bit over the line for me. Slight spoiler alert: if I hated mushrooms before, I definitely don't like them now! (Sorry for all you fungus lovers, you may not like them so much after this read).

 

 

 

I didn't expect this book to be as Victorian as it was, even though "gothic" is literally in the title. I was slightly disappointed when I realized it's mainly centred around a white English family in a Victorian mansion, much too reminiscent of Crimson Peak and The Haunting of Hill House at first. But Moreno-Garcia definitely took a completely new direction with this one, something I don't think has ever been done before and it worked so well with the plot. The house made me uncomfortable, the family living there made me uncomfortable, I felt just as trapped as Noemí. 

 

 

 

There are quite a few triggers in this book, honestly, almost anything you could think of is a trigger warning in here. Noemí discovers almost immediately upon her arrival that the patriarch of the house is big into white supremacy and eugenics, the family sees her as lesser as she's "darker" than even her cousin and thinks only their family is "truly pure" and that's not even the most disturbing of all of this. So truly, beware before you read, there's also mentions of suicide, murder, sexual assault, attempted rape, racism, sexism, the list goes on and on.

 

 

 

I'm giving it 4 stars, the only thing keeping it from a 5 star read for me is just that it was almost too graphic in some places for me, but I'm also a wimp when it comes to scary things so, take that with a grain of salt! I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something creepy for these autumn months! If you've already read it or have any questions about it specifically and don't mind a few spoilers, I'd love to chat about it in the comments below! Or DM me on Instagram at @_page_by_paige_