Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020)
Laura’s Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
I’ve enjoyed a few gothic novels over the years and I was excited to read what I hoped would be an interesting take on the genre. There was a lot of hype about this book the last few years, but it was honestly a bit of a disappointment for me.
The Analysis:
After receiving a distressing letter from her cousin begging her to visit, young socialite Noemí Taboada heads to a mysterious countryside mansion in the Mexican countryside known as High Place. Upon arrival, Noemí is greeted by her cousin’s new husband and his bizarre family, who seem to be hiding something within the walls of their crumbling family mansion.
“After all, nothing in this place was what it seemed. There were secrets upon secrets.”
This book has all the set up and potential of a great gothic novel: a spooky house, an off-putting family, a strong female protagonist, and undiscovered secrets lurking beneath the surface. Yet Mexican Gothic failed to deliver in the way I had hoped. There was also obvious influence from The Yellow Wallpaper and The Haunting of Hill House, and even some Get Out vibes. Noemí is described as fiercely independent and while she is headstrong, there is really no character development beyond that. All the characters felt a bit flat, despite characteristics that should have made them interesting. As an example, the character of Florence could have played the role as an unwelcoming head of the household, much like Danvers in the classic Rebecca, yet Florence was just boring and strict rather than chilly and haunting.
The build up of events was rather slow for my taste and while some of the concepts were interesting, the twists weren’t really what I was looking for in a gothic novel. The book did get better towards the end and I was interested to see how things would turn out; I just don’t think the subject matter was very interesting to me personally. I also don’t think the book was able to balance both the paranormal aspects and the scientific explanations it was trying to employ. I saw other reviews that called this book creepy and terrifying, but it wasn’t the type of classic horror I expected. Readers looking for something different may enjoy Mexican Gothic and this would be an appropriate Halloween read but I didn't personally love this book.
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