Mexican Gothic was probably one of the best books I’ve read this year. Okay, I’ve been in a reading slump (as always), but this book was one of those wonderful works that inspired me to get up and do some more reading. I gave it 4-point-something stars (5, rounded-up) for making me enjoy the horror-gothic genre. Although it felt more like a romance book at the end, but whatever.
Title: Mexican Gothic
Author: Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
Genre: Horror, Fiction
My Review Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
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 Noemí’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.
It follows the story of Noemi Taboada, a glam, rich kid (tbh, sana all??) living her life freely in the city – partying, hanging out with friends, drinking, smoking. His father received this weird letter from her cousin, Catalina who married a man from the countryside. Catalina talked about how his husband was poisoning her, she talked about ghosts, spiders, snakes, and everything creepy. Noemi’s dad suspects Catalina should be needing a psychiatrist so just to be sure, he convinced Noemi to visit the countryside and check on Catalina. Noemi went, though when she arrived, Catalina’s new home felt creepy and old and weird. She stays in the mansion got her discovering the truth behind the house they call the High Place, and the scary background and history of Catalina’s new family. As for the romance I was talking about? Ah, Noemi found herself a new boyfriend, one of the members of the creepy High Place fam.
I know, my summary sounds nonsense and a bit of cliche, but trust me, you’ll love the book. (Or don’t. IDK about you. ???!) Mexican Gothic won many awards including the best choice for horror fiction on Goodreads in 2020 where I found it. I am a big fan of horror movies (or not really, I mean I know horror movies are baduy, but I enjoy watching them) so I thought why not try horror books as well? If you thought of Stephen King, yeah I’m collecting his books, too!
Mexican Gothic is just well-written for a light read. Words are easy to understand (and if you are not very confident about how wide you vocabulary is, an ebook reader with dictionary function is a great friend) the story flow is not confusing and in fact described well that your mind will surely automatically imagine the scene leaving a memory as if you watched it – which is nice especially for written horror stories.
It also highlighted the struggles from the 1950s which are now boredom killers of 2021 – the old library and hundreds of torn books now can be downloaded in a device, the written letters you’d need to deliver via the post office now can just be a text away, the inaccessible healthcare (although still a challenge in most provincial areas) now can be done via tele-consult already.
I loved the book, in general. I really enjoyed the story except the ending. I don’t have a bitter heart, but it just reminded me of the re-told fairy tales that should be having a happy ending but the author was like “I need to give this some kilig so more people will like it” kind of teleserye endings. But the important thing is I enjoyed the book and I’m giving it 4.5 even 5 stars.