I’m always trying to expand my reading horizons and this one was definitely a bit different for me! This is a gothic fantasy set in 1950s Mexico where main character Noemi tries to uncover the secret of the house and family there while trying to rescue her cousin.

I listened to this one as an audiobook and I definitely would recommend the narrator and the atmosphere it added to the book overall. I’ve never read anything like this before and the vivid description if everything that unfolds was brought to life on audio.

This is my first novel from this author however I have The Daughter of Dr Moreau which is a different genre again, so I’m looking forward to picking that up soon. The covers of both books are absolutely stunning!

I have been wanting to read this book for ages, and I went into the story not knowing much about it. The story began slowly with a sense of foreboding but towards the end, it picked up pace and I could not stop reading. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a new author on my list of favourites.

I loved this. I have adored every SMG book I’ve read, and despite not being a horror fan, I needed to read this. I’m so glad I did!
Absolutely sick and twisted, this is not for the faint of heart. Body horror and racism are just a couple of the ways that Moreno-Garcia creates an air of pure tension and terror. The use of eugenics, colonialism and white supremacy throughout the book really highlights that horror can be in others’ views, as well as actions. A beautifully written piece of prose that truly terrified me. Brilliantly done, and I’m happy to say that my hatred of mushrooms has been wholly solidified.

"Mexican Gothic" is a thrilling and atmospheric novel that combines elements of horror, mystery, and historical fiction. Set in the 1950s in the Mexican countryside, the story follows Noemí Taboada, a young socialite who travels to a remote estate to check on her cousin, who has sent her a disturbing letter. But when Noemí arrives, she discovers that there is much more going on than meets the eye.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing is evocative and immersive, and she expertly captures the eerie and unsettling atmosphere of the gothic genre. The descriptions of the mansion and its inhabitants are vivid and creepy, and the tension builds steadily throughout the novel.

Noemí is a compelling and complex protagonist, and her journey of self-discovery is a highlight of the novel. The supporting characters are also well-developed, and the interactions between them are often tense and intriguing.

The only reason I did not give this book a full five stars is because the ending felt a bit rushed and abrupt. While it tied up the main plot threads, I would have liked to see a bit more resolution for some of the secondary characters.

Overall, "Mexican Gothic" is a fantastic read that will appeal to fans of horror, historical fiction, and mystery. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a talented writer, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. 4/5 stars.

going into this i had no idea what to expect. at first i struggled a bit to get into the story but as i kept on reading it just sucked me right in and kept me guessing constantly. this was one of the most intriguing and unique reads of the year for me. I am glad to say i actually did guess the "culprit" so to say but that in no way diminished my reading experience. this was my first book my silvia and it will certainly not be the last. very excited to read more from the author and live through more of this beautiful prose and realistic setting.

Didn't get all the way through this. It was incredibly, incredibly boring. You would think with a name like Mexican Gothic you would expect a Mexican setting and gothic vibes, but it really felt like it was set in England, and there was nothing remotely gothic about it.

Thank you NetGalley for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the setting of this novel & heard great things however it just did not grip me the way I expected and sadly had to DNF

This books is honestly phenomenal. I alternated between "just one more chapter" and "need to take a breather" for the whole of the book. Lushly written, with a lingering sense of menace, Silvia Moreno-Garcia has created a worthy addition to the genre of gothic literature, while still twisting and reshaping genre tropes to fit her purpose in a truly thrilling way. I can't wait to get my hands on her next book.

I'm so sorry this book took so long for me to finish. This unfortunately was not for me.

I'll be honest i almost dnf'd twice at around 100 pages and 200 pages. The last 100 pages though finally felt like something was happening and as it is a short book I persisted as I hate not finishing a book. It didn't help that for the first 200 pages the characters infuriated me, this got slightly better in the last third though. I gave it 3 stars as overall there is nothing wrong with the story it just really was not for me.

Mexican Gothic is a thoroughly enjoyable gothic tale shot through with shades of Lovecraftian horror. The story has an appropriately forboding setting - an isolated and crumbling manse, a cast of sinister characters, a damsel in distress, and an alluring and strong-willed heroine.
Utilising the 1950s Mexican setting to great effect the author skilfully reworks tired literary cliches and breathes new life into a flagging genre.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia's prose is cinematic and evocative - giving her story a deeply unsettling atmosphere. Her writing reminds me very much of Tanith Lee's circa the Blood Opera sequence - so, quite dazzling, by my measure.
Perhaps it was just my frame of mind at the time, but the plot, as it unfolded, was somewhat quease-making - not in a gore and splatter manner - but rather in a sense of things becoming increasingly vertiginous, unstable and off-kilter. This is not a criticism by the way - this sort of horror SHOULD disturb the senses - and Mexican Gothic does it beautifully and disturbingly.

Marvelous writing and superb control of tempo and storytelling. Silvia Moreno-Garcia delivers one of the best gothic stories that has been written in recent times. With a powerful comment on colonialism and racism. Soon to be published in Spanish (Latin America and Spain), so I am curious to see the reaction there. Read this!

I’ve been meaning to read Mexican Gothic since Moon pushed it into my hands and then later bought me my own copy anyway. I’m glad to say I wasn’t disapointed, and it even helped pull me out of a slight reading slump too.

I loved Noemi as our main character, she’s strong and stubborn but not at the expense of being feminine. I loved her loyalty to Catalina and the lenghts she goes to in order to help her. Nightmares, sleepwalking and hallucinations start to plague our main character, and whilst she’s gone to help Catalina she ends up walking into a trap she’s struggling to get out of.

The books starts off with a mystery and slowly descends into horror that grips you to the page. The imagery of decay, sickness and rotting is synonymous with the patriarch of the family, and the rotting family tree he’s created. The Doyle family are awful people and as antagonists are easy to hate from very early on in the book.

Mexican Gothic is skin crawlingly creepy in multiple ways. Even in parts where it’s supposed to seem normal High Place oozes creepiness from it’s floor and walls. The house is a character in it’s own right, and dominates so many scenes of the book just from the aesthetic it brings. The creation of the house and backstory of the Doyle family only make the house feel more claustrophobic and like a cage for Noemi.

The book covers some strong topics about gender, eugenics., race and coloniaism. Noemi and Catalina are women in the 50’s so have to be “owned” by the men in their lives, until they fight for their freedom. The antagonists take part in both eugenics and colonialism, and are shown as acts which make them worse people. Howard Doyle uses eugenics for personal gain and “god-like” characteristics, whilst exploiting the resources and labour of Mexico.

The book neatly answers the questions you have about the Horror at High Place, but I loved how there’s clear indicators of what will happen throughout the story whilst still being a shocking revelation near the end. The reasoning is super dark, and I loved the lean into horrific people doing horrific things.

Positives of Mexican Gothic
Creepy horror and a decaying gothic house
Intriguing premise and execution
Negatives of Mexican Gothic
Sometimes gory (and only a negative if you don’t like this)

I absolutely adored this book, I couldn't put it down. The creepy, atmospheric setting of the old mist shrouded Gothic home is the perfect setting for this horror novel, I held my breath for the last 100 pages of this novel as the mystery of the house and its occupants started to unfold. This is a novel that will have to staying up late into the night to finish.

Also I now hate mushrooms.

Mexican Gothic review
4 out of 5 ⭐️

This was my second Silvia Moreno Garcia book, and it didn’t disappoint me. I had never read a horror/thriller, and it was such a wild ride that it left me rather scared and uncomfortable. But I believe that was the purpose of this story. The protagonist, Noemí Taboada, faces many horrors at the hands of the English family of her cousin’s husband, including colorism, sexism, gaslighting, colonialism, eugenics, cannibalism and so many other things that were already awful in singular, but turned into an actual nightmare when all mixed up together. I am glad they discussed the colonialism that this family inflicted in the small town in México where the story takes place, since it’s something we see being repeated over and over again across all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Another topic that was absolutely terrifying was the gaslighting that Noemí and her cousin went through during the book, since it’s something that happens so often and it can really destroy a person and the trust they have on themselves.
Even though the story was interesting, there were parts that your mind could wander off and lose track of what was happening in the book. There were also some boring moments that made me put the book down for a while so I could pick it up later. It was a constant up and down, up and down.
Overall, this was a good horror book that leaves you with a concerning fear of mushrooms and brings to attention the horrors women go through in a gothic, atmospheric setting.

My honest opinion – this could have been half as long and would have been twice the quality. Was it a ‘good book’ overall? Yes. Did I almost give up multiple times before I hit the 60% mark where it stopped being swoony, whiny and annoying? Yes. I. Did.

Let me start out by saying, this had potential to be absolutely, mind-blowingly amazing. It could have had the same effect as the cactus things in THAT NOVEL. It could have pooped all over its competition. But instead, it was vague and kind of boring for a long time. I get it, it’s a period thing. Women were meant to be seen and not heard. But it just dragged so much that I feel like the first 60% could have been chopped in half and then, while shorter, it would have been so punchy.

So, Noemi goes to the house to save her cousin Catalina after her father insists and threatens to cancel her tuition. Off she goes and then she realises that things just got weird. It’s all cult-y and there’s so many rules that just seem completely irrelevant and OTT. Everyone is kind of creepy and secretive and there’s a doctor who literally only deals with the family living in High Place. It starts off well and I was well and truly intrigued. But then it does that thing that Gods of Jade and Shadow did where it just kind of slumps in the middle and I had to force myself to keep going. Once it hits around 60%, It goes full throttle and then suddenly everything is a whirlwind of action right until the end.

The potential this could have had is up there with the greats and their haunted houses. Think the calibre of Shirley Jackson, Darcy Coates, and Dawn Kurtagich’s The Trees Crept In. Alas it failed to deliver for so long, I am forced to give it a kind of mediocre rating. Was the creepy house a character in itself? Yes, but it sort of didn’t seem like it until at least half way through. Also, the whole ‘we cannot leave’ didn’t seem to become a thing until later on. The thing with the fungus was a genius twist but it came a little too late for my liking.

What I’m trying to say is, yes, it is a ‘good’ book for all intents and purposes and all the building blocks are there but its kind of like when someone builds their own cabin in the woods rather than letting a builder do their thing – yes it will keep you dry in a shower but if it storms, you may lose your roof and various internal walls. If you like the whole cults and haunted houses thing, than this would probably be great for you. It just failed to launch for me and that’s ok too.

Lush, atmospheric and perfectly creepy. This was all I love in gothic fiction, with a beautifully fresh twist. I adored the setting and the intricate family secrets. Moreno-Garcia uses pared-down prose to create a fever dream of mystery, magic, and danger.

This is the first book I read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and it completely met my expectations. I’m going to read some of her other works, highly recommend.

Mexican Gothic (Jo Fletcher, 2020) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a much beloved book. It is set in early twentieth century Mexico, around Noemi, a headstrong young woman. Her cousin has recently gotten married, and sent them a letter that has the family worried. So Noemi goes to try and figure out what is going on in the remote estate of High Place. It’s a textbook Gothic novel, with mild horror elements and psychological tension. I can appreciate that it is a really good book, but I do have to say that it wasn’t for me. I found myself wandering off and not caring at all, and I think it’s just me not clicking with Moreno-Garcia’s writing. But if you’re curious, I do recommend taking a look!

Mexican Gothic is a dark book - aesthetic & content

TW : on page assault & seizure, mind control, incest, body horror, manipulation, donotreadthisifyoulikemushrooms, several mentions of rot & smell of decay, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, smoking, drinking, racism, white supremacy, isolation, several mentions of Pandemic, not-so-subtle-misogyny, grooming

This book got me thinking I should stop reading twitter recs. I've seen people praise Mexican Gothic and thought oh well this is gonna be good I guess. But I had no idea about the content of the book .

First things first, Mexican Gothic is an excellent book if you're into mysteries and dark gothic horror . There's an intriguing mixture of magic realism , fantasy and mystery.

The immersion , oh god, Silvia has written this book in such a way you get extremely immersed in the environment and become one with the pungent air in the gothic castle sits atop a hill.


This book deserves all the stars it get. It just wasn't for me. Read the tw before jumping in!

Wow I loved this. I’m a big horror movie fan and I will admit I haven’t read that much horror fiction. However the few I have read have never really been very scary for me. I guess it’s harder to build tension with just reading scary scenes for me. This however really got to me. It was creepy and very atmospheric. There were some scenes where I had to take a break after because they gave me goosebumps! I really loved our main character Noemi, her strong and most of the time sarcastic character was a joy to follow. Francis was a great character too with lots of layers and I really enjoyed seeing Noemi interact with him. Also I assumed this would be like a paranormal story but it had a twist that I did not see coming and it will definitely stay with me for a while. The Mexican setting was also great for creating great descriptions. I really enjoyed the vivid details as it added to the claustrophobia the mansion gives off. One of my favourite parts is the message of family in this and what you’re willing to do for them and I just loved that. It did however have a slow start which you need to kind of push through and that is my only critic.