Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

49 reviews

andloveistoolong's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Incest, Misogyny, Body horror, Death, Injury/injury detail, Gore, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Death of parent, Rape, and Gun violence

Minor: Miscarriage

apollinares's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book had been hyped up for me and based on that, I expected to like it a lot more than I did. I feel like a lot more could have been done with the premise and setting, and many aspects of the story fell very flat for me. 

Noemi isn't as one dimensional as her cousin Catalina, but she doesn't feel as fleshed out as she could have been. She's not vapid or shallow per-se, but the way she reacts to the (batshit insane, and in theory - horrifying) things happening around her is... underwhelming. My love for pathetic sickly men kept me rooting for Francis, but otherwise - the antagonists were predictable, Noemi was predictable, and the ending was kind of rushed? Lots of telling (rather than showing) going on too, and the main conflict/villain/clues towards what was going on, was revealed to Noemi through dreams, which is cheap. 

I genuinely wish I liked that more than I did. It sounded so up my alley, I'm gutted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Child death

sagittariusreads_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Gore

Moderate: Medical content, Incest, and Terminal illness

Minor: Medical trauma

starswhogaze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Classism, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Stalking, Terminal illness, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Incest, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

lorriss's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Blood, Gore, Confinement, Incest, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Infertility, Pedophilia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicide, Misogyny, Vomit, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Classism, Mental illness, Child death, Cursing, and Chronic illness

Minor: War, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Car accident, and Child abuse

santinasimile's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Terminal illness, Slavery, Death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Suicide, and Mental illness

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Classism, Incest, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Racism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Smoking. Eugenics, dated language. Illness, epidemic. Seizure (non-POV character). Paranoia, surveillance. Sexual coercion, overriding of will.

katsmeowbrown's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Incest, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Injury/injury detail

Minor: Racism

bex77's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’m generally not a huge fan of horror, but the gothic setting and story concept drew me in. Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes beautifully. The book was fast-paced and engaging, but at times I had to stop to appreciate the rich, descriptive language. I found the themes woven through the story fascinating, and would be interested to read a physical copy in order to do some annotations to chart their development. The characters were, for the most part, interesting and varied. 


As far as content, I personally felt that it was descriptive enough to illicit suspense and dread but not so descriptive as to be disturbingly graphic. The profanity was minimal, but strong. 

Overall, this was a fun, fast-paced read that really fit the criteria for both my Summer and Fall booklists, which I found perfect for the in-between feeling of back-to-school season

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, War, Terminal illness, Infertility, Grief, and Forced institutionalization