Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

107 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

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Classism, Gaslighting, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Blood, Colonisation, Gore, Incest, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Body horror

Minor: Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, War, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, and Mental illness

stvalentine's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this novel falls into a very special category, alongside aciman's 'call me by your name' and de berniere's 'captain corelli's mandolin': books that changed me irrevocably. the language that silvia uses to describe the dread that noemí feels and the hopelessness and rot that consumes her is unparalleled among my (albeit narrow) literary experience, and the characters are (as suits each) perfectly lovable and detestable. if this novel can teach you anything, it is the importance and power of will and self-belief. noemí is able to endure the darkness of the doyle house only through her inner spark. such an excellent novel!!! so excited to see what hulu will do with it :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Incest, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

jlye's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, and Child death

discoveringallena's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was so incredible as an audio book. 
Haunting of Hill House meets The Invitation (movie) but add body horror.
I waited til the hype died down because I was very skeptical. I also read this without much background info!
I thoroughly enjoyed the eire writing style and details. I wouldn’t say it was gothic style. Noemí was a character I immediately felt intrigued by. This book is set in 1950s Mexico and Noemí receives a frantic scattered letter from her newly wed cousin. Upon her arrival to the house where her cousin is, she begins to experience things that make her question reality.
The house itself was the star. Last portion of the book kept me on my toes, I was second guessing my suspicions. It had me on edge; in the best way. 

There are some heavy Content warnings: 
Sexual assault, body horror, cannibalism, incest, suicidal thoughts, murder, drugging
There was discussion of racism, colonization and classism 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Colonisation, and Classism

gothmiku's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Incest, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/injury detail, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Infertility, and Genocide

lkjones19's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Body horror

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Rape, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Medical content, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

rewrigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Amazing read, but definitely mind the content warnings on this one. True to the Gothic and horror genres it gets quite dark and graphic. That said, it was unlike anything else I've read, with more of the intrigue that keeps pulling back to Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Body horror, Rape, Incest, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Confinement, Blood, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Child death

libre_coffeeandpages's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I honestly really loved this story. Noemí is a captivating character, imo. She's a young feminist that never settles on just one interest. She is consistent in that she thirsts for knowledge and adventure - which you get to learn a bit about in the very beginning of the book. I think this really contributes to why she couldn't ignore the happenings surrounding her cousin. The overall plotline setup does take some time to develop in the beginning, but I felt that it was worth the wait. I really couldn't put this book down. Besides that, I thought the author used the opportunity well to share some of the historical hypocrisy and disrespect with colonization. If you know anything about the present issues with modern-day colonization, I think you could see the parallels being flushed out within this gothic mystery. There's a TON of triggers riddled in this book but the ones that stood out to me (months after I read the story) are what I tagged. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Gaslighting, Incest, Sexual assault, Classism, Colonisation, and Confinement

singalana's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Initial thoughts after reading this book: I’m a little bit grossed out actually. But since this is a horror novel, that’s a good thing, I suppose. A gothic horror novel, to be more exact. The first half of the book is a bit slow, building the mystery and creating the atmosphere, dropping little hints of what’s to come, and I wasn’t bothered by that at all because that’s what it was supposed to do.

The story starts when Noemí’s father receives a deranged letter from Noemí’s newlywed cousin. Noemí is sent to the dilapidated manor house of the Doyles to investigate. It becomes clear rather fast that there’s something seriously wrong in there. The writing style complimented the story well, and the author’s word choices certainly painted a vivid picture. I think whether you like the ending or not depends on your reading tastes, but I found it satisfying enough. But what was more important than the ending were the ‘vibes’ of this book.

I didn’t fall in love with the characters, but they served their purpose. I think Virgil's character was executed the best. The dialogue was good, especially the way the Doyles spoke. The prose wasn’t perfect, in my opinion, but the book kept me hooked and creeped me out enough to make this a very enjoyable read. And the cover is just gorgeous, by the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Incest, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Child death, Infertility, Murder, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Cannibalism, Injury/injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Vomit, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment