Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

3 reviews

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: Body horror, Death, Incest, and Pregnancy

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

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

slvt4b00ks's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

If I could give this book more stars I would. I honestly don’t understand why this book has such low ratings. Maybe some just aren’t cut out for gothic tales. I was weary about this being set in the 50s but the time period didn’t seem it was as much of a contributing factor to most parts of the story. Of course there is racism and some bat shit crazy people who believe in eugenics and of course the misogyny but that seems to really be all that indicates a less modern setting. This book was incredibly atmospheric and creepy, though I wasn’t quite stuck sitting up all night like I thought I would be. I fell in love with Francis. He must be protected at all costs. Noemi felt incredibly relatable, her flightiness and inability to settle down is portrayed as a flaw but I found it endearing. I don’t think anyone should settle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

himansii's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? No

3.75

This book was a little hard for me to get through because a lot of the beginning felt really repetitive and I was confused for many parts of it. I wish i could have seen catalina play a bigger role and there to be more cute moments between Noemi and Francis. Noemi was such a frustrating character at times and I had a hard time connecting to her. I wanted to understand her motivations past getting a degree in anthropology. A lot changed towards the end though when the gloom finally started becoming a bigger part of the plot. The details were genuinely so vulgar and I had a hard time reading it at night but I think it’s the most interesting part of the book. For how massive of a twist it was, it did feel a little rushed (maybe that was the authors intention) and the ending felt too simple. Also there were some unanswered questions like how did the woman in the village know to make the tincture and how the wounds got healed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Cannibalism