Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Mexican Gothic

What a reprehensible little family. Noemi Toboada <3 i luv u <3 I wish you'd never met them.

Very interesting concept, surprisingly thoughtfully feminist and intersectional. Underneath the

mind-controlling, life-extending, consciousness-transferring mushrooms

is a story about the use and abuse of female, non-white, and poor bodies at the hands of a colonial power and men who never hear or internalize the word "no." Is it ground-breaking or particularly deep? No. But I was glad that

the people who mattered (Catalina and Noemi) made it out alive and triumphant and that Agnes was freed. I also appreciated that, at the end of the day, Catalina and Noemi saved themselves/each other, instead of being saved by a man.

Also, learned a new word: lugubrious = adj. looking or sounding sad and dismal. It played in my head on a loop for three days after I read it. Very fun word to say, one might even say too fun to mean "sad".

Weakest part of the book for me was the romance between Francis and Noemi

, wish they just ended as friends. Though I guess the novel itself tells us that we never know what the future has in store for them, so they may very well breakup

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bail33's review against another edition

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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

4.0

Good book! Great way to get into spooky season. I’m just getting into gothics and I think this was a fantastic way to start. The most literal definition of the house being a character.

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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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acorn192k's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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maryconney's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

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hefftbundle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

I normally don’t like this kind of book, but that was damn good. A WILD ride, for sure.

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laasenpai's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Reminds me of Gaia- the movie. Science Friction. The characters are detailed and the author illustrates vividly, and with prose. There are some gruesome descriptions. I love all the characters, they are believable and described in detail with their own nuances, hobbies, rooms, fashion style. I already want to read it again.

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hollowspine's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? No

4.0

This novel stuck very close to the gothic literature genre, but also used it to explore issues of colonialism, racism, misogyny and family. I really enjoyed the book, hanging on every word and invested in Noemi and the fate of that dreadful place. It was exactly as gothic lit. should be, dark, atmospheric with tangible dread hanging over each scene. Propriety and 'good breeding' masking true evil and a rot that goes beyond just the mildewed and fungeous wallpaper of the manse. The true horror is knowing that Eugenics is not as easy to burn down as one mansion.

I've heard from other readers that they weren't expecting the level of horror, bloodshed/gore of the book, thinking it would be more along the lines of other gothics, just brooding, angst and tragedy. In a way I don't understand that, I thought that the book really was akin to gothics I've read, a young woman finding herself trapped in a large estate with a man who is obviously lying to her, other family members who berate her at every turn and dismiss every thought as either crazy or not the way they do things at this house. It's Rebecca, it the Yellow Wallpaper, it's the Picture of Dorian Gray, but remade into a new shape, one that I would say enhances and celebrates the genre, while at the same time also forcing readers to ask more questions and opens the genre to a deeper and wider cultural history.

Perhaps Moreno-Garcia put slightly more detail into the macabre scenes in Mexican Gothic than you'd read in The Turn of the Screw or The Fall of the House of Usher, but the horror is the same. Plus if readers are not horrified by the implied murders in either of those books, or the child abuse, or the implied incest...?

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