Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

354 reviews

augie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very well written and creepy in the right way. I usually avoid horror or horror-adjacent books, but I was hooked. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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

.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Vomit, Medical content, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

laramaren's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jascahue's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

moiratheexplorer's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Picked up the book at random after seeing it around for a while. The story was so-so, but I was highly surprised by the (TW)

rape scene

. I thought it was a one off, powered through, but it happened again and in more detail. It was a surprise and really threw me. 

Beyond that, the book itself was ok. I wish it spent more time connecting Noemi's early established knowledge of chemistry or interest in anthropology to the resolution of the plot. It really feels like a red Herring almost. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

bogbodyanon's review against another edition

4.0

Horror always seems an appropriate genre to critique issues like colonialism, classism, eugenics, etc. Moreno-Garcia writes in evocative prose that really immerses you in the story. The ending did seem anticlimactic to me

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence and Cannibalism

Eugenics

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

sha's review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Cannibalism

maryconney's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol

lilys_librqry's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

Whilst reading this book, I felt disgust. Repulsion. Anger, at times. Which doesn't sound like a compliment, but I mean it as THE HIGHEST praise. Mexican Gothic is very much a horror book, but boy oh boy does it achieve what it set out to do.

The atmosphere is sooo eerie. It's perfect. Edgar Allan Poe is quaking in his boots, because he honestly could never. And it's also kind of... lush?? Idk how to explain that, but it has an aesthetic going on.

The book explores themes of colonialism and sexism too, and if there's one thing to know about me, it's that I love a good theme. They add so much depth to the story, and I thought they were woven into this one particularly well.

To conclude: it's atmospheric, it's thematic, and you should read it!! Please do check the trigger warnings first though, and keep in mind that it falls under the horror genre.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism