Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

255 reviews

kbowles24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

katemarie99's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

It's giving Saltburn. It's giving Wuthering Heights. It's giving Beloved. It's giving The Yellow Wallpaper. It's giving Get Out. It's giving Alice in Wonderland.

I'm spooked down to my very bones, but this is a good book. Do yourself a favor and check out TWs first, tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism

melanishka's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

4.5, rounded up 

This was.... not at all what I was expecting. Beautiful writing, absolutely terrifying setting and premise, and progressively spookier with every chapter. I loved the ending leaving a bit of uneasiness with you. I'd love to see this adapted into a film or Netflix series!

(.5 stars removed for the unnecessary baby cannibalism thing?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

deetabz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

astralatlas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

I listened to this book as an audiobook and it was a real struggle to get through 75% of it. Much of the buildup seemed exceedingly repetitive and a lot of the characters seem pretty flat. However, even though I figured out the general shape of the reveal, the last 25% was riveting. Great body horror, fascinating backdrop, biting metaphorical critique of capitalism/colonialism/classism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Incest, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

flamming_bluejeans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Incest, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

thede5tiny's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

Honestly took a while for the story to get going but the last 30% is pretty good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Pregnancy

beachyv's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely exceptional. One of my new favorites and a definite reread! 

Such a great introduction to Gothic Horror (with a small amount of Gothic Romance) for me. I will definitely be reading more Gothic fiction and more of Silvia Moreno-Garcia immediately!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

ebp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Miscarriage

sonaea's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

I really can't rate this book. One could argue for every single possible rating.

I really liked the first half (4+ stars) though there are a lot of problematic things in there (esp. in the later half) that aren't handled very well/believably (~2 stars).

At the start there's not a lot of plot but rather a lot of just the vibes of dark, creepy houses, though the plot picks up at about the middle. I was surprised by the solution to the puzzle as I did not expect

it to be some kind of supernatural thing going on, I actually thought the plants in the greenhouse were poisonous and the family poisoned the cousins

. What it turned out to be was a bit irritating at first but once I got over that, the rest of the read was quite enjoyable.
I really liked that Noemí is headstrong, intelligent and doesn't let people run her over. That made an interesting protagonist and the setting was quite nice too as I haven't read many books set in historic Mexico (though that wasn't really in the focus of the story).

I also liked how she slowly gets to know Francis and I think their relationship to each other is really interesting.

Also, I feared they wouldn't burn the house down but then they did so I'm glad, that was absolutely called for.

What could have used a bit more work is the pacing (at the first half of the book next to nothing happens, it's just all vibes and setting and only the slightest hints, while in the second half it's reveal after reveal). I would have liked that to be more stretched out in the book.
Also the action scenes at the end were not written like action scenes but rather just the same as the scenes about the setting (short descriptions, all the sentences about the same length, no focus on anything. There was next to no suspense in the writing. The only bit of suspense came from the plot though that wasn't a lot because

the way the book was set up, the way that books work, it was kind of obvious they'd make it out of it alive

). So that could have made the book a lot better.

!!! Also there are a LOT of pretty heavy topics in this book, some CNs would have been appreciated!!!

CN r*pe:

Also there are a few scenes where Virgil (nearly) rapes Noemí and that seems to have next to no emotional impact on Noemí?! At first I get it because she thought it was just a dream but then she figured out it wasn't and Virgil continues his doings?! So how the hell can she just act as if all that didn't happen?
That's a part where I think some character work would have been necessary. Her reacting shocked and then continuing as if normal really doesn't fit the situation.

CN c*n*balism:

also wth why is this mentioned in a side sentence and then just totally ignored? How does that not have any effect on the protagonist's psyche? I get that the psyche wasn't the center of the book (though why? Isn't Neomí actually really interested in that?) But the characters learn about that and it has literally NO IMPACT on any of their actions!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit

There are A LOT of problematic things happening. Most are mentioned, the description style of the book isn't one that goes into detail much. I tried to find most things that should have a CN, but I certainly didn't get every single one. So do be careful when reading this book! (Also I added 'toxic relationship' by which 'toxic family-relationship' is meant)