Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

78 reviews

luna_lovelace's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

Mexican Gothic is such an incredible thriller book that had me on the edge of my seat! 

The way Noemi's character was written was simply amazing. She had a sassy attitude and wasn't afraid to speak her mind, which made her stand out from other characters in the book. Noemi's personality was the key to solving the mystery and I loved how the author portrayed her. 

Francis, on the other hand, was timid at first, but his character development was admirable. He grew stronger as the story progressed, and I was pleasantly surprised by his actions towards the end. The author did a fantastic job of making his character come to life. 

It took a little while for the story to truly turn into a horror story, but I was alarmed from the start by Howard's character.

His twisted personality gave me the chills and it didn't help that he was racist. I was more disturbed by the scene where he's on his deathbed, made me gag.

The ending was unexpected,

but it was a happy ending for Noemi, so you won't hear any complaining from me. Although the ending was left open to interpretation by the reader on what happens next, I think it was the perfect way to end the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Gun violence

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, 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, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

litoreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

veepopp's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Incest, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

judassilver's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

2.5

hmm. i think this had the potential to be good, but it just fell short. for a book titled mexican gothic, there was little to none about mexican culture, and even the characters were mainly white. the gothic parts i think were executed better. i love spore-horror so that was great, but other parts were not so good. and like many others said in the reviews, it was incredibly slow. also some of the characters are underdeveloped or just gross. so approach this at your own risk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

This was exactly what I wanted it to be. It's rare that a horror novel actually manages to gross me out, but man oh man did this manage it. It also managed to evoke such visceral anger in me that I had to put the book down and walk it off. The characters were well crafted, the atmosphere was unnerving, and the plot gave me all the gothic vibes I was looking for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bugaboobear's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.75

For a book called Mexican Gothic it certainly is very European. I was pretty disappointed with that; I was really looking forward to the Mexican setting and characters.

The plot itself was good and the pacing picked up around the half way mark and kept me reading until it was finished. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Incest, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

denlia's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

kgc8's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Wow, the author does an amazing job of creating a menacing and creepy atmosphere. From the moment you enter High Place, you can feel something is wrong. Throughout the story, it's hard to pinpoint the source of the discomfort and the author kept me guessing. In contrast to the awful house and its denizens, Noemi is a plucky and courageous heroine - she knows when to fight and when to play along - and it's easy to root for her. Horror is not my favorite genre, but this is a really well done story and lingered in my mind after I finished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Misogyny and Terminal illness

Minor: Cannibalism