Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

412 reviews

nahret's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the book. The house in question was very oppressive, and the eerie things very disconcerting, I found. I also enjoyed the whole colonialism aspect that underlies the story. The foreshadowing was well done; if one were to consider the culprit in that particular direction, it would be quite obvious from the start. I didn't, so I had my "aha!" moment.

See, the unseen horrors can usually be one of two: natural phenomena, often orchestrated by a very human villain, or supernatural entities of some sort. I think my gripe with the book is that it went in one direction when I would have preferred the other, which is obviously a me problem. I also found the solution - once we knew what we were dealing with - very obvious, but it took the characters a whole two chapters to figure it out. 

The pacing was a bit odd; it durdles in the middle, when the setup could probably have been swifter, only to rush through to the end. I can say that I did find the resolution very satisfying, especially since the characters finally did what I had been telling them to do for some 70 pages or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

my_book_trolley's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

kcoss's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Gaslighting

peasandpancakes's review against another edition

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? No

4.25

Loved it! The story was interesting from the start and got very tense. I had to stop myself from trying to read ahead because I just needed to know what was going to happen. 

There are some events that might be triggering for some people!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Infertility, and Fire/Fire injury

bekran's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

Super spooky. I loved it but I don't know if I'll ever be capable of reading again. The imagery is very vivid and visceral.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Cannibalism

abbrillopezz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

rusticowgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, and Confinement

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Xenophobia

Minor: Incest, Infertility, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

ashe_nightwind's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

kellyofcali's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A very spooky tale with a excellent strong female lead, perfect for an October read! My only complaint was the end got a bit chaotic, but I often find that to be the case with horror climaxes, and so I don't actually think that was an issue with the book, but perhaps more my feelings about horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism