Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

326 reviews

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

.

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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

bail33's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Rape, and Cannibalism

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

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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

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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

leer_amor's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

acorn192k's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

ayetreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

What a fantastically dark and disturbing book. The author did an amazing job introducing the characters, setting the scene, and creating the creepy atmosphere throughout the story. Noemi shines as a heroine who drives the plot forward and everyone else impacts the world beautiful in a way that makes sense to the story.

I love how vibrant (or should I say dark?) Silvia wrote the imagery in this book. I could picture everything like in a movie, even against my will. She created a world that seems so real but shouldn't be for everyone's sanity. 

The gore and the twist are deliciously disturbing. I also love how the story came to a satisfying conclusion. I love how this story interwove themes of racism, free will, and the effects of colonization. It hasn't been a while since I finished this book but I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, and Colonisation

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

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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

edesreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Racism, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

hefftbundle's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism