An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. And a gorgeous book cover!

Be warned: this isn't a light-hearted fun read. And don't read this book before going to bed, specially if you have vivid imagination. Trigger warnings: murder, gore, incest, sexual abuse, and violence.

I don't read horror books, but Mexican Gothic is what my book club picked for Dec-Jan, giving me an excuse to step out of my comfort zone. The first 9 chapters or so felt slow, but then the story picks up pace and it gets pretty grotesque and insane from there. This book is bizarre yet fascinating!

While the book is set in 1950s Mexico, not much has been written about the Mexican culture, nothing prominent, anyway. There is mention of eugenics and the Revolution, but they lack depth.

The main character Noemí was just the right amount of sassy and defiant to be interesting and likeable. She may seem like such a spoiled brat but as we get to know her, it becomes clear she has a soft spot for her cousin, Catalina, and wants to help her. Speaking of Catalina...she has such a passive character. Noemí doesn't really get to spend enough time with her, and sometimes it feels like Catalina is forgotten half of the time.

Overall, I loved reading Mexican Gothic, even though it completely creeped me out and kept me turning the pages in a non-stop anxious frenzy. ( )

An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite is drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . .

Mexican Gothic is a lust period gothic horror/thriller (think Crimson Peak in Mexico) that features such hypnotic and engaging prose, it's as if you've ingested the spores of the mushrooms and have been transported back to 1950s Mexico.

The hype for Mexican Gothic is real. This book was crafted in the most eerie, gut wrenching, mysterious, paranoid, edge-of-your-seat, yet glamorous way possible! Written by Mexican Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, centers on a young woman named Noemí investigating her cousin's claims that her husband, Virgil Doyle, is trying to murder her. Yet, not everything is as it seems.

As Noemí arrives at the Doyle household and tries to settle in she begins to sleepwalk and experience strange dreams and visions, Noemí decides that she must leave the Doyle household, only to be told that she cannot leave. It is revealed that the patriarch Howard Doyle discovered a strain of mushroom called mycorrhiza that has a symbiotic relationship with humans. The Doyles use this fungus and remain at High Place, the house-infused with the spores of the mushrooms, which has grown inside its walls and all around it, in order to heal themselves and prolong their lives. Noemí learns that Howard is hundreds of years old, and the history of his immortality is firmly footed in violent histories of colonialism, working-class exploitation, and misogynist patriarchy.

When Noemí finds out that the Doyles have intermarried in order to ensure that their offspring can also receive these benefits and that Howard has plans for her, she does whatever she can to escape their clutches and free her cousin from the effects of the mushrooms.

Mexican Gothic is full of dread, glamourous prose, and eerie and disturbing secrets. It addresses the topics of colonialism, misogynism, and drug abuse. This book deserves to become a classic in the genre of gothic fiction.

I look forward to rereading this novel very soon. ( )

Kind of silly. The fungi did it. Ha ha. Anachronistic dialog, not that compelling although I read the whole thing. A silly gothic tale.

Just wasn't grabbing me, gave it a week & about 100 pages before bailing. I just don't care what happens to any of them.

Mexican Gothic lives up to it's name! What a compelling set of characters populate this tale of horror. Recommend! ( )