Author #Silvia Moreno-Garcia returns with a Gothic fantasy that is number one on my reviews this week.The cover alone will make you take a step back and pick a real book up and look at it.This is about a young socialite who receives a frantic letter from her newly wed cousin begging for help.And she states that she needs to be saved from doom.
Noemi races off to ‘High Place’ the so called haunted mansion. And upon arrival the story really takes off.Its a tale of love and betrayal with a wonderful ending!

***I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Moreno-Garcia crafts an amazingly riveting Gothic horror novel in Mexican Gothic. Noemi, the young, vivacious main character, is asked by her father to visit her cousin, whose recent missive from her new home is very disturbing. Noemi discovers a decrepit Victorian house in an isolated part of Mexico that seems shrouded in mystery and the past. Secrets and mystery and a great sense of decay surround High Place, and Moreno-Garcia brings that to life, with quick descriptive passages that convey so much in just a few little words. Moreno-Garcia slowly brings the reader into the story, until a near punch in the narrative sends the reader on edge.

I am a fan of Gothic horror, and this a perfect homage to the Gothic tales of old, those tales that have sense of desperation and suspense, not to mention an atmosphere that raises goosebumps on one's arms. Such an excellent book; highly recommended!

Genuinely unsettling gothic horror! I have read and enjoyed several of Moreno-Garcia's previous novels, and I am really impressed by her ability to shift between genres. I really enjoyed experiencing the story through Noemi's eyes, given her mix of socialite sensibilities, concern her for cousin, and curiosity. High Place was a compelling setting, the mystery was gripping, and the miasma of colonizer evil overshadowing the family and their history is truly scary.

I’ve been on a huge Gothic literature kick. And I enjoyed Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow. So I let out a literal squeal of joy when I got an ARC of Mexican Gothic. I was so excited to read it. And I am thrilled to proclaim that it absolutely lived up to (and actually exceeded) my expectations!

One of the only things I didn’t like about Gods of Jade and Shadow was that it felt too Young Adult even though it was published as Adult. While extremely creative, I yearned for more depth in the writing. Mexican Gothic completely eschewed those issues. It is most certainly Adult in content, and the writing style was much more complex.

I love when someone puts a creative, new twist on a classic troupe in a way that breathes new life into it rather than just redressing it in a boring way. Mexican Gothic has many Gothic troupes. The central plot revolves around that classic premise of “Young woman goes to remote manor house and shit goes down.” But this story is set in Mexico in the 1950’s which made the setting interesting and unique. The story opens with socialite Noemí Taboada receiving a frantic letter from her cousin Catalina who claims that her new husband is trying to poison her. Although Noemí is a frivolous, impetuous, and more than a bit spoiled, she sets out to travel to her cousin’s home in the remote Mexican countryside to figure out the truth about Catalina’s circumstances. But in that mysterious, crumbling manor house, Noemí finds secrets – and danger – far beyond anything she expected.

The story had some major Crimson Peaks vibes. The writing style was a blend of Daphne du Maurier and Simone St. James (both authors I love) with a heavy dose of The Yellow Wallpaper. I love when books find that perfect balance of Is there something going on here? Or am I going insane? And boy oh boy did Mexican Gothic deliver on that front! This story was so atmospheric and creepy. The descriptions were so vivid and immersive that I had no trouble picturing myself in the story.

This was a deliciously devious tale of intrigue and betrayal. The tone was ominous. The atmosphere was suffocating… and I know it sounds weird, but I mean that in a good way. It shows how powerful the writing was. From the severe, silent isolation to the moldering mansion to the lack of women’s rights, suffocating is the most apt description I can think of. That was where The Yellow Wallpaper comparison came in – from those antiquated but prevalent notions that women were too prone to hysteria, and that the best cure was isolation and heavy medication. On top of that, you have the setting where women had not yet achieved the right to vote and almost all legal rights went from a woman’s father to her husband. Noemí’s character was modern and independent, so she struggled greatly against the pressure to conform to the patriarchal oppression. And I was rooting for her every second.

No story appeals to everyone. And I can totally see that some readers will be put off by the oppression in the story. There are major issues dealing with consent. I don’t want to give away the plot, but I won’t recommend this book to anyone sensitive to trauma triggers. But I will add that although there were times when I worried that the story would slip too far into victimization, for me it never crossed that line. It certainly left me with a pounding heart and unable to turn the pages fast enough dying to know what would happen next!

I won’t say more about the story, because it is better to go into this book blind. But I was utterly captivated by this story. The eerie atmosphere was perfectly done. The plot totally kept me guessing. It was perfectly suspenseful. And I adored the twists that Moreno-Garcia put onto the classic troupes. This is definitely one of my favorites reads of 2020. I’m sure that it will haunt me for a long time to come.

What a great horror read this was. I wouldn’t say I was ever scared, but on more than one occasion, I was deeply disturbed. So, that’s a winner in my book!

I loved Noemí as a main character. She didn’t take any shit, but also wanted to prove herself to her father and help her cousin, so her struggle to achieve those goals amidst an already difficult environment was palpable. She was also a superb dresser, expert flirt and heckin’ smart. Did I say I love her yet?

The descriptions in this book were amazing; I felt like I was in High Place, the cemetery, the town, wherever Noemí was at any given moment, which made the horror scenes that much more intense!

The only thing I regret after reading: I’ll never be able to look at mushrooms the same way again.

Mexican Gothic was unlike any book that is out there tight now, and I loved that! Being of Mexican descent, I loved the cultural component of this book. For example, the traditions and folklore stories really brought on the nostalgia but also kept me guessing. If you are looking for a mystery and thriller with a folklore twist, this book is for you!

Hole. E. Fuck.

I AM SHOOKETH.

I AM SHAKETH.

I AM VERKLEMPT.

Okay, so the premise: a young socialite goes to a town in the mountains of Baja California to figure out what the hell is going on with her cousin, who married this white dude and then sent a letter saying that she was being poisoned and that the walls were talking to her. So the socialite arrives and weird shit starts happening, but nothing that's too weird, just kinda creepy. So she stays to investigate, and shit gets really weird.

That was the two-cent summary, because the rest of the novel is holy fucking shit shit shit.

It starts off nice and quaint, with bored socialite Noemí looking to find herself and quite enjoying life as a very smart, flirtatious girl in 1950s Mexico City. When her father summons her to figure out what's going on with her close cousin Catalina, Noemí readily agrees and ventures forth to the countryside.

At High Place, she discovers an isolated world steeped in outdated traditions and heavy racism, as the people there hold firm to their English roots and Victorian beliefs. Noemí struggles to adjust to these people and their microaggressions and flat out racism, while trying to figure out what the hell is going on with her cousin, who absolutely doesn't have tuberculosis, but something else is going on.

Noemí is not afraid of her cousin's handsome new husband or his incredibly rigid aunt, but there's something unsettling and creepy about the ancient patriarch of the Doyle family. While she finds solace with the young and gentle Frances, there's just something off about the entire situation.

From here, the story begins a steady and slow decline towards horror, as High Place begins to reveal the secrets oozing behind its faded and unraveling Victorian wallpaper, and Noemí finds herself trapped.

She recalled, rather grimly, that certain fairy tales end in blood.


While slow and character-driven until the incredibly scary and holy-shitballs climax, the star of the story is the gothic atmosphere of High Place.

The foggy, dense and Victorian moldiness is so out of place, and encompasses so much of the exploitative history of white people within Mexico. And how that history—and the previous overlords—struggle to survive in a new world of (semi) equality once their means of production and fortune have run dry. The Doyles literally exploited the land in the same way they exploited the people, killing both with impunity and surviving by parasitically leaching away the life force of everything they touched—while struggling to maintain their own purity (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit).

Anywho, back to the atmosphere. This book reminds me so much of the gothic literature of the late 19th century, particularly Wuthering Heights, which its grandly dilapidated house and struggling elite grandly sinking into oblivion while scrambling to maintain their foothold in society by isolating themselves from their lessers. Also, the foggy moors, the wetness and damp, the mold, the...mushrooms.

I don't want to say much more about the book without spoiling it, but this reminds me in many ways of the racial criticism of Get Out combined with the gothic atmosphere of Wuthering Heights, all set in 1950s Mexico with a dash of supernatural ickiness.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Whoa! This book was simply astounding. And it would have been a five star read for me had I gotten an epilogue in the end cause I just needed to know what happened to these characters after the literal hell they had gone through! I’m an epilogue lover through and through and like any good horror movie, I need that last glimpse of the killer that would leave me anxious for weeks wondering if they baddie had come back from the dead to terrorize the main characters again.

Set in 1950’s Mexico.. Noemi a seemingly spoiled young woman is given a task by her father; visit her cousin Catalina who had married a strange man by the name of Virgil. See Catalina had not been heard of since she’d moved to her husband’s family home High Place. After a disturbing missive from Catalina is received by Noemi’s father, he tasks his daughter in visiting her cousin and in return he would allow Noemi to go to grad school.

Noemi arrives in High Place and immediately notices an alarming change in her cousin as well as a disturbing and haunted house where the inhabitants minus one were all as creepy as the house. Bit by bit all the while thinking she’s going mad, Noemi discovers the truth behind Catalina’s seemingly catatonic state & the truth of this family who’d been plagued by one unfortunate event after another. Receiving help from an unlikely ally, Noemi must do everything in her power to not only save her cousin but save herself from this house of literal horrors.

TW: attempted rape, gaslighting, incest, body horror, cannibalism, child death.

This was so good. I would recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers, horror, or gothic horror. This was such a unique book, and yet it firmly exists within all the traditions of gothic horror that I am familiar with. I am a fan of gothic horror myself, and I loved seeing things I am familiar with from those novels presented in a story that was new and classic at the same time. I realize that I am kind of speaking in oxymorons, but that's exactly how this book is! Both new and old at the same time.

Throughout the novel I was reminded of Jane Eyre, My Cousin Rachel, and The Shining. And I expect if I had read The Haunting of Hill House prior to this, it would have reminded me of that too. It's a classic haunted house novel, but it isn't. That's all I'll say about that.

As for the characters, I enjoyed that Moreno invoked very strong feelings in the reader. I really enjoyed Noemí as a heroine. She knows the power of her own voice, the power she has in herself, and she doesn't compromise her convictions or doubt herself despite the situation she is in. I don't have a ton to say about Francis or Catalina, but I enjoyed how Francis stayed a good person despite the horrible situation he grew up in. And with Catalina, I loved her behavior at the end of the story. It was so wonderful to see her take her revenge.

As for the villains, they were especially horrible. Howard was SUCH A CREEP. Florence was the one I hated the most. And Virgil oddly was the villain I enjoyed the most. He is such a fascinating, scum bag of a man. He's one of those villains who I loved to hate. It was so interesting psychologically speaking to watch how he constantly gaslit Noemí, and by the end I just wanted to watch him die.

The style of this book is wonderfully written. The atmosphere was so strong, and I particularly loved the imagery in the cemetery, the dreams, and especially the crypt. This was basically an amazing novel and I'll definitely be checking out the author's other works. I own one already and have two on the TBR list. Her acclaim is well-deserved.

5/5 stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing this masterpiece.

Listen..i'd be lying if i said i didn't quickly read this because the book was coming out and people were hyping it up and i've had the arc for 2 months. All i gotta say is god damn are there so many creepy scenes. And also, really really like the writing style of the author

This book is a reading EXPERIENCE!!!! From the compelling cover to the playlist and all the extras to the solid plot, interesting characters, twists and action. I just finished the book and want to start it all over again to read for the details that I missed the first time through because the metaphoric pages were turning so quickly.

My review in Shelf Awareness is here: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=932#m16309

The review was also cross-posted to my Smithsonian BookDragon blog: http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/mexican-gothic-by-silvia-moreno-garcia-in-shelf-awareness/

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia


Trigger Warning: this novel contains a depiction of sexual assault.

Mexican Gothic is a historical horror novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It’s Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s sixth full-length novel, and her second this year. Her debut thriller novel, Untamed Shore came out earlier this year, and we reviewed it. In Mexican Gothic, Moreno-Garcia triumphantly returns to speculative fare.

In 1951 Mexico City, Noemí Taboada was a bright and charming socialite, doing mostly what she pleased. One day, her father alerts her to a rambling, disturbing letter from her beloved cousin Catalina, who had just recently married. The gist of the letter was this: “He is trying to poison me. You must come to me, Noemí. You have to save me.” Alarmed by this missive, Noemí goes to her cousin’s new home, High Place (that’s not a creepy name at all, it’s fine!) to find out what’s wrong with Catalina and rescue her if needed. When Noemí arrives, she discovers that the situation was much worse than she imagined.

Plot Development
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno GarcisMexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcis
When reading something with a horror element, there’s always a chance that the protagonist will seem too ignorant of the danger. This is different than watching a horror movie: it’s fun to yell “get out, you idiot!” when you’re watching a movie. Nor can the protagonist be too aware of the danger: if they figure out exactly what’s going on, they’re likely to split before the climax.

Moreno-Garcia wrote Noemí in a way that straddled the extremes of ignorance and genre-savvy. Noemí noticed that Catalina’s in-laws were off, but she didn’t initially attribute that to supernatural means (why would she?). Instead, she thought the main issue was their eugenicist attitudes and strange demeanor (she’s not entirely wrong either). When the situation starts getting worse, there are good reasons for her to remain. For one thing, she’s not going to abandon her beloved cousin to this terrible fate.

Catalina can’t leave easily: since she’s married (to a white man) she doesn’t own her own life. This is within living memory: Mexican Gothic only takes place 69 years ago. It’s also clear that while Noemí is privileged in some ways (wealth), someone who isn’t white and isn’t a man is going to be taken less seriously in this remote location. She has to find a way to conquer the evil: she can’t run away.

Conclusion – Mexican Gothic Won’t Let You Go
If your favorite classic novel is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, you should check out this book. Moreno-Garcia’s take on the creepy house trope is interesting and thought-provoking, in ways that would be a spoiler to mention in this review. It’s also a fun read for the current moment. Even though it’s a bad idea to leave your house, at least you don’t have Noemí’s problems.

I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved Mexican Gothic. Even though it’s a slow burn (by design), I couldn’t put it down for the last two-thirds of the book. This is a great place to start with Moreno-Garcia’s work, as was Gods of Jade and Shadow last year. Moreno-Garcia is a fantastic writer, and all her books contain an innovative perspective. Once you pick this book up, it will hold you in its grip.

If you’re considering buying this book, please remember local stores. While you may not have a store local to you, many people’s local stores are shipping around the country. Here is a list someone compiled regarding open bookstores. If you can’t decide between bookstores, you can buy from Barnes and Noble (important to the book market, even if it is a franchise) or from Bookshop.org

Have you been excited to get lost in Mexican Gothic? Talk about it with us on social media!

COVID-19 has made us more aware than ever of the importance of the spaces we call our own. That makes this the perfect moment to read the uncanny, absorbing Mexican Gothic, a tale about the kind of location in which you most definitely wouldn’t want to shelter in place.

Wealthy socialite Noemí Taboada had planned to spend her summer break from university enjoying herself in Mexico City, but when her father receives a disturbing, frantic letter from her cousin Catalina, he sends Noemí to bring her home. It will be no easy task. Catalina hastily married Virgil Doyle just a few months before and he has taken her to High Place, a distant house nestled among steep mountains in the Mexican countryside. Noemí’s not sure she will succeed in her assignment – Catalina gave her family little time to mingle with her groom, but the impression Noemí received was of a cold, domineering man who will not easily give in to her supplications to let heiress Catalina return to Mexico City .

When she arrives, Noemí realizes that High Place is even more isolated than she had feared. It is situated far above a remote, deeply impoverished town, and the sole road there is overgrown, and flanked by treacherous ravines. The silver mine, the source of the family’s once legendary wealth, is closed and High Place itself has fallen into disrepair. An endless, cold mist surrounds the abode, and even though it’s the 1950s, there are no electric lights, only oil lamps and candelabra. The rooms are musty, the wall paper moldy, the stonework crumbling. But that is nothing compared to the weirdness of the home’s inhabitants.

Florence, Virgil’s aunt, is the housekeeper. She shows Noemí to her room and advises her that there is no smoking in the house – and no talking at meal times. She is also Catalina’s nursemaid and is openly hostile to Noemí’s wish to visit with her cousin, insisting Catalina needs rest. She grudgingly allows Noemí to speak briefly with her, a conversation that is spent with Catalina advising Noemí that the ghosts which haunt the manor are very real. Leaving that room, Noemí tries to get Virgil to agree to let her take Catalina away for psychiatric treatment but he insists that Catalina is improving under the care of the family doctor and just needs time to recover from a recent bout of tuberculosis. Noemi finds this patently ridiculous as tuberculosis doesn’t cause hallucinations or paranoia, and attempts to speak to the vacuous servants, hoping they can tell her what is happening but they refuse to say anything more than that they are busy and don’t have time to speak to her.

The strangeness of the day is capped by an awkward silent evening meal which is made more bizarre when at the end they are joined by Howard Doyle, Virgil’s father and the patriarch of the clan. He shatters the quiet of the dinner table by engaging Noemí in conversation, and his fascination with eugenics – and her heritage in particular – makes her deeply uneasy. She is grateful to escape his company and take what little comfort she can in the privacy of her own dreary, decaying room but the creepiness of the situation follows her there, too. She has nightmares of a glowing faceless woman and mushrooms which sprout from the wall. Morning brings little relief, as she wanders a house which looks as macabre in the watery daylight that trickles in past the deep fog as it does in the candlelight. She’s not sure how much help she can be to the clearly imprisoned Catalina under the circumstances, but surprisingly, she finds an ally in Virgil’s cousin, Francis. A quiet, pale young man, he is the only one who speaks of escaping the house, and who shows concern for Catalina. But he seems as trapped in High Place as she has begun to fear she is.

The centerpiece of any good gothic is the setting and High Place, with its chilling, atmospheric, desolate location is perfect. From the moment Noemí first sets foot in the house, the reader is transported to an other-worldly, sinister locale where danger seems to lurk in the very air. The author does a fantastic job of transfusing a lurking foreboding into every moment of her text. Even when nothing overtly strange is happening, there is this lingering, delicious sense of impending doom which seems to hover over the house, waiting for its moment.

The second most important factor to any gothic is the heroine and Noemí is a fantastic one. She’s strong, resourceful and resilient. Her stubborn refusal to abandon her cousin to whatever bizarre plan Virgil has for her is admirable and her clever wit, cheery, cheeky demeanor and kind nature all make her an absolute delight to root for. I liked that she wasn’t a wide-eyed innocent but had a worldly glamour. She drinks, smokes, dances, and at school, she is renowned for being able to have a good time. Her lively spirits and strong personality make her a pleasant change from the typical guileless gals who people these kinds of stories.

The author does provide us with the requisite ingénue but it is Francis who plays that role here, and his sweet, wholesome sincerity and shy insecurity quickly endear him to both the reader and Noemí. There is a romance here but it is a very subtle one, with our bold, brash heroine falling slowly for the far gentler, more serious – and mysterious – hero. As in most gothics, the love story is partly an intellectual exercise as the heroine must decide if she can trust anyone – even the man she is falling in love with – given the situation she finds herself in.

The plot here is standard fare for this genre. There is a damsel in distress, in this case Catalina, and a sinister, brooding but exceedingly handsome man (Virgil) who appears to be up to no good. Logic and instinct are often at war in these books, with a practical explanation available to explain all the misfortunes and oddities that occur but with intuition pointing the heroine – and therefore the reader – towards the more portentous, malignant, emotive, yet seemingly unlikely resolution. Ms. Moreno-Garcia does a wonderful job of balancing these two opposing forces within her novel as she takes us to the inevitable explosive conclusion.

One point of warning. There are several dream sequences which are disturbing and feature depictions of sexual assault. These are in no way depicted as romantic, but as forced and nightmarish. The rapes occur only in dreams, and are not graphically portrayed but I did wish to advise readers that they are present and involve some dark, rather disquieting, undertones.

Mexican Gothic is exactly what the title promises – a thrilling, spooky story set in a unique location. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.

Mexican Gothic was a unique, intelligent, well written and solid spin on the classic horror tale of the haunted house. After receiving a disturbing note from his niece, Catalina who recently married, Noemi's father asks her to go check on the newlywed in El Triunfo, Mexico to make sure that things were not amiss for he feared that her husband Virgil was simply a gold digger up to no good. After reading Catalina note, Noemi finds that she has no choice but to leave her carefree life behind in Mexico City and investigate the mental state of her favorite cousin. Once she gets to High Place she finds that something is indeed awry but what she encounters is beyond her wildest imaginations and her worst nightmares. In my opinion, Ms. Moreno-Garcia does a fine job of weaving elements of horror, fantasy, science (specifically eugenics) and a bit a romance in this gothic historical fiction novel which I found to be a truly enjoyable reading experience.

I had to take breaks from this one because the tension was eating me up! The creep factor is very strong in this one, and there are parts that are quite visceral, but not gory. The plotting is very strong and the characters are compelling. Recommended for fans of Rebecca or Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger.

"Et Verbum car0 factum est" (and the Word was made flesh -- translated).

Noemí Taboada is a 22-year-old debutante whose life is filled with social delights and parties in Mexico City in the 1950s. Things change for her quite suddenly when her father decides to send her off to El Triunfo to see about her cousin, Catalina. Apparently he'd received a very disturbing letter that indicated a decline in Catalina's mental health. Using a bit of bribery -- Noemí wants to study anthropology at at National University -- her father persuades her to go to High Place and make sure that Catalina is OK. Noemí heads off on the train as planned, expecting to be gone for a short time. She's picked up at the station and driven up into the mountains to a very English Victorian style home that is nearly derelict, has little electricity or modern conveniences, and is possibly haunted. High Place has been in the Doyle family for hundreds of years but is nearly empty of life and servants. What Noemí discovers is so much worse than she could have imagined. NO SPOILERS.

I haven't read horror like this for ages since a Clive Barker obsession many years ago. And the novel is definitely horror with a very high creep factor. Since Gothic fiction refers to writing that has elements of fear, death, horror and darkness -- lots of emotions and maybe romance, I would say that this qualifies. Definitely there's the icky, moldy house, a supernatural phenomenon, a curse, damsels in distress, and lots of doom and gloom. I liked the writing style, the slow build-up of menace and Noemí's descent into the nightmare. It was just the far out factor that limited my full appreciation of the story. It was just too much! But if you're a fan of this type of novel then you're in for a treat. It delivers every necessary piece to satisfy as Gothic literature.

I read this with a friend, though she finished much quicker and enjoyed it more than I did. It intrigued me from the description and I'm glad I had the opportunity to revisit this genre. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey for this e-book ARC to read and review.

3.5 stars

4.5 stars rounded up

Noemí, a socialite used to city life in the 1950’s, sets out to a secluded mansion in the Mexican countryside when she receives a troubling letter from her cousin who lives there. When she arrives, she’s not sure what’s stranger, her cousin’s behavior or the other residents in the household. Her cousin’s husband is charismatic but menacing, and his dying father seems to have a twisted curiosity of Noemí. Not to mention the house itself, which has a dark, alive, presence.

Wow. The hype is real with this one! I was immediately sucked in to the story with it’s strong characters, era and setting, gothic tone, and the mystery of High Place and its inhabitants. It was ultra-creepy and had me untangling secrets until the end. Loved it. Read it!

Also, be sure to check out the Spotify playlist under the same name, it is KILLER and full of all the gothic vibes.

Thank you Del Rey, NetGalley and Mystery Book Club for the gifted e-copy

Just when I thought I had this book figured out, it went and completely blew my mind. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is so creative with her writing. We will definitely be purchasing this book for our library.

This is beautifully written, it flows and wraps the reader up on a sea of lyrical tones. I love the book! This is a two copy kind of book for the library. The hype is right on! Plus that cover is striking!