I love a good gothic horror, Mayra is equal parts awful friendship and what the heck fever dream. While I was really hoping for a deep haunted southern gothic twisty tale the “haunted” factor fell short for me. However I do recommend it as it was a fun escape full read.

Mayra follows Ingrid as she reunites with her childhood best friend, Mayra, in a secluded house, deep in the swamplands of Florida.

While this book is described as a twisty gothic tale, it felt, to me, a little more like a sweltering suspense mixed with an unsettling-maybe-haunted house story. And underneath all of that, there's
an element of a coming of age story, told through Ingrid's memories that she shares with Mayra, as they grow up together in Hialeah, Florida. Honestly, whatever more niche genre you want to put this one in, it does something that really work.

The cast of characters is small and intimate, with Ingrid and Mayra being joined by Benji, Mayra's somewhat quirky boyfriend. Through Ingrid's time at the house and her shared memories with Mayra, the reader really comes to be endeared to these women, as they spend their days (and, maybe more importantly, their evenings) in this strange house. The setting of the house and its surrounding marsh is both dreamy and creepy, and Gonzalez's writing is really suited to enhance these feelings with each description of the rooms that seem to pop up out of nowhere and winding marshlands that encircle the house.

Overall, this was a really creepy and, somehow, fun read. I enjoyed getting to know Ingrid and Mayra through the memories Ingrid shared throughout the story, and I truly cared what happened to these young women in the end. While I did find myself wishing there was just a little bit more (more slow reveals, more hints of what was really go on, more explanation of the ending), I did have a really good time with this book.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the Arc of this book!

I really liked this! In part, it's an examination of friendship--how friends grow together and then apart, and the complicated feelings of adolescent obsession. And, it's also a well-crafted submersion into oblivion--the writing of the way in which this "haunted" house preys on occupants was perfect in my opinion. I think I'm most impressed by Gonzalez's ability to weave these multiple elements together that makes them all engaging. There are some incredibly poignant observations in here, and I'm definitely excited to see what Nicky Gonzalez writes next.

Projection is a form of magic, sometimes cruel, other times not.

Ingrid and Mayra were once best friends, but as time passed, distance and life created a wedge between them. Despite this, they’ve always shared a bond that’s easy to pick up again. So, when Mayra invites Ingrid to catch up at her boyfriend’s remote home, Ingrid readily agrees.

Hauntings don’t always involve ghosts. We can be haunted by the past, or by futures we never realized. Memory itself is a form of haunting. People and places can cause us to regress into versions of ourselves that still linger in our psyche.

There’s a unique kind of horror in having your worst fear about yourself confirmed. But something more than memories and fear permeates this house—something strange lives within its walls.

I enjoyed the first part of the book, but found myself struggling with the pacing in the second half. While I highlighted a few passages and appreciated the concept, I wasn’t entirely sold on the execution.

A special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC!

The story is about two friends reuniting, while staying at a house owned by one’s boyfriend- completely void of cell service and internet in the FL swamps.

This story lacks some substance. The first half of the book was very enjoyable, but the last half was confusing. Most of the book felt like you were in an endless group of time and space that doesn’t want you to leave. There wasn’t enough written about the background of the home and boyfriend, which could have helped. Overall I wasn’t a big fan, 2.5⭐️

Damn, “Mayra” had me touching grass just to feel something real… What an eerie, disorienting, odd, beautiful debut from Nicky Gonzalez!

If you like weird creepy houses, and feel like going on a fun little fever dream, add this to your summer TBR stat

Thanks so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for a review

This was an odd little book. Toxic friendships that they just can't let go of for whatever reason.

So much angst and not a lot of haunting. And the ending?


NetGalley/ July 22, 2025, Random House

Florida Everglades Gothic, creepy topsy turvy house, isolation, toxic female friendship 🐊

Ingrid has always been drawn to Mayra like a magnet, and that pull still exists even after Mayra has grown up and moved on to bigger and better things, leaving Ingrid behind. But when Mayra calls out of the blue and wants to reconnect, Ingrid is drawn back to her. This time in an isolated house, deep in the Florida swamp.

I loved the dreamy, mystical atmosphere of the house and the swamp setting. I find that lost sense of time, "how many days have gone by?" haziness to be incredibly creepy and it works really well here!

Mayra left me wanting just a little bit more, more from the characters, more history, more backstory. But Gonzalez writes the setting so very well that I would still recommend this one for a really hot summer day, where you can get lost in the story, like our protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC 🐊 Mayra publishes in July 22!

Unfortunatly I DNF'd this book at 12%. I was really let down by the coninuous slang used throughout the book and I dont think I could have read the word "bro" one more time, I completely understand that this can be overlooked by many but for me it is a really big turnoff when reading a book filled wth slang.

A haunting, gothic tale set in the Florida Everglades, written by an author from Hialeah? AND a gorgeous cover that perfectly captures the vibe and tone of the book?

Say less.

At its core, <i>Mayra</I> is a story that explores the impact of friendship on our identity, and how both are intrinsically tied to and defined by where we're from. The story is set against a backdrop spanning two eras of South Florida: mid 2000’s Miami, which this reviewer was fortunate enough to come of age in, and a more recent, but almost timeless hideaway in the swamplands, within an old, gothic house burrowed deep in the Florida Everglades.

It is in this house, vividly painted and described for us by Nicky Gonzalez, the book’s author, that the majority of the story takes place, as two friends attempt to reconnect after years of being apart. But all is not as it seems, and the story starts to take some unexpected twists and turns as we get deeper into the mystery of both our main characters and of the house itself.

Getting to read this book was extra special, as Gonzalez managed to capture South Florida, and the idiosyncrasies of what makes it and its inhabitants so different to anywhere else in the country, perfectly in this book. Gonzalez unabashedly describes real world locations, people and our “native tongue” in a way I don’t think I’ve ever really seen in any type of media yet.

I do wonder if these parts of the book may not connect with other readers the way that they did with me (and also will with other Miami-ans ) , but I’m grateful that the author went for it, as it was something that I wasn’t expecting, but that truly sets the story apart in my opinion.

I ended up really loving this story and I can’t wait to own a copy to proudly adorn on my bookshelf. This will be a book that I imagine I’ll come back to and re-explore in the future as well.

This review is now live on Goodreads.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGallery for providing me with this advanced reader copy for my honest review.

Incredibly atmospheric, and the Florida Everglades make a great (local too!) setting. Easy to read, accessible language.

“That means you, like, sell houses that’ll be underwater in twenty years?” TRY A COUPLE MONTHS AGO. #hurricanehelene Maybe a little too close to home right now, but not wrong.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

MAYRA is an eerie and immersive novel perfect for fans of literary gothic stories. I appreciated the shorter length and the somewhat languid pace that builds tension in a slow but certain way. The friendship between Ingrid and Mayra seems to be at once toxic and completely understandable / relatable. At times Ingrid's outbursts with Benji struck me as immature and unjustified, which was a little frustrating. Of course, as the story progresses, we see more of his strangeness and we begin to suspect some unsettling truths about the house. By the time Ingrid realizes she should try to get out, it's like the slowly-boiling water where the frog is now stuck in the pot. Unlike some other readers, I thought the ending suited the story very well.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

This was an intriguing, immersive experience of a story. Ingrid, our protagonist, has stayed in her hometown of Hialeah after college and is having a day that isn't great. She's going on a date with a guy she's not really excited about and kind of feels that her life has hit a dead end. Out of the blue, her former best friend, Mayra, who left for bigger and better things, leaving Ingrid behind as well, calls her. She invites Ingrid to her new home, deep in the Florida Everglades where there is no cell service. Mayra and Ingrid quickly fall back into their old patterns, but a lot of past disagreements are coming to a head. The presence of Mayra's new boyfriend, Benji, compounds some of the weirdness as well. The house is bigger on the inside than out, with rooms that don't make sense. Ingrid's mind becomes fuzzy and she completely forgets her family, job, and real life responsibilities. At first, she's content with this, but finds out she's unable to leave. This was a super evocative story, not terrifying per se, but more insidious. There's a hint of the paranormal, but it will definitely give the reader something to think about!

Spectacular! I love a dreamy, foggy haunted house story and the love story at its heart is bittersweet and beautiful.

I was not prepared for the places this book took me!! I was drawn in by the toxic friendship, captivated by the writing about the Everglades and this mystical enclave Ingrid ends up in, and then riveted and perplexed as the book dove fully into the uncanny. I love when I am challenged and surprised by the twists in a story, and this debut was a great twisty experience.

We all had that friend who we swore would be the death of us when we were growing up, but we kept that friend because at least we'd die happy...and then we grow up and go our separate ways. Until we get that phone call: let's get away from it all at a house in the middle of nowhere and catch up. Sound great? Like you'd never want to leave? Like you couldn't if you tried?
I loved author Nicky Gonzalez's writing and I want to read more! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. My opinions are my own.

What a strange book this was. I'm not sure what to make of it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an Advance Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mayra is a weird little book about toxic friendships, an old eerie house in the swamp, and even weirder boyfriends. Nicky Gonzales writes fabulous imagery of the Floridian swamplands, and really knows how thread unsettling tension into their dreamlike writing.

The cast of characters is small, with a lot of development happening through flashbacks regarding Ingrid and Mayra's childhood together.
I found Lizzie's narration via her journal fairly boring, but Ingrid was hilarious and relatable. She's odd, but in a familar, normal-quirky way. Her desire for Mayra's attention, the need to be seen--that insecurity felt so real. That is perhaps the most well-done aspect of the story: the characters' insecurities are palpable, a character all its own.

And of course, there is Benji, Mayra's boyfriend who is...fucking strange. And not in a good way. He isn't violent or outwardly rude or anything that warrants an immediate red flag, there's just an aura of wrongness that slowly becomes more apparent the further you're drawn into the story.

I wouldn't say this is strictly horror, maybe more gothic thriller with some unsettling magical realism thrown in there. It definitely has its creepy moments, but they crop up more towards the last quarter of the book. I also wish the transitions from timelines was more apparent, but it could also be said that this is a purposeful effect. Regardless, Mayra is a beautifully written debut, with probably the best obsessive/co-dependent relationship between teenage girls I've read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, NetGalley, and the author for this arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't enjoy reading Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez. The story was very slow paced and it didn't have the eerie vibe I was hoping for. If the book had been faster paced with the supernatural elements introduced earlier on in the story I think I would enjoyed it.

Unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea.

Mayra by Nick Gonzalez is a captivating novel that centers on Ingrid, a deeply relatable character whose emotional journey of self-discovery keeps you hooked from start to finish. Her struggles with identity, love, and growth are depicted with raw authenticity, making her someone readers can truly connect with. Gonzalez's writing balances introspection with tension, drawing you in and leaving you constantly guessing about what’s to come. The horror element, which doesn’t appear until the end, builds slowly but powerfully, making you question what will unfold next.