“So I’ll be wed in the church of the Holy Incestuous Mushroom?”
I can see why people enjoyed Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, but this was not my cup of tea. If you are considering reading this book, I highly recommend taking a look at the trigger and content warnings. I would not want anyone to go into this book unprepared. I enjoyed the “gothic” aspect of this story, but the “horror” aspect of the book was too much for my fantasy reader’s tastes.
Noemi is sent to High Place by her father to check in on her cousin Catalina after he receives some troubling letters that cause him to question her safety and sanity. After she arrives, the Doyle’s seem to be a fairly average English family with some strange family dynamics but there is a lot more going on than first impressions might indicate.
The Doyle family is creepy as hell, and I don’t think I’ll ever look at mushrooms the same after reading this book. Howard is such a revolting and creepy old man, I would not get near him with a ten-foot pole. I was beyond grossed out. The only redeemable one in the whole family is Francis. I commend Noemi for her bravery because after one day in High Place I would have run away screaming for help.
Whether or not you will like this book depends on how much you enjoy the gothic literature genre and the horror literature genre. I would say it’s more horror than gothic, but I’m also a big chicken so I recognize that I generally don’t vibe with horror novels in the first place. I can see why horror fans sing the book’s praises. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master of genre-hopping but I don’t think this book is for everyone.
TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNINGS: Racism and White Supremacy (including discussion of eugenics), Attempted Rape, Incest, Discussion of Suicide, Miscarriage, Stillbirth, Alcohol Consumption, Recreational Drug Use (Smoking), Hallucinations, Cannibalism, Murder, Death of a child, Discussion of the death of a parent and family members
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