Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

Reviewed by GGGinny

What I drank: Hard Seltzer. It was between this an pink wine.

Goodreads Overview:

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. 

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. 

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

Drunk Overview: After a strange letter from her cousin, Noemi goes to visit said cousin and her new husband out in their remote house. The house and family are both weird but there is so much more to it.

Drunk Thoughts: Yo this book was wildly unsettling.

• To get it out of the way, I’m not the biggest fan of sexual assault/mind-control. But frankly those scenes are at a relative minimum, but it’s my biggest complaint about the book so I wanted to get it out of the way.
• I love the descriptions of Noemi.
• It’s made clear that she’s a socialite and be “flighty.” but this book also does a great job of explaining why that is, both personality and the way it could be a defense mechanism.
• But she’s also really stubborn which is the thing that makes this book so fun.
• AS a main character she’s constantly making the decision to push or to back down. Like, it’s calculated. Which, (whether it’s the case or not) almost seems novel.
• But the book also does a good job with the side characters; Virgil (her cousin’s husband) is multi-faceted in the most manipulative way, Francis (Virgil’s cousin) has a growth story throughout the book that’s really interesting.
• Some of the characters didn’t get quite the same treatment: Noemi’s cousin Catalina never really gets a chance to shine outside of the occasional bout of lucidity, and the Aunt, Florence, never really got any depth (kind of disappointing that two of the characters I have a complaint about not growing are women).
• But this book did a great job with place setting. I haven’t read many books set in Mexico, so it was interesting to get the era’s perspective.
• And this book leaned into the colonial aspect with the Doyle family (aka Virgil and his kin) having come from a line of people who use and abuse the locals b/c they’re “inferior”
• And oh my god, that casual eugenics… I’ve read enough history to gather it’s popularity among certain people, but Noemi’s handling of it was masterful.
• I think my favorite parts of this book were went Noemi went to the small town near the creepy mansion.
• It’s when she has the most control over he life, and it does such a good job of showing what kind of character she was.
• It also added to the mystique of the house, although I feel like mystique is often used positively and this is not positive. The way bits and pieces of the history were revealed did a nice job of building the tension.
• That being said, the beginning of this book felt SO slow.
• I tend to enjoy books that jump right into the action, and this book took a bit before the tension ramped up.
• Now, with a mystery/gothic novel, that’s probably a pro. Getting into the book and understanding the characters before things get weird is probably nice.
• Speaking of the creepy; this book did such a good job owith the slow burn.
• The things that started to be weird at the beginning seemed like they could be unimportant (at least to teh characters – benefit of being a reader is knowing things will get worse)
• And the dreams had so much meaning and looking back I lLOVE the foreshadowing in them.
• At the point where the actual history is being unveiled, I admit, I found that a bit confusing, but that did add to the spookiness.
• I also enjoyed the love story. Obviously there’s much bigger plot going on, but that’s part of what made it so charming. These are two people who met under odd circumstances and seemingly impossible environment that end up truly enjoying each others company.
• Sidenote, I did enjoy how prickly Noemi could be. A lot of that was the gloominess of the house, but some of it was also being a woman used to casual slights in socieety. It thought it was a lot of fun.
• I feel like I’m missing plenty, but this is what I got.

What it Pairs With: Sweet red wine.

Rating: 4.25/5