Review | Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Noemí receives a desperate letter from her cousin, Catalina, where she talks about hearing strange voices in the house she is living in with her new husband. Concerned, Noemí decides to make a trip to visit Catalina even though she knows very little about her cousin’s new family. Her worries are proven correct as she discovers the family seems to be hiding secrets, and there are unexplainable visions while she sleeps. As she tries to dig into the mystery of the family and the house, she must ensure Catalina’s safety – and her own.

You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me. I cannot save myself as much as I wish to, I am bounds, threads like iron through my mind and my skin and it’s there. In the walls. 

Mexican Gothic is a mixed bag for me. I appreciate the author’s attempt into bringing something fresh by tackling themes of eugenics, classicism and generational trauma in a classic Gothic setting. I thought Noemí is a fantastic protagonist. Spoilt, witty, and fully self-aware, she knows the skills she has and she’s not afraid to use them. The crumbling mansion, the misty grounds and the gloomy rooms are all vividly described. The cryptic dream scenes have the right amount of disorientation and spookiness. The villains are incredibly nasty and sounds like people you might have come across before.

However, I had issues with the pacing. It is very slow at the start and super speedy at the end. So many shocking things are revealed in a rush to the climax that I didn’t get to feel the weight of them. I find the plot formulaic, especially the romance. Frankly, I’m tired of awful male characters being redeemed after doing one measly right thing and I didn’t find the relationship convincing. I would have preferred the book to focus on Noemí and Catalina’s relationship. I wanted to know more about them and I felt they both deserve better.

Overall, Mexican Gothic is a commendable venture into gothic horror that fell a little short at the end.

CW: suicide, sexual assault, incest, cannibalism, infant death, miscarriage

About the author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Photo by Bobby Allen