Mexican Gothic

I went into this book not knowing what to expect since it was my first time delving into this particular niche of horror, but after reading it I can say that I'm hooked! While it felt a small bit slow at the very beginning, once things started to pick up I found myself itching to pick it back up and resume reading every time I had to put it down!

Without spoilers; careful not to consume mushrooms in copious amounts.

Exploring more genres as i feel i stagnanted with YA novels (nothing wrong with that!) and i did NOT want to put this down. A little uncomfortable part for me personally (maybe 14+ as i could see myself having read something similar in high school) but the book overall was absolutely fantastic!

I got it in good condition, though it did arrive in bad condition. For example, the book got a slanted mold instead of straight and there was a lot of white wrinkle lines on both sides of the book including the spine.

This was EXACTLY what I was looking for when I was trying to find some fall reads. Spooky without being grotesque. Hints of Romance and Body Horror.

Truly a magnificent, eerie, inventive gothic horror novel with incredible, complex characters and a vivid sense of place and time. Written with an evident and rare depth of knowledge and care about plot, theme, and writing as a craft. Definitely some trigger warnings to look up, but this isn't just another horror novel out for shock factor. There's thought and care behind every plotpoint. Moreno-Garcia knows the importance writing has in the world, the impact it can have, and she has crafted something masterful and poignant and dare I say deeply healing. She looks trauma in the mouth rather than simply accept a plagued trojan gift horse that could rot any society down to its core--even as it threatens to do so to our very own.

Creepy! Lots of twists and turns. Never saw that ending coming!