Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 1/5

Set in 1950’s Mexico, socialite Noemi Taboada goes to check on her cousin Catalina after a concerning letter from her. Catalina recently got married and lives at “High Place,” a large home above the mining town of El Triunfo. Although it’s not really a mining town ever since the mine closed due to two separate epidemics.

Noemi arrives and is shocked by all the rules at High Place. No one is to converse during dinner. Music is not allowed to be played. It is frowned upon for her to travel to town alone. She finds it odd that the servants barely make eye contact. Most importantly, she notices how different her cousin Catalina is.

Noemi’s husband, Virgil, believes she is depressed but Noemi thinks it’s something else. She makes every effort to get Catalina the help she needs. She contacts a doctor for a second opinion. She even speaks to a “healer” in El Triunfo when Catalina asks for a tincture to help her sleep. What she uncovers is more gruesome and terrifying than she could’ve imagined.

I almost stopped reading after the first chapter, simply because it’s not my type of book. The only reason I finished it because I hate not finishing anything. But -I may never eat another mushroom again. The gore throughout the second half of the book was enough to turn my stomach for the day. 1/5