Mexican Gothic

I just finished Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Audiobook, and here are my thoughts.

Noemi is a socialite with a full social calendar. Her cousin, newly married, sends a frantic letter to Noemi's father and he sends her to find out what is happening. She knows very little about her cousin's husband, other than he is an Englishman and has a home in the Mexican countryside.

Noemi is smart and resourceful but nothing can prepare her for a home with very little electricity, limited amenities, a patriarch so sick the house barely makes a peep so as not to disturb him. Her cousin's husband, while handsome and charming, has something more sinister lurking under the surface. The house has a life of its own as well, invading her dreams with such horrors, Noemi finds she has no appetite.

The longer she stays within the halls of the house.... The more she starts to lose herself within it.

Let me start by saying that the audio was a very good listen. I very much enjoyed the narrator's voice and I was quickly absorbed into the story. One thing I didn't know before I started the book was that it is actually an historical fiction, a gothic historical fiction and that was a very nice thing to find out.

The characters were really well developed. I liked Noemi right from the get go. She didn't want to have to go to a strange place all by herself but her very real fear for her cousin set her resolve to do what her father was asking. Each one of the house members had something very odd about them and finding out the reasoning was brilliant! It wasn't my normal kind of horror read. This was more of a lowkey set you on edge horror but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author set the atmosphere like a dark tendril of mist across a graveyard... Slow but deliberate and you always feel a little uneasy.

The conclusion of the book was amazing and I really felt the ends were tied up well enough but with this slight edge that makes you wonder if it really is over. It was quite slow in the beginning but it more than made up for it in the end.

4.5 stars