Mexican Gothic (2020)-Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This book is chilling and immersive but only if you can successfully follow along

Content Warnings: Racism, violence, sexual assault, body horror, incest, misogyny, illness

Representation: Mexican, Latine

Favorite Quote: “Noemí, just because there are no ghosts it doesn’t mean you can’t be haunted. Nor that you shouldn’t fear the haunting.”

        As the name suggests, Mexican Gothic is a suspenseful gothic novel that follows a young woman from Mexico City named Noemí. Noemí is a highly intelligent character who balances academics with pleasure. When her father receives a concerning letter from Noemí’s cousin Catalina, Noemí makes a bargain with her father that she would drop everything to check on Catalina under the condition her father gives his blessing for Noemí to pursue a master’s degree. Noemí hopes to use her intelligence and charm to complete this task but is out of her element when she arrives at the extremely old-fashioned house of Catalina and her new husband.

        With the name Mexican Gothic, a reader would expect a new take on the gothic genre, one that incorporates Mexican culture and folklore into its plot, but rather the gothic aspect of the book relies primarily on decidedly White and European characters and architecture. The “haunted house” in the story is one built purposefully to mimic English style and lacks all semblance of modernity even in the 1950 setting. This disappointedly utilizes White-centered tropes common of the genre rather than subverting them.

        The use of race and ethnicity, however, does excellently execute a form of subversion as the European nature of the house and the Whiteness of the characters surrounding Noemí are used to further the sense of unease in the story. Traditionalism in the characters’ routine and their thinly veiled racism contribute to the building of suspense, particularly as the reader follows the perspective of a Latina main character.

       The sequences of events and the lineage of the characters can be difficult to follow along with, particularly toward the end of the book. This is in part due to the incestuous family tree of the family with whom Noemí is staying with, but also an unclear shifting of chronology and a series of reveal after reveal. Ultimately, the book is very enjoyable, with likable characters and a real sense of peril despite its occasional convolutedness and formulaic plot

4⭐️