Mexican Gothic

Rate: 5/5

“She was a dreamer, eternally bound to a nightmare, eyes closed even when her eyes had turned to dust.”

Noemí Toboada is a Mexican socialite always jumping from one thing to another without really knowing what she wants. When her father asks her to check in on her favorite cousin, something just isn’t right, she can’t refuse. Far out in the Mexican countryside Noemí finds High Place, an isolated mansion with hidden secrets. Noemí’s cousin is not herself, seeing ghosts and hearing voices, her cousins English family is cold and distant, much like the house. When Noemí finds herself with visions and thoughts not her own, she knows its time to get out, but will the house let her leave?

“You could spend a liftime peering in forests and jungles and never see one tenth of nature’s secrets.”

When I chose to read this book I was unaware the author was Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I picked it as my book of the month because it sounded like a new haunted mansion story I would love. Garcia wrote another book I could continue to rave on and on about. Seriously, check out Gods of Jade and Shadow, by far the favorite book I read last year. Garcia spins a tale equal parts eerie and fun. The whole time you are rooting for Noemí, she is a strong woman who knows there is something wrong and will stop at nothing to save her family. I finished the book almost in one sitting, I did not want to stop reading, staying up way into the wee hours of the morning. I had to find out how everything fared. Garcia writes characters that you root for, characters that you despise, and characters that you aren’t sure you can trust.

“Noemí’s father said she cared too much about her looks and parties to take school seriously, as if a woman could not do two things at once.”

I recommend this book to those of you who either love a good haunted mansion story, those who enjoy historical fiction, horror fans, or even those who want a fast read. I feel like you can’t go wrong with any one of Garcia’s books. This has solidified my need to read the rest of her books, if I enjoyed the two books I’ve read of hers this much, there is no way I would dislike any of her others.