✩.⋆. 𝙻𝚞𝚗𝚊 .˳⁺୨୧˚⋆

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — "Such a weird mushroom family"

This book was a roller coaster of emotions. Let me tell you that it took me forever to finally get into the book, but once I did, it was genuinely terrific. I am a fan of Gothic books. I like the feel of them. I like the horror elements of this book, and I have to say it might be one of my favourites this year.

The writing: This book was a little hard to understand. Some parts took me a while to get, and I had to reread them a few times. It was a bit difficult, but maybe that’s just my reading level. I feel like that says more about me, but genuinely, I do think the writing was good.

It’s definitely wordy, but it still gives off that creepy vibe. I had some solid “what the f—” moments while reading, like genuinely shocking parts. Overall, the writing wasn’t bad at all; it was actually really good.

Writing: 7/10

The Plot: Such an interesting plot. I really liked how, throughout the story, it gets creepier and creepier. At first, it’s not your typical mystery story, but the more you read into it, the more unsettling it becomes. Some parts are genuinely disturbing, and I love how weird and uncomfortable it can make you feel.

It took me through so many emotional loops throughout the whole book. One of my favourite things was the whole idea of the mushrooms. Honestly, such a unique thing to use, and it was a really interesting concept.

The Doyle family was genuinely so unsettling. I have to give it to Silvia Moreno-Garcia for writing such a creepy family. At every point in the book, I was like, “This family makes me uncomfortable.” And their whole incest thing? That was so unsettling, but it fit the book so well. You really do believe that this family probably has that going on.

The twist at the end was so dark, and the ending was really well done. I genuinely liked it. It was so creepy and had me like, “Oh my gosh, what’s going to happen next?” At the beginning of the book, you’re like, “huh, interesting,” but by the end, you’re like, “what the hell just happened?” You’re left confused, but still with enough details that you’re just sitting there like, “What did I just read?”

The plot: 8/10

The romance: This book didn’t really prioritise romance, which I’m fine with. I think it had a lot more going on than just romance, but I do want to talk about Naomi and Francis’s relationship because it was really interesting.

When everything is revealed at the end about the Doyle family and their whole weird mushroom cult, you kind of start to understand Francis and where he’s coming from. I genuinely didn’t trust him at the beginning, but their relationship ended up being really intriguing. I feel like he saw Naomi as this free person who could do what she wanted, someone with more courage. I don’t really know how to put it into words, but they definitely had an interesting dynamic.

I also really like male leads who aren’t the typical brooding, cold, emotionally distant, dark and mysterious types. Francis is very much a coward, a bit awkward, and not your stereotypical handsome guy, and I actually love that. We need more pathetically awkward male leads.

I think Naomi felt something similar, too, since she even mentions that he wasn’t particularly handsome, but she still clearly liked him more.

Romance: 6/10

Overall thoughts: Overall, Mexican Gothic is genuinely very good and really interesting. I liked the plot and how it went from surprising to even more shocking, to progressively “what the hell is happening.” It was such an interesting story, and I think it might be one of my favourite creepy gothic reads this year.