I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Mexican Gothic is the latest bestseller to fall into the DNF pit.
Let me start off this book review by saying that I’m not only disappointed by how much I didn’t enjoy this Gothic suspense — but I’m very surprised by it. Mexican Gothic made HUGE waves last year among bookstagrammers and book bloggers, for its book cover alone! Which is, admittedly, gorgeous.
A creepy, crumbling Victorian mansion in a remote Mexican village; dimly light hallways filled with shadowy figures and eerie sounds; vivid dreams about what may be going on with the house and its oddly sequestered inhabititants… Sounds AWESOME, right?
Ehhhh, not so much. At least, not for me. This one is a slow burn. A very slow burn. We all know I don’t do well with those (maybe I should stop reading them!?!).
The first part of the novel was intriguing, and I easily plowed past my 50-page rule; I loved the setting of 1950s Mexico City, and when the storyline moved to the delightfully eerie house in the middle of nowhere, I was even more intrigued. I couldn’t wait for ghosty shit to start happening.
Aaaaaand that’s where the story stalled.
Then came a lot of backstory, a lot of walking around, a lot of weird and decidedly racist commentary between Noemi and her English hosts… Maaaaaybe a shadowy figure here or there. But, outside of that? Nuttin’ much happening.
I kept reading. The premise of this book sounded so good! It HAD to get better. Something has to happen soon, I kept telling myself.
The end of Mexican Gothic is bonkers — or, so I hear, since I wasn’t able to wade through the drudgery of the novel any longer than 160 pages. I tapped out after reading a review from someone who threw in the towel at 200 pages, realizing that, as far as my taste is concerned, the book wasn’t going to get any better.
Have you read Mexican Gothic? If you liked it, I’d love to hear from you about why!
