Hello again, my friends. Thanks for coming back! This week I am continuing my reviews of the top rated books of 2020. This will also be the last book I’m doing from the 2020 lists before I start doing some new 2021 releases. On that note, this weeks review is of Goodreads’ top horror book of 2020, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. And, along with it, I am making a perfect wintertime drink—a Mexicano.
Mexicano Recipe
1oz Tequila
0.5oz Grand Marnier
~5oz Mushroom Coffee*
Whipped Cream
1 pinch Nutmeg and Cinnamon
*Mushroom coffee is an optional ingredient.
In an Irish coffee glass, add tequila and Grand Marnier. Next, add the mushroom coffee until the liquid is a little bit away from the edge of the glass. Then, finish it off with some whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg and cinnamon.
My special ingredient this week is mushrooms or, more specifically, mushroom coffee. Regular coffee is necessary for a Mexicano, but once deciding mushrooms were the perfect ingredient for my drink I knew I wanted to use mushroom coffee. Mushrooms are an extremely predominant motif throughout the novel, so it was instantly clear what my special ingredient would be. Also, a little fun fact for everyone is that mushroom coffee actually helps boost the immune system and reduce inflammation. It also contains less caffeine than regular coffee making it better for anxiety-ridden people like myself.
So, honest opinion, this was neither mine nor Tom’s favourite drink. The tequila and the coffee was not the best flavour combination. The coffee made the tequila taste so much stronger that it was hard to drink. However, we both preferred the mushroom coffee over the regular coffee. The mushroom coffee had a weaker taste so the flavours didn’t seem as off-putting as with the regular coffee. So, sorry this isn’t my best drink recipe I’ve ever done. I would’ve changed it to something else, but I was already committed! Next week’s will be better, I promise.
Mexican Gothic Synopsis
(from book flap)
After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside, unsure what she will find.
Noemí is an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, more suited to cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough, smart, and not afraid: not of her cousin’s new English husband, a stranger who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Noemí’s only ally in this inhospitable place is the family’s youngest son. But he too may be hiding something dark. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place, as Noemí discovers when she begins to unearth stories of violence and madness.
Mesmerized by this terrifying yet seductive world, Noemí may soon find it impossible to save her cousin—or even escape this enigmatic house.
Review
“Et Verbum caro factum est…”
I feel like I say this every time, but this was another difficult review. It’s hard to write about books that sit right in the middle for me, and Mexican Gothic does just that. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. It was just all right. And truly there was nothing that jumped out as great or terrible about it, which is what makes it hard to write about. But, on that note, I’ll get into it.
I found the writing really interesting in this novel. As soon as I started reading, I was getting old-school vibes. It was direct, succinct, and dialogue-focused, which reminded me of Agatha Christie a little. There was also something else about it (I’ve yet to put my finger on exactly what) that felt like it could’ve been written in the 1940s. (Please let me know if you read it or have read it and know what this something else is!) This is so interesting to me because the book is set in the early 1950s, so perhaps it was written in this way purposefully to immerse the reader in the story. Or, possible Moreno-Garcia is just an old soul when it comes to writing.
In regard to the dialogue-focused writing, I didn’t actually love the dialogue. Specifically, the dialogue at the beginning of the novel where it felt a bit stilted and awkward. After that, I either adjusted to it or it just generally got better. Beyond the dialogue, the whole beginning of the novel was not my favourite. The introduction to Noemí and her conversation with her father didn’t excite me or get me interested in the story at all. It wasn’t until Noemí got to High Place that I started getting into it, and even then it took a few chapters for me to care.
Honestly, I am not a huge horror novel reader, so I struggled in analyzing this novel fully. I tried to base my thoughts on the horror movies I’ve seen and the one horror novel I’ve read, The Shining. And, I found that this novel definitely had classic horror elements that fans of the genre could love. For instance, Mexican Gothic was creepy and definitely disturbing, which is a pretty good sign for a horror novel. But, I won’t be having to hide it in the freezer due to fear anytime soon.
Furthermore, if it were made into a movie I would definitely not be going to see it. And that’s not because I think the book was bad, but it contained some truly disturbing imagery; for example, walls made of moving skin and humans made of pustules, and I won’t even get into the mushroom stuff. I truly may never eat mushrooms again… and don’t come at me with how I just put them in the cocktail. They were, unfortunately, the perfect ingredient! Moving past the mushrooms, I may have been more affected by this book than others because of my extreme aversion to and fear of skin. Since childhood, I’ve had recurring nightmares of disturbing things happening to skin. So, the gross skin aspects were not my ideal reading material. But, if you’re OK with that kind of stuff and like horror then this book is right up your alley.
So, overall, Mexican Gothic was pretty good, but nothing special. It was a quick and easy read with an interesting enough plot to keep you going (but it is a bit slow moving at the beginning). And, while I wouldn’t say it’s one of my favourite books I’ve reviewed, it wasn’t necessarily bad—just not for me. Maybe I’ll lend this one to my mom (she loves horror) and update this with her thoughts about how it works in the genre later! If you like gory, disturbing, horror novels I think you’ll probably like this book. But, if you have a problem with skin like me, I would advise caution going into this one. I also advise caution trying out the cocktail… I promise next week I’ll have a drink I really like! Stay tuned.
My Rating:
Thanks for reading! And, if you read the book or try the cocktail let me know in a comment, on Instagram, or in person (if you know me). Also, if you haven’t yet read my previous reviews, I recommend reading The Black Shadows and The Red Devil and the Dark Water if you liked this one!
Teghann
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