Review: “Mexican Gothic”

I’ve gotten a few recommendations for this one, so I decided to give the audiobook a shot and listen while sewing facemasks. I was too distracted to get many masks made.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Mexican Gothic” centers on Noemí Toboada’s journey to High Place – a faraway estate in the Mexican countryside – to visit her ailing cousin. Noemí is a socialite from a wealthy, well-connected family, and her father sends her to High Place after receiving a disturbing letter from her cousin Catalina … whom she hasn’t seen since Catalina married a charming but mysterious Englishman named Virgil Doyle.

From the first step Noemí takes into High Place, everything seems off and creepy. The house staff members are barely more than drones, and the Doyle clan is incredibly controlling and dark. This includes old, ill patriarch Howard, who has some very outdated (read: disgusting) views on race and ethnicity. Noemí also is tormented by strange, intrusive nightmares during her stay at High Place. Her foul mood is only exacerbated by her infrequent and heavily monitored visits with Catalina, who seems to be slowly descending into madness.

And that’s really all I can say without giving too much away. If you enjoy Lovecraftian horror (but, you know, in a way that doesn’t glorify racism and misogyny), you should give this a read.

“Mexican Gothic” is slow to start, but the multidimensional characters carry you through to the meat of the story. If you do decide to check out this story, I highly recommend the audiobook. Frankie Corzo does a phenomenal job narrating this ultra-weird story and gives each character a very distinct voice. Her ability to switch between accented dialogue is impressive and reason enough to give it a listen.

So if you’re looking for a beautifully written, super weird distraction of a horror story, “Mexican Gothic” is for you.

4 stars

Review: “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse”

Have you ever asked yourself why more fairytales don’t take place in space … in the future?! It is a conundrum that has haunted me for AGES! But! K.Eason is here to answer our prayers. OK … maybe just my prayers.

The Rory Thorne of “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse” is the princess of the Thorne Consortium, a sort of space kingdom that observes many traditional Earthly customs … including the inviting of fairies to royal christenings. This, dear reader, is when all hell breaks loose.

Rory is “blessed” by her 13 fairy godmothers and granted gifts that some find … off-putting. But this is overshadowed by an assassination plot that kills Rory’s father and the ruler of a neighboring kingdom. This kicks off a series of events in which our princess must save herself from unwanted betrothals, plots for power grabs and an evil regent hell-bent on breaking Rory. And Rory very likely will destroy galactic peace by upsetting this particular apple cart. You know, normal teenage princess stuff.

The sassy, definitely biased, narrator hooked me in the first few pages of this book, which is written as a historical archive. But you can definitely tell who the unnamed historian is rooting for.

The thing that really propelled this story for me was the masterful blend of magic, fantasy, fairytales and sci-fi. Seriously, this book is all of my fav genres wrapped up in a whipsmart story.

Obviously, I wasn’t super into the romantic plot seeds planted between Rory and Jaed, who just happens to be the evil regent’s youngest son. Can’t a girl save her home and family and wreck the universe without having to find a boyfriend? I understand the purpose of this plot point, but I’m not convinced the story would suffer without it.

I also felt as though some of the characters were a bit underdeveloped. But since this is the first book in a series (WOOOOHOOOO!), I think that might be addressed in the sequel: “How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge.”

I definitely recommend diving into “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse,” especially if you (like me) love a story in which the princess saves herself.

5 stars

Review: “The Guest List”

Clearly, I need to get invited to more English/Irish weddings because that shit is WILD!

In fact, the wildness was one of the things that stuck out to me about Lucy Foley’s writing. I loved the primal language she used to describe the dudes in this book, especially when they get together and talk about their boarding school days. It’s raw and animalistic and definitely adds to the danger and suspense.

Foley’s story takes us to a remote Irish island for the exclusive wedding of an influential blogger and a reality show star. This would not be the kind of story that typically draws me in. Add a layer of homicide, however, and I’m sold.

Also, y’all know I love a story told from multiple perspectives … if it’s done well. Foley nailed it. Her story is told from several of the characters’ perspectives. Each character narrative has a distinct voice and personality, which made it easy to track whose perspective I was following while keeping on my toes.

There were a few things I wasn’t super hyped about, though. Things felt a little too neatly connected, in a way that made the reveals toward the end a bit predictable. Don’t get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I even had a few “Oooooh, GIRL!” moments. But the way certain plot points tied together just seemed a little too convenient.

Overall, I recommend “The Guest List.” The writing is clean and clever. The story is wicked compelling. You can easily devour this in a single sitting.

4 stars