Mexican Gothic, in short, is about a woman who goes to an old manor to check on her cousin. The cousin recently married a man that the family knows nothing about, and fears that the cousin may be in danger. Is this actually as bad as it sounds? Read ahead to find out. 

The book has a very strong start. This suspense keeps the reader engaged, and that is certainly something that separates it from every other book/film with this exact plot. The main character is likable, but a bit ambiguous in the beginning. It does leave an element that something more is to come, which keeps it as a page-turner.

Noemi, the main protagonist, is sadly the only character that did feel real in the entire book. I liked the descriptions and eeriness of the environment, and it was fitting for the genre. Although, aside from a few mentions about Noemi and her family, nothing is Mexican about the book at all.

At about 65% into the book, everything took a turn. The character development ceased, the descriptions became disjointed, and the writing was just plain awful. It was like a completely different person took over.

I’m sure the writer had everything planned out, but that did not translate well on the pages. It’s like someone trying to describe what air looks like to a toddler in the dark. I was surprised how quickly this happened. It was abrupt, and you had to turn back to the front cover just to make sure you were still reading the same book.

Think of an old episode of Are you Afraid of the Dark?” Not that those were horrible (at the time), but it’s also not what you would expect from a writer who has admitted to being offended by this book being labeled as “Young Adult.” 

To wrap it all up, the book had about as cliché of an ending as you could think of. Consider every Disney movie ever made…that would be the conclusion here. A mess of loose ends and an undermined plot.

I was excited to finally read a horror book that kept my interest, but after the disappointment that transpired, I’m nervous! However, I am about 50% through All the Good Indians. If you want to know my thoughts on it, feel free to like this post! I’m reading it for my current book club. 

Because this book didn’t kill it for me until after halfway through, I’d give it 3/5 Bookmarks.