Noemà Taboada is the toast of Mexico City. The beautiful, charming daughter of a wealthy businessman, she’s in demand at every social event. Her parenNoemà Taboada is the toast of Mexico City. The beautiful, charming daughter of a wealthy businessman, she’s in demand at every social event. Her parents want her to settle down with a nice young man but she wants to continue her university studies.
Her father calls her home early from a costume party one night and asks her to leave as soon as possible to visit her orphaned cousin, Catalina, whom the family adopted after she lost her parents. Catalina has recently married a relative stranger but Mr. Taboada received a disturbing letter from her that signifies all is not well at her new home. He’s reached out to Catalina’s husband but hasn’t received satisfying responses. He wants Noemà to visit Catalina, assess the situation, and bring her home if necessary.
Full disclosure: I requested Mexican Gothic from the library back in September or October, which is practically the only time of year that I seek out horror and/or Gothic reads. When my turn finally came up in November, I wasn’t necessarily in the mood for this kind of book but I decided to read it anyway and see what all the fuss is about. Had I been in a Gothic mood, I would have enjoyed this more.
I liked NoemÃ. The bored society girl can be a turnoff for me but Noemà is intelligent and would honestly rather be in classes than at parties. She’s also not selfish and genuinely cares about Catalina as if she were her own sister. When she interacts with people who aren’t in her own social class, she generally treats them with respect rather than as a demanding rich girl. Catalina’s father-in-law is a racist man of English descent who is very obviously interested in eugenics and makes demeaning statements about NoemÃ’s skin tone and background. She argues about his stances with him and holds her own rather than just meekly submitting to her elders. She keeps pushing for answers even as everyone at this awful house tries to shut her down.
There is a strong Gothic vibe at High Place, the house Catalina now lives in. Florence, Catalina’s sister-in-law/housekeeper, gives off strong malevolent Mrs. Danvers vibes. The three servants never speak. The house is falling apart and covered in mold but it obviously used to be beautiful. A faulty generator is the only source of electricity so mostly everyone wanders around with candles and lamps. No one speaks at meals.
The book builds slowly. Everyone is eccentric but the situation seems straightforward enough when the family doctor explains that Catalina has tuberculosis. As Noemà remains at the house and speaks more with Francis, the only member of the household who will take her seriously, she starts to have more questions. A tuberculosis diagnosis doesn’t explain Catalina’s erratic behavior, nor does it explain NoemÃ’s growing unease. More odd incidents occur and Noemà starts to have incredibly vivid and disturbing dreams. These dreams (are they dreams?) might be a trigger for some readers. The pace starts to quicken until at the end I was quickly flipping pages to see exactly how this situation was going to resolve itself.
Speaking of resolutions, this one was…odd, in the way that I find Lovecraft’s stories odd. I rolled with it though. While the book is complete in and of itself, I also see room for a sequel. Given the commercial success of Mexican Gothic, I think we can expect one.
Readers who enjoy atmospheric Gothic reads should enjoy this book. It does have some horror elements but they generally weren’t terribly graphic....more
Annie Hebley is a good Irish girl who accepts a job working as a stewardess in the first-class rooms aboard the Titanic. When passengers begin boardinAnnie Hebley is a good Irish girl who accepts a job working as a stewardess in the first-class rooms aboard the Titanic. When passengers begin boarding the ship in Southampton, she’s oddly drawn to the Fletcher family–Mark, Caroline, and baby Ondine. Strange things begin happening aboard ship and passengers begin to spread rumors of thieves stealing jewelry from state rooms as well as rumors of a spirit haunting the brand-new vessel.
Four years later, Annie leaves the mental institution where she’s been living ever since the sinking. She’s not exactly a patient and not exactly staff. She’s essentially a boarder. Her friend Violet, who also survived the Titanic, has written and begged her to come work as a World War I nurse aboard the Titanic’s sister ship, the Brittanic. The doctor at the asylum urges Annie to go live a normal life so she does. But memories start racing back to her as soon as she boards the Brittanic. What exactly happened all those years ago aboard the Titanic?
I liked this well enough. The juxtaposition of the Titanic and the paranormal elements was done well. I was never entirely sure what was going on, although I did have all the pieces pretty early in the story. It is refreshing when I can’t quite put everything together.
My biggest quibble is that the story could have been tightened up a lot. There are so many characters! Annie is the main character but there are also chapters written from the points of view of Madeleine Astor, Madeleine’s servant boy, Mark Fletcher, Caroline Fletcher, W. T. Stead, Lady Duff-Gordon, and Dai Bowen on the Titanic and Charlie Epping aboard the Brittanic. There may have been more. I do see how most of these contributed to the larger work, but I honestly don’t know what Madeleine, Dai, Lady Duff-Gordon, and Charlie added. They each had their own tiny story that didn’t contribute much of value to the main plot. It made the book feel a bit rambling to me.
I quickly realized that Annie is an unreliable narrator. I’m not quite sure how I feel about those. Done well, they lead to some huge, surprising plot twists. Otherwise, I think they irritate me. Annie was a bit more of the latter. She came across as one of those girls who falls in love with every male she meets. There are reasons, I’ll grant her that. But those girls have always annoyed me, whether in fiction or in real life. Other readers will tolerate that kind of thing better than I do.
The ending? It came across as bizarre and overly melodramatic. Annie’s unreliability did make it a bit surprising. I don’t want to say more. I can’t think of a better way to meld this story with actual history though.
Jane Collingwood did an excellent job with the narration; I’ll seek out other books she reads. She had a wide gamut of accents to tackle–from Irish to English and American to Welsh with first- and third-class variants as well–and she handled them admirably.
If you’re looking for a spooky, atmospheric read, I do recommend this despite some problems I personally had with the book. Readers who enjoy all things Titanic should especially like it....more
Dr. Spencer Black was a brilliant doctor whose career was derailed by an obsession with mythological creatures. He believed that anatomical deformitieDr. Spencer Black was a brilliant doctor whose career was derailed by an obsession with mythological creatures. He believed that anatomical deformities were not so much mutations as throwbacks to earlier days in the evolutionary timeline. He believed he could prove this by recreating creatures from fable and myth. If he could make them viable, they must have existed, right? He left behind a body of work that is incredible for its detail of beings that have only been seen in imagination--for centuries anyway, if Dr. Black's theory is correct.
I want to give this 5 stars, I really do. I gravitate more toward words than pictures though and the story in this book was not quite as strong as the art. I feel like I fumbled through my synopsis but that's because I was never entirely clear what Dr. Black was supposed to be trying to do with his work. It was a bit awkward and flimsy but I was mostly able to let it go because I knew there had to be a payoff in the illustrations.
There were some genuinely creepy moments though. The part where Dr. Black's wife and brother find out what he's up to left me worried that I wouldn't be sleeping that night. It was that disturbing. It had a Frankenstein feel to it without Victor Frankenstein's histrionics and hysterics so I really liked that aspect as well.
The last--oh, let's call it 2/3--of the book were gorgeous anatomical illustrations of mythical creatures. I tried hard to take my time through them and look at them closely and fully appreciate them. I can sometimes tear way too fast through pictures in a book.
These were genuine works of art. I was amazed at the amount of detail that went into them. I was left wondering if the author was a science illustrator as well. My favorite drawings were of the mermaids. They were just gorgeous. He has put a lot of thought into how these beings would actually work. The minotaur has a tremendous support system holding that big bull head up. The mermaids have dorsal fins to help them stay oriented correctly in the water. I could go on, but I won't.
There's a part of me that wishes the illustrations were in color. Not necessarily the anatomical drawings, but definitely the full rendering. They're amazing either way though.
I also loved the scientific names he came up with. From the fairly obvious Sirenus oceanus for mermaids to the more subtle but pleasing Pegasus gorgonus, I loved all of the ones that I understood....
I just googled all of the ones that I didn't immediately understand and they are all perfect. It's a small, nerdy thing but it appeals to me.
Lovers of mythology and fantastical creatures should adore this book. I intend to put it out in October as my spooky coffee table book. I'll probably reference it when I come across these beings in my other reading as well. It is definitely a book to be dipped into again and again.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for review!...more
FermÃn Romero de Torres is finally getting married. He's got one problem though--he's living under an assumed name. He has absolutely no proof that heFermÃn Romero de Torres is finally getting married. He's got one problem though--he's living under an assumed name. He has absolutely no proof that he legally exists. How is he supposed to get married without all the paperwork to prove that he is whom he says he is? As he explains this to Daniel Sempere, his history is finally explained in more detail, as well as his tie to David MartÃn, hero of The Angel's Game.
Eh. It was better than The Angel's Game but still a long way from The Shadow of the Wind. I love FermÃn, so I enjoyed delving into his story, painful as that was. But the plot felt like filler between books. It feels like there has to be a fourth book in this loose series and The Prisoner of Heaven is just a placeholder. There were some revelations that clarified a few points and set up some definite conflict for future books, but there wasn't enough going on to justify an entire book. At least it was short.
I also missed Ruiz Zafón's gorgeous writing. It didn't even feel like the same author/translator team, although it was. It was just a story, pure and simple. I didn't feel any desire to mark any passages at all. I don't know who fell down on the job here, but it just wasn't up to the standard I've set for this pair.
I'll give The Cemetery of Forgotten Books one more try, but I'm starting to wonder if The Shadow of the Wind was just a fluke. I sincerely hope not. ...more
JG (Introverted Reader)
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