Book · 2020
Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A socialite travels to a decaying Mexican estate to check on her cousin and finds a house that will not let anyone leave.
What does Reddit think of Mexican Gothic?
Mexican Gothic peaked early — 88 mentions in 2020, the year it came out, cratering to 22 by 2024 before a small 2025 bump to 27 — and the disappointment thread runs right alongside the hype. r/suggestmeabook carries 200 of the book's 312 mentions, and its top comments are unusually blunt: 'the way people raved and gushed about it I was so excited... it was soooo underwhelming' (↑107), and a separate reader names it their most recent DNF (↑105). The specific complaint is a mismatch between expectation and delivery — readers wanted 'a melding of magical realism and Gothic literature' and say they didn't get it (↑70). It still gets bundled reflexively into gothic-horror recommendation lists next to Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel, and r/printSF cites its genre-award horror-novel win separately from the fan discussion (↑38). The throughline: word of mouth oversold it, and the backlash is baked into the data, not incidental.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · gothic horror haunted-house atmosphere
- · hype-versus-delivery backlash
- · magical realism expectations left unmet
- · colonial-era Mexico as horror setting
Common praise
- + It still gets bundled automatically into gothic-recommendation lists next to Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel.
- + r/printSF cites its genre-award horror-novel win as a credential separate from the fan discussion (↑38).
- + Readers looking for fiction about women across cultures reach for it specifically, not as filler (↑61).
Common criticism
- − One reader states flatly it was their most recent DNF, no elaboration needed (↑105).
- − Another says the hype set them up to expect a melding of magical realism and Gothic literature, and it 'wasn't nearly close' (↑70).
- − The ↑107 comment describes it as 'soooooooo slow,' undercutting the exact raving it says convinced them to pick it up.
Who it's for
Temper the hype before you start — the ↑107 and ↑105 comments both describe letdown, one calling it an outright DNF. If gothic atmosphere over magical realism is what you're after, you're closer to what's actually on the page than readers expecting the reverse (↑70). Fans of Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel get pointed here reflexively, and that comparison holds up better than the 'groundbreaking horror' framing does.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Mexican Gothic?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“Dark Places by Gillian Flynn The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evel…
“Mexican Gothic. I wanted to love it but it was soooooooo slow. The way people raved and gushed about it I was so excited. It was soooo underwhelming.
“I give up on SO many books. I just can’t read one if I’m not feeling it. Most recent was Mexican Gothic.
“Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia Don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly expected a bit more of a melding of magical realism and Gothic literature. Wasn't nearly close to what i had hoped or expected.
“Oh, I've got a good one for you if you want to be creeped right out. The topic is "Mushrooms": Non-Fiction: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake Fiction: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
“Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno Garcia The Silence of the Girls- Pat Barker A Woman is No Man- Etaf Rum The Island of Sea Women- Lisa See I think I like books about women in different cultures and time periods:)
“If you want some more classic gothic feeling books: Obviously her other books. {{Rebecca}} and {{my cousin Rachel}}. {{the women in black}}. Newer horror: {{nothing but blackened teeth}}. {{a head full of ghosts}}. {{Mexican gothic}}. {{Houdini heart}}
“SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL - Network Effect, Martha Wells FANTASY NOVEL - The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin HORROR NOVEL - Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia YOUNG ADULT NOVEL - A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher FIRST NOVEL - Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger NOVELLA - Ring Shout…
Convinced? Pick up Mexican Gothic
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Mexican Gothic — counted from the comments, not curated.
The Poppy War
R. F. Kuang
A war orphan tests into an elite military academy, awakens the power of a fire god, and becomes the architect of the genocide the history books warned about.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
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Two rival English magicians revive magic itself, and neither can predict what the fairy they bargained with actually wants.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
A man alone in an endless house of statues and tides slowly realizes he isn't who the House says he is.
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin
A woman searches a dying continent for the daughter her husband stole, while the world ends again on schedule.
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
R. F. Kuang
An Oxford translation student discovers the empire's magic runs on stolen language, and the fallout got the book pulled into a Hugo Awards scandal.
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
A pandemic collapses civilization and a traveling troupe keeps performing Shakespeare in the wreckage twenty years later.
Mexican Gothic — frequently asked
Is Mexican Gothic overhyped?+
The Reddit data suggests yes, at least relative to expectations. Mentions peaked at 88 in 2020 and dropped to 22 by 2024. One reader (↑107) says the raving and gushing got them excited, then found it 'soooooooo slow' and underwhelming; another (↑105) names it their most recent DNF.
What does r/suggestmeabook actually think of Mexican Gothic?+
Split, leaning disappointed at the top of the thread. r/suggestmeabook drives 200 of its 312 mentions, and its most-upvoted comments describe letdown rather than praise — 'wasn't nearly close' to the expected blend of magical realism and Gothic literature (↑70). It still shows up constantly in gothic-recommendation list threads, just with less enthusiasm than the initial wave.
Is Mexican Gothic more magical realism or straight horror?+
Straight horror, and that's part of the complaint — one reader expected 'a melding of magical realism and Gothic literature' and says the book didn't deliver it (↑70). r/printSF separately classifies it as a horror-novel award winner (↑38), which lines up with the horror reading over the magical-realism one.
Should I read Mexican Gothic in 2026 given the hype has faded?+
Mentions are down to 27 in 2025 from a 2020 peak of 88, so the cultural moment has passed. That's arguably the right time to read it — go in without the 'raved and gushed about' expectations that the ↑107 comment says set them up for disappointment.