Alice Archer
4/5 - enjoyed this more the 2nd time round! First half of this book is definitely pure gold, absolutely fantastic, leaves you on the each of your seat. It is everything you want from a mystery thiller.
Second half doesn't quite meet the mark of the first half but doesn't take away from the overall story. First time round my main issue was with Claire and a lot of decisions she made in the second half. But this time, I didn't find her nearly as annoying but at certian points I did still want to shake her by the shoulders.
Still just as heart breaking during the second read as it was in the first!
Original Review:
3.5/5 - I am so conflicted with this book! For the most part this is a really fast paced thriller/mystery novel that pacts quite a punch with its very disturbing subject matters. Considering the length of the novel the pace at which the majority of it seemed to go really made for a more gripping story which I really enjoyed.
However, in certain parts I found it slowed up, where there seemed to be endless inner dialogue with one of the main characters which I found a bit long winded. Furthermore, I found Claire and some of decisions she made slightly frustrating and irritating.
But would all this stop me from recommending this book? No, I enjoyed around 70% and the mystery overall had me hooked throughout the majority. Although this book is very dark and deals with some pretty disturbing content, so do assume all the trigger warnings!
5/5 - Not what I was expecting at all! Considering how short this book is, it packs a pretty deep punch. Very good physiological and body horror! If you are into fully fleshed out character development then you might not enjoy it as much, but definitely worth checking out as it throws you off guard. Made me feel uncomfortable from start to finish, not for the faint hearted!
Mexican Gothic definitely met my high expectations! Noemí was a fantastic strong and fiercely independent female character which carries the novel really well. Also, refreshing to see a horror novel set in Mexico, makes a change from the “normal” British Isle and USA horror settings. High Place made for the perfect eerily creepy gothic back drop the novel. However, it was perhaps a little slow in some parts, but mostly I found it rather fast paced especially towards the end. But over all a stimulating read!Will I reread it at some point the future? Definitely!
I am spilt down the middle about this book. I found the first half of the storyline completely fascinating, however towards the end of the second half and the actual end its self was rather disappointing as I found it quite predictable. As a result I felt the ending lacked compared to the actual set up. I don't know whether the ending was so disappointing to me becuase I had heard so much hype about how excellent the WHOLE thing was and raised my expectations very high. Then when I got to read the book it overall didn't live up to my high expectations and in my opinion I can never enjoy things that are too predictable. Although in saying that characters in this book never bored me and really made the whole experience of reading this book slighty more enjoyable.
I should start by saying I do not normally read chick lit, at all! However this one was brought to my attention by a family member raving about it one evening, explaining how gut clenchingly sad it was. She was right. I mostly used to reading mystery novels so was pleasantly surprised to find the whole story of this book was rather beautiful and usual, I really enjoyed reading this book! However, do not go into this reading this book expecting a typical love story where everything is plain sailing, this book tackels some controversial issues which can be found to be rather upsetting. Make sure you have a box tissues on hand. However I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend this to anyone just looking for something a little bit different to read.
