Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A perfect late autumn read: atmospheric with a twist

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

by Leave a Comment

I realized, when it came time to do my best-of lists, that I hadn’t actually written reviews for two of my favourite books this year. Mexican Gothic is one of these. I read it a few weeks after Halloween, when everything in Denmark can best be described as ‘grey’ and I was in the perfect mood for Gothic. (Plus, look at that AMAZING and GORGEOUS cover; how can you resist?) Boy, did Silvia Moreno-Garcia deliver. Mexican Gothic is the story of Noemi, a young woman […]

Spoooky

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

by 1 Comment

Counter-intuitively, this Gothic horror novel was an absolute joy to read. My attention span in 2020 is limited at best, but I could not put down Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. Her main character, the impetuous and steel-spited Mexico City socialite Noemí Taboada, is truly alive. The rural Mexican setting is a delight, and the creepiness level is appropriate for those of us less versed in horror. Noemí Taboada is a Mexico City mover and shaker. She lives in the 1940s-50s era, and has expansive ideas […]

I feel like this should be a YA novel, but it’s not

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

by Leave a Comment

Gods of Jade and Shadow is a book where fairy tales and myths collide.  The book begins in a 1920’s version of “Cinderella,” but in Mexico.  Casiopea is a poor cousin of the richest family in their town, and she is given the role of maidservant while her mother is the cook.  Casiopea does as she’s told, but not necessarily as subserviently as her cousin Martín would wish.  One day while the family is away, she gets a chance to open up the forbidden chest […]

Slow build up to a crazy bananapants ending

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

by 5 Comments

Mexican Gothic is the story of Noemí Taboada, a 22 year old socialite in 1950s Mexico City. Noemí’s life is filled with parties, shopping, concerts, and a rotating cast of beaus. Despite having a sharp mind, no one except her father looks past her beautiful face. Noemí’s cousin Catalina married an English man named Virgil Doyle and moved to his family’s estate in the mountains the previous year. Catalina has sent Noemí’s father a disturbing letter claiming her husband is trying to poison her and […]

Fred forgot three things in a row before he reached the front door on his way to work.

Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

by Leave a Comment

Mrs Caliban: 4/5 Stars This is a re-released novel from 1982, so if you’ve seen the cover but didn’t know about it, like me, perhaps you’ll be excused. It has a wonderfully smart and funny tone to the whole thing. We find our protagonist, a married housewife, doing household chores, thinking about the silence of her marriage, when she hears a news report of an escaped water monster terrorizing the town. She goes on, prepares for her day, and after time, the monster finds her […]

I’ll Definitely Be Reading More By This Author

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

by 3 Comments

Bingo Square: Green (or Jade as a variation thereof) The e-book version of this was on sale back in January, and given my love of mythology, it seemed like the perfect time to try a new author and learn more about mythical figures outside the Greek and Roman pantheon. Still, the book sat quite a while before I finally picked it up. I quite enjoyed this novel – the writing style at first felt very matter of fact, in line with our no nonsense heroine, […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo