I don't know what happened but I just don't care about the characters. None of them. Not the main character, nor the cousin, nor the disgusting males nor the horror elements. The atmosphere is very Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe; yes it's creepy and it's mysterious but I just don't find myself caring enough about what happens to the characters. Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it right now, maybe it's the writing style, maybe it feels too similar to other stuff I've read... It's just...boring? It's probably an unpopular opinion but it's exactly how I feel about it right now. I'd love to hear your takes on the book, maybe they will reignite my interest in it!

The whole fungus🍄 imagery and the strange, isolated, creepy family instantly reminded me of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe!

The atmosphere feels similar to What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (which is also a retelling of the Fall of the House of Usher!) I loved both of these pieces of literature so I do enjoy the similar looming, festering atmosphere in this one, too.

📜Typical 18th century Gothic lit stock conventions are present:

⬛the haunted house (well, sick house) ⬛the suggestion of something supernatural ⬛the gothic villain in the form of a tyrannical father or master ⬛the persecuted woman who’s trapped and losing her grip on what’s real I feel like we're about to see the subversion of these stock conventions later in the novel (or I hope we will lol)

🙆‍♂️Men & power

Almost all the male figures so far are either repulsive, pathetic, or kinda...both. They’re victims of their own systems of control. That fits beautifully with Gothic tradition, where masculinity often collapses under the weight of its own authority.

🗺️Colonialism

The book is called Mexican Gothic, but so far it's not just a gothic story set in Mexico. The house itself feels like a relic of empire. The creepy English family, a living reminder of the rot left behind by colonialism.