What makes a Gothic novel to you? Many of them are spooky and atmospheric and often occur in an isolated old house, like the classics of the genre, Rebecca and Jane Eyre. The hero or heroine must fight dark forces – human or otherwise – to save the day.
If you loved Mexican Gothic, here are six more books you’ll want to check out. These modern horror and dark fantasy combine the classic tropes in new ways.
The Hacienda
About the Book
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Genre: Horror
Book Review
Perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic. Chilly, atmospheric and spooky, this book will send shivers down your spine.
Beatriz’s father was executed for his part in the Mexican War of Independence, so Beatriz and her mother are forced to live with relatives who don’t really want them. When handsome, wealthy widower Rodrigo proposes to her after meeting her at a ball, Beatriz sees her chance to finally have a home of her own again. Hacienda San Islo, Rodrigo’s country retreat, is supposed to be her salvation, but it quickly turns into her nightmare.
Spooky things start happening as soon as Beatriz crosses the threshhold, and the intensity only increases after Rodrigo returns to the capital. After Rodrigo’s sister and some of the staff confess to being spooked by the house, Beatriz reaches out to the local priests to bless it. Only Padre Andres seems willing to listen to her. The same secrets that might get Padre Andres executed by the Inquisition mean that he’s the only person who may be able help Beatriz: native magic runs in his veins. Beatriz is a fighter, and she’s not about to let her dreams be taken from her without a fight. As she and Andres grow closer, boundaries get crossed and emotions run high. Beatriz also finds evidence that Rodrigo may not be the man she thinks he is, and that the story of his first wife’s death might be more complicated than she’d like to believe.
Then Rodrigo returns, bringing everything to its tipping point.
Beatriz’s fighting spirit gives you a heroine to root for. Andres’ kindness and care for the villagers makes him the perfect foil to the careless, cruel Rodrigo. This was a book that kept me tearing through its pages, wanting to see if Beatriz would prevail in the end and carve out a place to call home.
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
About the Book
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Book Review
“It doesn’t matter which door you open. Three or ten or thirteen doorways, there are wolves behind them all.”
This book is the story of two girls – one alive in an orphanage and one a ghost, watching her. It’s also a story of all the ways society punished women – for their hopes, their dreams, their loves. Every girl grows up to face a wolf.
The book starts in the period between the world wars. The mystery unspools slowly, both of what happened to the ghost, Pearl, and what’s going to happen to Frankie. The author’s prose is so beautiful and profound that I wanted to quote so many more lines.
This book is both Gothic – hence the ghosts and the orphanage – and sweeping. So many elements went into this, and the author tied it all together into one gorgeous novel. This is one you can read again and again.
I highly recommend this book.
Within These Wicked Walls
About the Book
Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Book Review
I am loving this retelling a classic with a twist trend! This is Jane Eyre, but with an Ethiopian magic system. This left me in a book coma. I’m afraid to start reading anything else, because I just know it won’t be as good.
Andromeda trained as a debtera – someone licensed by the Church to expel evil spirits and manifestations. However, her mentor kicked her out before she could get her license. This makes her the only debtera desperate enough to say yes to the handsome young Mr. Rochester after ten others have quit. Andromeda has her hands full, both with his haunted castle and figuring out her own feelings. She thinks there’s no way she could compete with the beautiful, rich Kelela, but Mr. Rochester’s eyes tell her differently. Danger looms over them all, as the servants keep disappearing, and after each disappearance, the walls drip blood. Andromeda needs to figure out if she has the skills to expel the Evil Eye from someone possessed with it, no matter how much she might want to save the handsome, charming, annoying Mr. Rochester, or Magnus, as he insists she call him.
The magic system was one I hadn’t read before, which made this a fascinating, engrossing read. I loved how the manifestations in the house ranged from fun – snow falling in a room – to dangerous – a Librarian who hurled books at people who displeased her.
I loved these characters! Magnus is both annoying, childish and irresistibly charming, much like the first Mr. Rochester. And Andromeda’s will to survive fights with her instincts to love, making her a fascinating character. I wanted so badly for these two to find a way to be together. I won’t tell you if they do, though. The suspense made this book impossible to put down.
Thank you to Wednesday Books for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Lakesedge
About the Book
Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Book Review
“There are monsters in the world. There are monsters in the woods.”
The first sentence of this book grabs you by the throat, and you’re hooked ever since.
Violetta lives in a world filled with monsters. They haunt the lake, her childhood, and most of all, her brother Arien’s nightmares. Then a young Lord comes, telling them he can help Arien and ordering them to return with him to his nearly-deserted family estate. The only problem is, he might be the biggest monster of them all.
The author uses the chilling atmosphere to great effect to build up the ominous feeling that pervades the book. Violetta learns that not every locked door leads to a secret you want to find, and to protect the ones she loves, she may have to face the greatest terror of them all.
The tight pacing and the bonds between characters draw you deeper and deeper into the world of the story. The ending will leave you wondering for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Catherine House
About the Book
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Genre: Gothic Fantasy, Science Fiction
Book Review
Ines is running from her past. Behind the gates of Catherine House, she can hide and remake herself.
To go to Catherine House, you have to give it three years. No TV, no phones, no contact with the world behind the gates. In exchange, Catherine graduates have the world at their feet. Even if no one is quite sure exactly what happens behind Catherine’s gates.
I wanted to live in Catherine House. A creepy, gothic, isolated school where you can constantly wander the halls and get lost? And served delicious gourmet meals every night? Yes, please! That’s my dream come true. If this place existed, I would have wanted to go.
Catherine is experimenting with something called plasm. Ines doesn’t fully understand it, but slowly begins to suspect that the students are part of the experiment in some way.
The one thing I didn’t like is the ambiguous ending. I hate endings where you can interpret it two ways! If this book had a few more pages, it would have been perfect.
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
About the Book
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
Genre: Magical Realism
Book Review
Magical realism at its finest. I’m a huge Allende fan, so seeing this book compared to her work made me want to read it. This had all of her best features: lush, intoxicating prose and a gripping multigenerational saga of the ties that bind a family together.
The Montoya family’s lives are built on a bed of secrets. No one knows why their house appeared out of nowhere one day, built in a valley that changed from desolate to green. Or why Orquídea, the matriarch, never left the home and its protection symbols.
When she summons her children and grandchildren, descendants of her many marriages, to come claim their inheritance, she leaves them with more questions than answers, as well as a little bit of magic.
Marimar, one of the granddaughters, is determined to solve the mystery, especially as it becomes apparent that something – or someone – is after the descendants.
This book is a beautifully woven tapestry, spanning the life of one remarkable but flawed woman.
Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy of this book.
Need more to read? Find all of my book lists here.
As a Books a Million affiliate, I may earn commission from qualifying purchases made after clicking links in this post. All opinions are my own.
