There’s nothing wrong with Aurora.
A successful art lawyer, she has returned to Mexico to celebrate a recent campaign for the repatriation of stolen artifacts—in particular a mysterious statue of an Aztec god, The Flayed One.
But Mexico City isn’t as she remembered. Nothing is. Elements of her past hint at darkness and power, and reality begins to crack and warp the streets.
There’s nothing wrong with Aurora.
As Aurora’s sanity unravels, she must pry apart her family’s secrets and accept the simplest of truths: The Flayed One cannot stay buried.
Although I read it much later than I had planned to, I was a big fan of Leopoldo Goût’s PIÑATA. I was so excited to dive into ROOTED, his follow-up from Nightfire, and it was spectacular! I don’t think the two books are necessarily connected (if they are, I missed it), but they definitely feel like they could be. The stories are quite different, but there’s certainly some overlap in terms of location, the inclusion of ancient artifacts, Mexican/Aztec mythology, and the way both stories show how the past refuses to stay buried.
Our main character is Aurora, a Mexican woman who has spent most of her life in the States. Aurora is a lawyer who is working towards the repatriation of Mexican/Aztec artifacts from European museums back to Mexico City, where they belong.
To help oversee the latest batch of artifacts being returned, Aurora decides to return home to Mexico City for a bit, and stay with her mother, Maria.
Aurora takes a medication to stave off the nightmares she’s been plagued with her whole life. Nightmares that seem determined to creep back in the longer she is back in Mexico. But are they nightmares or visions? Or something else?
Things in Mexico City are different from how Aurora remembers from her childhood. There’s an element of eco horror here, with the drought leading to serious structural concerns throughout the city. And looming in the background of all this is the presence of the god of life, death, and rebirth, Xipe Totec. Also known as Our Lord the Flayed One.
Goût is so methodical in this book with what’s revealed to the reader. The longer Aurora stays with Maria, the more we see the cracks in their relationship. There’s a lot of complex family dynamics between Aurora and her mother and her grandmother. A lot of secrets and things left unsaid. And so while there’s a lot of love and tenderness between Aurora & Maria, there’s quite a bit of tension too.
ROOTED has that great quality in a horror novel where things can feel quiet, and a little safe. And then something completely fucked up will happen and you just need to close the book and walk away for a moment. Goût will have you really wanting to look away from the page, but helpless and desperate to know what happens next.
This is a horror novel that puts a ton of emphasis on family and identity. Sacrifice is a huge theme in ROOTED. It’s a heartfelt & gut-wrenching look at the lengths family will go to protect their own.
I’m such a fan of Leopoldo Goût after his last two novels. His ability to transport the reader to Mexico City (a place I’ve never been) is uncanny…his descriptions are so vivid & tactile. His use of Mexican/Aztec mythology feels totally seamless with his stories, and he has a complete grasp on what truly scares us. I felt completely wrapped up in Aurora’s story, as things begin to spiral endlessly out of control for her. What a ride this was!
Huge thanks to Nightfire for sending this one along, this was outstanding!
