Synopsis:
An eerie, hypnotic literary debut about friendship, desire, and memory set against the sultry backdrop of Florida’s swamplands. It’s been years since Ingrid has heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, a fearless rebel who fled their hometown of Hialeah, a Cuban neighborhood just west of Miami, for college in the Northeast. But when Mayra calls out of the blue to invite Ingrid to a weekend getaway at a house in the Everglades, she impulsively accepts.
From the moment Ingrid sets out for the house, danger looms: The directions are difficult, she’s out of reach of cell service, and as she drives deeper into the Everglades, the wet maw of the swamp threatens to swallow her whole. But once Ingrid arrives, Mayra is, in many ways, just as she remembers—with her sharp tongue and effortless, seductive beauty, still thumbing her nose at the world.
Before they can fully settle into the familiar intimacy of each other’s company, their reunion is spoiled by the reemergence of past disagreements and the unexpected presence of Mayra’s new boyfriend, Benji. The trio spend their hours eating lavish meals and exploring the labyrinthine house, which holds as much mystery and danger as the swamp itself. Indoors and on the grounds, time itself seems to expand, and Ingrid begins to lose a sense of the outside world, and herself.
Against this disquieting setting, where lizards dart in and out of porches and alligators peek up from dark waters, Gonzalez weaves a surreal, unforgettable story about the dizzying power of early friendship and the lengths we’ll go to earn love and acceptance—even at the risk of losing ourselves entirely.
My Edition:
E-ARC provided by Net Galley
My Thoughts:
If you want Florida Gothic, Mayra delivers. If you want a story about all the weirdness of early-life friendships, particularly when they are either maintained or rekindled later in life, Mayra delivers that as well. If you want a story about a weird, creepy house in the middle of the swamp, Mayra has got you there too. This book has a little bit of almost everything.
Ingrid is invited by her childhood friend/obsession Mayra to visit her at a home deep in the Florida Everglades. Mayra, who she at one point describes as “kind of a wild animal.” The many flashbacks to Ingrid and Mayra’s pre-teen and teen years seem to indicate that Mayra may not be the only one with Big Feral Energy – Ingrid is a little strange herself. Like a lot of very close female friendships that develop during that time of life, they’re maybe a little bit obsessed with each other – although frankly, I suspect that Ingrid is a bit obsessed with Mayra, and Mayra is also maybe a little obsessed with Mayra. But she also might be just a little bit sad and insecure. It’s so tough to tell with kids.
So, anyway – she decides to go. Only, when she gets there, it’s super weird. First of all, it’s not a vacation home like Mayra made it seem. It belongs to Mayra’s boyfriend Benji. Who is also there. And he’s like a golden retriever had a baby with a robot or something. He reminds me of Chad Radwell – that’s actually who I pictured as Benji if I’m being honest.
Anyway, Benji is weird. And the house is weird. And both Mayra and Ingrid are kind of weird. It’s a real Weird Fest. And the atmosphere is both well developed and, you guessed it – weird. Florida is an odd place (I say this as a former long-term resident). So all this weirdness really feels like a fit to me. And things get progressively weirder. The final culmination of all this weird was not at all what I suspected, and I absolutely loved it. It felt appropriately…weird (I’M SORRY I LEGIT CAN’T THINK OF A BETTER DESCRIPTOR RIGHT NOW. IT’S EARLY).
Rating:
Come for the creepy vibes, stay for the truly interesting deep dive into the strange obsessiveness of juvenile female friendship.
Mayra
By: Nicky Gonzalez
Random House
Published: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780593731550
Hardcover, E-book, Audio
240 Pages
