Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Hacienda

I've seen this book compared to Mexican Gothic, which is fair: they both feature young brides who find themselves in a haunted house with hostile in-laws, both feature partially indigenous women as main characters and deal with issues of racism, both are set in the early 20th century, both include dreams and hallucinations, both heroines are helped by an unlikely love interest, both books are by female authors with Mexican heritage living in English-speaking countries. The Hacienda, however, feels much more traditionally "horror," whereas the haunting in Mexican Gothic is almost pseudoscientific. The stakes feel higher in this book and I'd generally say that it's scarier. I found the resolution to the conflict a bit anticlimactic, though the overall ending of the book was very satisfactory, from a character perspective. Cañas does a great job interspersing the flashbacks and alternating viewpoints in a way that creates tension and keeps the story moving.

Content Warnings

gi_reads30's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The Hacienda was not the book I was expecting to read this month, and at 40%, despite loving the writing style and the narrators, I was really not feeling it. BUT oh things changed over that 60%.

This book follows Beatriz. After her father is executed and her home destroyed, she finds herself trying to look for ways to get out of the less than ideal situation she and her mother were in. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost. But nothing prepared her for what she was going to live in that house.

Reviewing this book is difficult for me because its the first book I read of its kind. I was invested in the story, even when it was slow and difficult to get into. Again, the writing style was beautiful and poetic, the descriptions of the horror aspect were...well scary (to me) and although maybe I am in a minority, I was not expecting some of the revelations/discoveries throughout the story. It the perfect book for the fall/spooky season.

Content Warnings

karmapen's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

machenn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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