Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - L'Hacienda

THE HACIENDA went from mysteriously eerie, to creepy, to completely terrifying in a span of a couple of pages in between the questions posed by its heroine, Beatriz, and the revelations revealed with the help of a priest, Andres, with secrets of his own. It was a slow build, but you definitely want to stick with it.

The writing was immersive and eloquent, but never heavy. I could see the comparisons to Mexican Gothic and Rebecca, but I felt this one was held its own and kept me curious to keep reading (despite going like this 🫣 a few times) until the very end.

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pages_with_panda's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

✅ Finished Nov 18, ‘22

After the Mexican War of Independence, Beatriz has lost her father and her home. Desperately trying to regain some stability, she marries Don Rodolfo Solórzano despite the rumors around his first wife’s death.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

After Rodolfo leaves for work at the capital, Beatriz finds herself alone in a house none of the servants want to enter and with no one willing to share why. She only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

I really loved this book. Can't say I've read any other Mexican Gothic books so I can't for sure how well this fit that genre; but the creepy story, the mystery, the characters were all amazing. Sad I couldn't read this before Halloween season ended! Not horror per se, but definitely a suspenseful, mysterious book with creepy scenes. The author did well to set up the scenes and give the house its personality.

Andres was amazing as well, and I liked how well he and Beatriz worked together. I actually liked the back and forth between the past and the present as well, it set up the mystery nicely.

I borrowed this from the library but will be getting my own copy; I enjoyed it so much!

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bookishlypleasant's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This was an incredibly gripping thriller! I couldn't put it down and finished about 90% of it in one night! There were a few aspects that were a little predictable but the storytelling was so good, I didn't mind.

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lisabrune's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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jackyinreadingland's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Really great for the haunted house/afraid of what lurks in the dark vibes. The overall story for me was quite slow to get through until towards the end.
It is multiple POV.
The reason the house is haunted was interesting, but it felt pretty slow to get to that point. I loved all the creepiness of it though. It was nice reading a gothic horror that wasn't set against an all white cast. The author also touches on class/classism and colorism/racism a little bit.

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