Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

L'Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

41 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

5.0

 Finished reading: July 10th 2023

“When a man makes a promise, he makes it on his honor. When a witch makes a promise, they feel it in their bones.”

Ever come across a book that you just know you are going to love, but somehow it takes you ages to pick it up anyway? This is exactly what happened with The Hacienda for me. The blurb gave me Mexican Gothic vibes, which had me immediately intrigued. It is being compared to the classic Rebecca as well, which I confess I still have to read myself... But I'm definitely going to remedy that after finishing The Hacienda. Why? Let's just say that this debut blew me away completely, and I loved every single minute with this historical fiction/gothic horror/paranormal read. The pace in The Hacienda is actually quite a lot slower than I would usually like, but somehow it really worked for this story. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that the writing itself is fantastic; I fell in love with the way this story was written from the very beginning, and the gothic vibe is done is a sublime way. The building up of the tension, the uncertainty about what is really going on, the doubts about if the main character is just imagining things or something a lot more sinister (and supernatural) is going on... It was just all done in such a natural way, and the result was glorious. Add the historical fiction aspect with the 19th century Mexican setting, the religious aspect and the political/cultural issues, even the slowburn romance, and I couldn't give this debut anything less than the full 5 stars it deserved. Guess who will be reading a vampire book in the future even though she is usually allergic to any stories about vampires? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

enf87's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I wanted to like this book more. The writing style seemed, from the beginning, a bit underdeveloped. I would've liked the characters to develop more, and the romance angle felt like an odd choice at times. The plot pulled me in and wasn't entirely predictable for me, but the "big twists" felt rushed - I wanted to see the characters process more of the horror of the truth as it was revealed. The pace felt uneven as a result: the beginning burned a bit too slowly for me, then the ending was over too quickly. Overall, it was an ok read, but I would not reread.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Rape

lorriss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Neat premise but it was nothing to sing home about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Physical abuse, Torture, and War

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

blissofalife's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The inspirations for this book

Rebecca, Shirley Jackson novels

are obvious throughout but told through a fresh lens and seamlessly combined. The build-up was superb, the climax felt a little too fast. Would still recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Alcohol

kshertz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I saw a review that this is mexican gothic and Rebecca and I feel like that’s spot on. It’s creepy and you can’t trust anyone. Is it paranormal? Is it a real person haunting everyone? Who is behind all of this? Plus a love story that was realistic. I loved it. Highly recommend 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

tuesdaye's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and Religious bigotry

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism