Reviews with content warning for Rape - La Hacienda

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

La Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

221 reviews

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The blurb on the front describes it as a mix of Mexican Gothic and Rebecca, and 100% yes absolutely lol. I do still like Mexican Gothic more because it's more about the horror than the romance, but I did enjoy this one nonetheless! I appreciate what the author was trying to do with the deeper messages of colonialism's ills and I liked Andres character a lot. Idk why but something about Beatriz bugged me, and THAT ENDING bugged me too lol ugh.

Quotes:

Our relationship was founded on one thing and one thing only: my world was a dark, windowless room, and he was a door. (29)
Roldolfo's message was plain: if San Isidro does not agree with you, come to the capital.
And do what? Wait on the generals who ordered my house to be burned and killed my father? Simper and smile with their obedient wives?
No. San Isidro was freedom. San Isidro was mine.
But San Isidro was also trying to break me, and I did not doubt the force of its will. (92)
A historical novel is more than the dates of its battles and politicians jockeying for power in affluent capitals. It is the sum of a thousand strokes of a mad artist's brush: it is droughts and floods, new inheritance laws, fabrics and building materials becoming cheap or too expensive, taxes imposed to be paid or ignored, the privilege of one language over another. It is the rhythms of daily life and towns that are silenced, the spirits that move in the shadows cast by the conquerors' history books. (340)
Reading historical fiction can teach us about world's long gone, but in doing so, It must also inspire reflections on the present. As a historian, a Mexican-American woman, and a fellow reader, I hope the novel inspires the courage, anger, and compassion. We all need to face the ghosts of colonialism that linger today. (342)

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lorriss's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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huamulan93's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I thought the premise of this book was great. I’m the beginning I thought it was really attention grabbing and loved all the spooky aspects of it. However, I was able to guess “who done it” very quickly on and then towards the middle and the end of the book it just kind of fizzled for me. The suspense, the horror, the spookiness kinda just fizzled out. It was still a very enjoyable read as I love to read Latinx books written by Latinx authors, but since it was compared as a Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca I kinda had higher hopes as I had read Mexican Gothic and that was an amazing read.

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redwolf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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fifteenthjessica's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Beatriz is desperate to escape the household of her mother's cousin, where she is forced to work as a scullery maid due to her mestizo heritage, and she thinks marriage to Rodolfo Solorzano, a wealthy hacienda owner in the country, is the key to a life for her and her mother similar to the one they lost when her father was killed in the Mexican Revolution. However, the Hacienda is anything but a refuge. Servants and Rodolfo's sister avoid it at night, no one really knows what happened to Rodolfo's first wife, shadows move on their own, areas of the house are unnaturally cold, and Beatriz is haunted by visions of blood. Beatriz's only hope of rescue is Andres, a mestizo priest with ties to the hacienda and supernatural powers that he's suppressed out of fear of the Inquisition.

It's a horror and historic fiction hybrid, and while I don't read the former much and can't say how well it holds up to others (it's the best of the few I've read), but the historic fiction aspects are excellent. Isabel Canas shows an expertise of the era of history she has set this in, and I think she gets around the issue of delivering exposition about the setting to readers less familiar with life in the era by making its presence related to some of the emotional wounds of her primary characters and really most of the cast. Canas demonstrates an excellent knowledge of how social issues like sexism, racism, colorism, and classism impact people/characters, and I find it hard to completely hate most of the antagonists.

The prose is gorgeous and at times macabre. I (and a few members of the book club I read this for) quickly learned that reading it at night is not a good idea as we were quite jumpy afterwards.

It's not a flawless debut. While the book focuses heavily on the casta class system in Mexico, the few members of the servant class that get development is almost entirely Andres and his family, which I think slightly undercuts the theme. Rodolfo also feels more like a plot device than a character, which I'm not sure how I feel about it. His decision to leave the hacienda in Beatriz and Juana's hands while he rubs elbows with politicians in the capital is necessary for character motivation, it leaves him underdeveloped, and readers are left on their own to reconcile the Rodolfo who his first wife adores and the one who (sexual abuse mention and a spoiler)

rapes serving girls and hides Beatriz's letters from her mother.

There is also something about the ending that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Beatriz's mother inherits a small home from her husband's family and moves into it while Beatriz is surviving her husband's home and invites her to come. Something about the knowledge that if Beatriz waited she'd have a home that she didn't have to fight a malevolent spirit to survive in feels unsatisfactory. Returning to her mother fits with the other theme of home, and I don't know how else to do that in a way that isn't majorly depressing. Plus, Beatriz grows as a person and initiates healing for Andres and his extended family as well as the hacienda itself through her actions, so it's not a total let down.

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jamielikestoread's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.0

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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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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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crrieandrsn26's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written, three-dimensional characters and a thrilling story. I thought I had figured out the ending but I my realization came at the same time as Beatriz’s. I don’t usually even read horror, but looking at it through a lens of just a much darker magical realism, I loved it.

Andres’ + Beatriz’s love story was also just 🤌🏻

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-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? Yes

3.5

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ivy123's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The Hacienda is a gothic haunted house story set in the aftermath of the war of independance in Mexico. The story was creepy enough to leave me looking around corners at nightime but also an interesting examination of the casta system and the effect this had. I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of the preist who was also a witch and how this both afforded him safety and danger at the same time. I also didnt see some of the twists and turns coming which is always great.

Although i did like the lyrical writing style i did find this took away from some of the scares at times. Overall highly recomend to people looking for a haunted house story as the culture threaded theoughout makes this a stand out read.

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