Reviews with content warning for Abortion - La Hacienda

I love haunted houses. Houses that are characters in their own right, like the hacienda San Isidro.
The story reminded me a lot of Rebecca, but leaning more into the haunting and ghost Rebecca lacked. The gothic atmosphere, the Mexican backstory, and author’s style made it a book I would definitely recommend in spooky, gloomy weather.

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kaeleigh'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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yourbookishbff'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

4.0

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talonsontypewriters'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? No

3.5

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readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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coreysees's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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.

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quiteawful's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The first chapter of this book made me concerned that all of it would be quite flowery and difficult to read. This faded after the first chapter - the characters made me smile and hope and feel their passionate emotions and they deal with everything.

Rollercoaster of emotions. A little disappointed in the ending (

what’s in that letter!!!! Make them kiss more ;-;

), but a solid historical romantic gothic horror fantasy novel.

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