Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

84 reviews

rachelunabridged'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Abortion

tigger89's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I found this book to be the perfect type of spooky, the kind that gives you chills while you're reading but that doesn't linger once you've put the book down. I particularly loved the way the classic "catholic exorcism" trope was twisted by having the exorcist be not just a catholic priest, but also a witch. The atmosphere was also gorgeous, both outside and inside the hacienda. I felt that sunlight, and those chills!

Something I didn't like was that the female characters weren't as strong as I'd expected. They were all either very passive or they were under heavy aid from(or motivated by) male characters, particularly Padre Andres. It's not that I feel he was a bad character, but for a novel which contained themes centering around patriarchal control and violence, it was disappointing to see the female characters essentially led around by a male lead, even one who was respectful and good. This is especially jarring in comparison to Mexican Gothic, which I felt handled the partnership of the female lead with a male companion much better.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism, Abortion, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Rape, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and War

camelliagwerm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape and Abortion

hayy6747's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

xangemtheelibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This debut book is absolutely incredible! I found the story to be believable and it was so easy to listen to as an audiobook. I adore Beatriz, Andrés, and Paloma. All three of them deserve the world.

There's so much that I want to say about the haunted hacienda. About Rudolfo and Juana and Ana Luisa and the first Doña. The complicated relationships and the tragedies that happened in that house. And how the caste system played into so much of what happened in the book! I want to talk about it and how incredible reading this book was but I don't want to give away any potential spoilers!! 

Just. Read it. It's amazing. And if Cañas writes anything else, I'm reading that too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, and Alcohol

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

honeywine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is definitely vibes, though I struggled to get into it until around the halfway mart. The historical part of the historical fiction was pretty neat and enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy

volunteerpyromancer's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

There were parts that could be predictable.  But my god.  It was a solidly entertaining ghost story.  And consider me a Padre Andres fan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Rape and War

macknificent's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

This story had great bones but it just didn't work for me. 

I did find myself fully immersed in the scary scenes, to the point that I could only read this in daylight. Unfortunately, I wasn't much interested in the rest. Neither the mystery, nor the romance were compelling and sometimes it felt like the author didn't really know her characters. The horror/magic didn't seem to have any rules either, which made the ending a bit anticlimactic.

This was a debut novel so I'm willing to try this author again in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

lauramparis's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail