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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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Sexual assault
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Blood, Classism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Rape, Abortion, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Vomit
rbash2391'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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Death, Religious bigotry, Blood, Cursing, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Self harm, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, and Abortion
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Confinement
rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
If you’re looking for a classic haunted house story, complete with vengeful spirits, hallucinations, and exorcisms, this is it. Within a rich setting at Hacienda San Isidro you’ll get to know two characters who are shunned by their communities for things out of their control, and how they work together to help rid the house of the evil that lurks within.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Gore, and War
Minor: Pregnancy and Death of parent
maeverose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
My favorite tropes/themes from this book:
-🦇 gothic atmosphere 🦇
-beautiful prose
-clashing religious beliefs
-hot priest
-forbidden romance
I loved this!!! This was my first real horror novel (besides Dracula), I usually avoid horror because I really dislike gore, but this one sounded like it was tame enough gore-wise so I took a risk and I’m so glad I did. This felt a bit like a classic gothic novel. I LOVE the writing style. I’m a sucker for beautiful writing. That first chapter. Yes. I was a little surprised how much focus the romance got, but I’m not complaining at all because that was actually my favorite part, unexpectedly. This felt like a pretty even mix of historical romance, gothic horror and fantasy, which apparently is my thing. I need to find more.
The only negatives I can think of are that after finishing the book I can see how some things might’ve been a bit predictable to more avid horror readers, but I actually didn’t predict anything while reading lol. And secondly, I was never actually all that scared while reading.. I only found a few scenes a bit scary, about two thirds into the book. I think because a lot of the horror elements are so fantastical it didn’t really phase me? I’m more scared by real life horror (and there is a bit of that in this book too). It also didn’t have a ton of suspense, it kind of just throws stuff at you pretty early on after Beatriz moves in.
Anyway I need to go buy a copy of this book now
-🦇 gothic atmosphere 🦇
-beautiful prose
-clashing religious beliefs
-hot priest
-forbidden romance
I loved this!!! This was my first real horror novel (besides Dracula), I usually avoid horror because I really dislike gore, but this one sounded like it was tame enough gore-wise so I took a risk and I’m so glad I did. This felt a bit like a classic gothic novel. I LOVE the writing style. I’m a sucker for beautiful writing. That first chapter. Yes. I was a little surprised how much focus the romance got, but I’m not complaining at all because that was actually my favorite part, unexpectedly. This felt like a pretty even mix of historical romance, gothic horror and fantasy, which apparently is my thing. I need to find more.
The only negatives I can think of are that after finishing the book I can see how some things might’ve been a bit predictable to more avid horror readers, but I actually didn’t predict anything while reading lol. And secondly, I was never actually all that scared while reading.. I only found a few scenes a bit scary, about two thirds into the book. I think because a lot of the horror elements are so fantastical it didn’t really phase me? I’m more scared by real life horror (and there is a bit of that in this book too). It also didn’t have a ton of suspense, it kind of just throws stuff at you pretty early on after Beatriz moves in.
Anyway I need to go buy a copy of this book now
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Racism, Vomit, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, War, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Rape
As someone who doesn’t like gore, I’d say it was pretty mild. Only really injury descriptions (some detailed), blood, and a description of a partially decomposed body. I was fine reading it, but if you’re especially sensitive I’d say be careful. Minor memory loss from a concussion, and to my fellow hyperhidrosis sufferers: there is a negative sweaty hands/face comment in here :/hanarama's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Book at a Glance:
• Haunted house
• Gothic mystery
• Historic Mexico
• M/W pairing
• Witchcraft
• CWs: religious bigotry, racism, classism, colorism, blood, death, injury detail, psychological abuse, fire, sexual assault (mentioned), unwanted pregnancy (mentioned), abortion (mentioned)
Living in poverty following her father’s execution, Beatriz makes a bid for a better life by marrying the wealthy and handsome Don Rodolfo. Though his ancestral home San Isidro has seen better days, Beatriz is excited to begin repairs. She is confident that she can make the hacienda into a home for her and her mother.
However, San Isidro has more problems than general wear and tear. There is something possessing the land and which seems to hate Beatriz. Hunted by the darkness and pulled into the mysteries of San Isidro, Beatriz finds herself desperate for help. And the only person prepared to aid her is Padre Andrés, a strange priest whose history is also tied to the hacienda.
The Hacienda hits a lot of the typical gothic tropes. For people that love gothic stories, I think there will be a lot to love here. The feeling of isolation, the haunted house, dark family secrets, all play prominently within the story. However, it felt weak overall. Cañas does some things well, but struggles in others.
The atmosphere is beautifully written. Cañas crafts really beautiful scenes, with salient imagery that builds upon the emotions of the characters. As a result, San Isidro feels particularly lively, with even the weather reacting in accordance to the hacienda’s whims.
I have a soft spot for desert gothics. There’s something so isolating and haunting about dry expanses of rural deserts, and I am so happy that more authors are using this environment for their gothic tales.
Unfortunately, I did find the story really slow. I think this is in part due to Cañas’ over reliance on her prose. It felt like there was an inability to match the prose to the energy needed in every scene. As a result, scenes sometimes dragged much more than they should have. There were also descriptors that got overused. For example, emotions were often described as “curling” within a character’s chest/stomach/whatever. After the description occurred twice within one chapter, I found it distracting anytime I came across it.
The characters were mostly likeable, though I had issues with both of the leads. Of the two, Andrés is the more compelling. Cañas slowly reveals his backstory through flashbacks, making him feel more integral to the mystery. However, I don’t think he should have been a POV character as I felt like his knowledge of the situation took away from the danger. Further, I felt like his abilities made the haunting too easily solved.
Beatriz is better suited as a gothic protagonist, but often feels uninteresting when compared to Andrés. It felt like there wasn’t much to her personality beyond her initial desire to fix up the property. I also wasn’t very interested in their budding relationship. It didn’t add much to the story for me, and highlighted the issues I had with Beatriz as a character. Andrés frequently expounds her virtues, which weren’t really illustrated through the story. Overall, she just feels like a pretty face without a lot of personality or development.
The mystery was also fairly lackluster. I would have preferred for there to be a little more ambiguity with the mystery, which for how slowly it was developed reached a fairly manic end. This can be done well, but here it felt at odds with the rest of the story.
• Haunted house
• Gothic mystery
• Historic Mexico
• M/W pairing
• Witchcraft
• CWs: religious bigotry, racism, classism, colorism, blood, death, injury detail, psychological abuse, fire, sexual assault (mentioned), unwanted pregnancy (mentioned), abortion (mentioned)
Living in poverty following her father’s execution, Beatriz makes a bid for a better life by marrying the wealthy and handsome Don Rodolfo. Though his ancestral home San Isidro has seen better days, Beatriz is excited to begin repairs. She is confident that she can make the hacienda into a home for her and her mother.
However, San Isidro has more problems than general wear and tear. There is something possessing the land and which seems to hate Beatriz. Hunted by the darkness and pulled into the mysteries of San Isidro, Beatriz finds herself desperate for help. And the only person prepared to aid her is Padre Andrés, a strange priest whose history is also tied to the hacienda.
The Hacienda hits a lot of the typical gothic tropes. For people that love gothic stories, I think there will be a lot to love here. The feeling of isolation, the haunted house, dark family secrets, all play prominently within the story. However, it felt weak overall. Cañas does some things well, but struggles in others.
The atmosphere is beautifully written. Cañas crafts really beautiful scenes, with salient imagery that builds upon the emotions of the characters. As a result, San Isidro feels particularly lively, with even the weather reacting in accordance to the hacienda’s whims.
I have a soft spot for desert gothics. There’s something so isolating and haunting about dry expanses of rural deserts, and I am so happy that more authors are using this environment for their gothic tales.
Unfortunately, I did find the story really slow. I think this is in part due to Cañas’ over reliance on her prose. It felt like there was an inability to match the prose to the energy needed in every scene. As a result, scenes sometimes dragged much more than they should have. There were also descriptors that got overused. For example, emotions were often described as “curling” within a character’s chest/stomach/whatever. After the description occurred twice within one chapter, I found it distracting anytime I came across it.
The characters were mostly likeable, though I had issues with both of the leads. Of the two, Andrés is the more compelling. Cañas slowly reveals his backstory through flashbacks, making him feel more integral to the mystery. However, I don’t think he should have been a POV character as I felt like his knowledge of the situation took away from the danger. Further, I felt like his abilities made the haunting too easily solved.
Beatriz is better suited as a gothic protagonist, but often feels uninteresting when compared to Andrés. It felt like there wasn’t much to her personality beyond her initial desire to fix up the property. I also wasn’t very interested in their budding relationship. It didn’t add much to the story for me, and highlighted the issues I had with Beatriz as a character. Andrés frequently expounds her virtues, which weren’t really illustrated through the story. Overall, she just feels like a pretty face without a lot of personality or development.
The mystery was also fairly lackluster. I would have preferred for there to be a little more ambiguity with the mystery, which for how slowly it was developed reached a fairly manic end. This can be done well, but here it felt at odds with the rest of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Blood, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Abortion
Minor: War
erandle's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
Minor: Abortion, War, Rape, and Pregnancy
thelittlestmermaid's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Rape, and War
rorikae's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
'The Hacienda' by Isabel Cañas is a haunted house tale reminiscent of Rebecca and The Little Stranger.
Fleeing unfortunate circumstances, Beatriz arrives at Hacienda San Isidro, the new bride of Don Rodolfo. Hoping to find respite from her previous life, Beatriz instead finds a house haunted by Rodolfo's last wife. She begins to see strange things that disappear when she turns around. Confiding in the local priest, she begins to learn more about the late mistress of the house and why her spirit may still haunt the walls.
Cañas has written an incredibly evocative haunted house tale that builds off of previous works like Rebecca and Bluebeard to create something new yet familiar. The strongest part of this story is the atmosphere. As Beatriz explores the Hacienda, we get to see through her eyes apparent horrors and frights. Unlike Rebecca, these haunts are more overt though the watching eye of the former wife is an important piece of the story.
The narrative weaves between two narratives, Beatriz's and the local priest, who has had run ins with the house before as well as its past mistress. This did a good job of keeping the mystery through Beatriz's eyes while also peppering in insight from the priest.
Despite a really strong story, I did feel that the ending fell a bit flat. It didn't live up to the incredible atmosphere of the rest of the book and ultimately, Beatriz did far less than the story felt like it was setting her up for, which was a letdown. Even so, the atmosphere of this book is great and I think it would be interesting to see an in-depth piece that looks at it in the light of haunted house tales, especially those that deal with dead wives.
Fleeing unfortunate circumstances, Beatriz arrives at Hacienda San Isidro, the new bride of Don Rodolfo. Hoping to find respite from her previous life, Beatriz instead finds a house haunted by Rodolfo's last wife. She begins to see strange things that disappear when she turns around. Confiding in the local priest, she begins to learn more about the late mistress of the house and why her spirit may still haunt the walls.
Cañas has written an incredibly evocative haunted house tale that builds off of previous works like Rebecca and Bluebeard to create something new yet familiar. The strongest part of this story is the atmosphere. As Beatriz explores the Hacienda, we get to see through her eyes apparent horrors and frights. Unlike Rebecca, these haunts are more overt though the watching eye of the former wife is an important piece of the story.
The narrative weaves between two narratives, Beatriz's and the local priest, who has had run ins with the house before as well as its past mistress. This did a good job of keeping the mystery through Beatriz's eyes while also peppering in insight from the priest.
Despite a really strong story, I did feel that the ending fell a bit flat. It didn't live up to the incredible atmosphere of the rest of the book and ultimately, Beatriz did far less than the story felt like it was setting her up for, which was a letdown. Even so, the atmosphere of this book is great and I think it would be interesting to see an in-depth piece that looks at it in the light of haunted house tales, especially those that deal with dead wives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
regen20's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Abortion, and Pregnancy