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awebofstories's review against another edition
dark
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? No
4.0
When they claim that this book is a mix of Mexican Gothic and Rebecca, they hit the target. This is a good, old-fashioned gothic haunted house story with a menacing former wife.
I suppose describing it makes it sound formulaic, but it really isn't. There are enough details to enrich this tale and keep you guessing truly. Given its comps, I was looking for certain things, but Cañas smartly subverts expectations at key points. She also hits the mark on the atmosphere, creating a community brimming with secrets and things that come out at night.
If I had any complaint about this book, it would be that I would have liked the mercury on the spooky meter to go up just a bit. I don't think this book was especially tame, and I did get a chill now and then, but I was never truly spooked. However, I've been leaning into horror this spooky season, so my tolerance may be on the high side. Another reader might find this frightful (in the appropriate way).
This was an excellent debut, and I hope we get more from Isabel Cañas in the future!
I suppose describing it makes it sound formulaic, but it really isn't. There are enough details to enrich this tale and keep you guessing truly. Given its comps, I was looking for certain things, but Cañas smartly subverts expectations at key points. She also hits the mark on the atmosphere, creating a community brimming with secrets and things that come out at night.
If I had any complaint about this book, it would be that I would have liked the mercury on the spooky meter to go up just a bit. I don't think this book was especially tame, and I did get a chill now and then, but I was never truly spooked. However, I've been leaning into horror this spooky season, so my tolerance may be on the high side. Another reader might find this frightful (in the appropriate way).
This was an excellent debut, and I hope we get more from Isabel Cañas in the future!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, and Death
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
madelinekramer2021's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death, Alcoholism, Rape, Domestic abuse, Body horror, War, Dysphoria, Classism, Alcohol, and Abortion
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 :/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
aromarrie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
i rarely read haunted house stories and there was never a concrete reason for it, maybe just for the fact that i never came across one that brought alive a house with so much visual and pure feeling as this one did, and it wasn’t until isabel cañas put this book out to the world that i found the it factor that makes for a perfect haunted house story for me.
the energy in this book was absolutely electric and haunted the hell out of me as i was reading it in the daylight, so slow-moving in the way the darkness teased at beatriz and then suddenly knocked her off her feet until she was left reeling. the main characters beatriz & padre andrés had such compelling voices that each brought forth the reverence and darkness that Hacienda San Isidro evoked, and their dynamic only further ignited my interest in this story as we saw how their individual personal journeys connected in this gothic horror.
the author’s themes reflecting the horror that the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain resulted in was very visceral as it struck on the classism that was at such dangerous levels, striking a wall between those of the lower class that were left with so much grief & little money after the war while the upper classes had their huge houses out on the country to lavish in with more money. the women, especially, being left to hold the forte as their men hovered around the capital or had been left for dead created this imbalance in power that ultimately shifted a large part of this story.
this is also what made beatriz’ role hit so hard because here she is in the beginning, entering herself into a loveless marriage simply for the sake of finding solid footing for herself & her mother after the loss of the patriarch. even though we didn’t see much of her mom in the present, the relationship beatriz shares with her was read with so much love and care as beatriz was so desperate to try and make things better for the both of them after this war took away any source of stability. seeing the way she took on San Isidro and relied on the guidance her father gave during his time as general added a strength to her character that near the end completely swept me away. even more so was seeing how even in all that power she collected for herself, she still was beaten down and left barely standing.
and padre andrés was left no good either, as his own powers as a witch leave him at an impasse as we see him struggle over what’s right and what’s not when handling his powers and the darkness he carried with it, when all he wants is to be able to protect his own family. the relationship he shared with his Titi was also something where her presence stuck firmly to the past and yet in the present, every bit of her guidance and nurture towards him followed andrés with each step he took forward.
seeing how he & beatriz navigated this darkness that faced them together made for a very tense but also thrilling reading journey because the stakes felt so high and yet there was no chaos that reigned but just simply silence—silence that was then suddenly interrupted by the furious knocking of doors and rushing footsteps that followed after the peering of bright red eyes glowing in the dark. the fear that both beatriz & andrés felt was as harrowing as it was personal, as it connected me even more to the story than i could’ve ever hoped for, and i loved every bit of it.
the energy in this book was absolutely electric and haunted the hell out of me as i was reading it in the daylight, so slow-moving in the way the darkness teased at beatriz and then suddenly knocked her off her feet until she was left reeling. the main characters beatriz & padre andrés had such compelling voices that each brought forth the reverence and darkness that Hacienda San Isidro evoked, and their dynamic only further ignited my interest in this story as we saw how their individual personal journeys connected in this gothic horror.
the author’s themes reflecting the horror that the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain resulted in was very visceral as it struck on the classism that was at such dangerous levels, striking a wall between those of the lower class that were left with so much grief & little money after the war while the upper classes had their huge houses out on the country to lavish in with more money. the women, especially, being left to hold the forte as their men hovered around the capital or had been left for dead created this imbalance in power that ultimately shifted a large part of this story.
this is also what made beatriz’ role hit so hard because here she is in the beginning, entering herself into a loveless marriage simply for the sake of finding solid footing for herself & her mother after the loss of the patriarch. even though we didn’t see much of her mom in the present, the relationship beatriz shares with her was read with so much love and care as beatriz was so desperate to try and make things better for the both of them after this war took away any source of stability. seeing the way she took on San Isidro and relied on the guidance her father gave during his time as general added a strength to her character that near the end completely swept me away. even more so was seeing how even in all that power she collected for herself, she still was beaten down and left barely standing.
and padre andrés was left no good either, as his own powers as a witch leave him at an impasse as we see him struggle over what’s right and what’s not when handling his powers and the darkness he carried with it, when all he wants is to be able to protect his own family. the relationship he shared with his Titi was also something where her presence stuck firmly to the past and yet in the present, every bit of her guidance and nurture towards him followed andrés with each step he took forward.
seeing how he & beatriz navigated this darkness that faced them together made for a very tense but also thrilling reading journey because the stakes felt so high and yet there was no chaos that reigned but just simply silence—silence that was then suddenly interrupted by the furious knocking of doors and rushing footsteps that followed after the peering of bright red eyes glowing in the dark. the fear that both beatriz & andrés felt was as harrowing as it was personal, as it connected me even more to the story than i could’ve ever hoped for, and i loved every bit of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Colonisation, Body horror, Violence, and Classism
deserthare24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Classism, Body horror, Death, Blood, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Rape
amandalorianxo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.25
So I definitely had moments of haunting and dark thrill vibes as I read this stand-alone novel set in Mexico. I had to look up the purpose of a hacienda and they were (and some still are) used for a multitude of reasons. Large estates were used as mines, factories, or even plantations. The basic point? Making money. We meet Beatriz and she is married to Rodolfo, yet the people she is meeting and interacting with are not a fan of her. Racially she is not "pure" and her own family line is not as rich or well connected as her husband's. Isabel has to live in the hacienda she is to share with her husband. However, it's basically haunted by spirits that do not people living there. Beatriz is able to call on the help of Andres, a priest, who wants to perform an exorcism to remove the demons from the home. We follow the two pov's of Beatriz and Andres, getting glimpses of their backstories as well as how the hacienda came to be. It's not going to make you piss your pants or anything that traumatizing but I recommend pairing this with the audio to read along to make the excitement that much more enticing. The audio narrators do a great job at creating the tension that is needed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Physical abuse
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death of parent
owlliecat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Body horror
Moderate: Physical abuse
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