Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

26 reviews

noshakira's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I absolutely loved this book. It's equal parts spooky, empowering, and romantic. It perfectly captures the feelings, both good and bad, when you walk into a space that feels like it is living. Typically, I dislike period pieces, and would have avoided a book set in the 1800s like this one, but the storyline didn't feel as dated as many others and focused more on the timeless human and haunting aspects. Beautifully written and read like a movie in my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, War, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Racism, Classism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

teddie_valetine98's review

dark mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

rossi_am's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Abortion

snowhite197's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Blood, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Racism

cover2covertx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Abortion, and Rape

starbabe2529's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

This book was phenomenal. The haunting was excellent, well paced and atmospheric. It was a classic, well spun Gothic story with all the creepy old houses and dark family secrets. But it was also set in a fresh new setting of Mexico in the 1820s. The new culture and setting breathed a new kind of life into a well loved trope. The characters were all so strong while also being realistic and imperfect. My only issue

is that I feel like the revelation of the sister being the killer could have been foreshadowed better. I wish we had spent more time with her as a character and were able to see this insidious side of her.

But otherwise I think this book was very well executed, atmospheric, had a great haunting and I definitely recommend it. 8/10 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Abortion

queerreaderchaos's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Rape, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity

talonsontypewriters's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Gore, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Sexism, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Confinement, Animal death, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Pregnancy, War, Rape, Alcoholism, Abortion, and Sexual content

hunkydory's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Classism, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, War, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Death of parent

yvo_about_books's review

5.0

 Finished reading: July 10th 2023

“When a man makes a promise, he makes it on his honor. When a witch makes a promise, they feel it in their bones.”

Ever come across a book that you just know you are going to love, but somehow it takes you ages to pick it up anyway? This is exactly what happened with The Hacienda for me. The blurb gave me Mexican Gothic vibes, which had me immediately intrigued. It is being compared to the classic Rebecca as well, which I confess I still have to read myself... But I'm definitely going to remedy that after finishing The Hacienda. Why? Let's just say that this debut blew me away completely, and I loved every single minute with this historical fiction/gothic horror/paranormal read. The pace in The Hacienda is actually quite a lot slower than I would usually like, but somehow it really worked for this story. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that the writing itself is fantastic; I fell in love with the way this story was written from the very beginning, and the gothic vibe is done is a sublime way. The building up of the tension, the uncertainty about what is really going on, the doubts about if the main character is just imagining things or something a lot more sinister (and supernatural) is going on... It was just all done in such a natural way, and the result was glorious. Add the historical fiction aspect with the 19th century Mexican setting, the religious aspect and the political/cultural issues, even the slowburn romance, and I couldn't give this debut anything less than the full 5 stars it deserved. Guess who will be reading a vampire book in the future even though she is usually allergic to any stories about vampires? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Blood, Classism, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Violence, Body horror, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Grief, and Murder