Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

48 reviews

hannah_and_her_stories's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Alcohol, Racism, Classism, Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Sexual assault, War, Colonisation, Cursing, Gore, Vomit, Gaslighting, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Minor: Abortion

larareads's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Racism, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion, Rape, War, and Sexual violence

renpuspita'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

4.5

The Hacienda dubbed as mix of Mexican Gothic and Rebecca. Fortunately (or, unfortunately?), I don't read both, even I have Mexican Gothic on my TBR. The premise itself remind me of Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro's movie that pretty much I think influenced by Rebecca. The tropes are there. The female lead, Beatriz, married a widower named Rodolfo Solorzano, while Rodolfo's first wife was died of unknown cause (is it typhus? is it true that she was killed by the highwaymen?). There's a huge building with historical value, in this book, it's a hacienda located in San Isidro, Apan. There's a male lead, not the husband of course, that will help the female lead. The atmosphere is pretty much gothic, the Hacienda residence didn't trust the female lead, including Rodolfo's sister, Juana, and their cook, Ana Luisa. More importantly, seems like the hacienda have a dark past and the ghost is start to haunting Beatriz. 

What make The Hacienda interesting is, how Isabel Canas also input her social critic/commentary about Mexico after the Independence war with its casta system. Set in 1823, pretty much after the war and also after Mexican Inquisition end, Canas presents the glaring problems that revolve around hacienda, hacendados (owner of hacienda) and people on the village whom lived around them. So, basically beside a gothic and horror filled with mystery, The Hacienda can be categorized into historical fiction as well, albeit not in a traditional way. This book also heavy on religious contents, with the male lead, Padre Andres Vilabollos, is a man of the Church. The religion content didn't bother me a little bit, I welcomed Canas's critique about it tho. For me, it's ring true, regarding the religion. Some of Andres's inner turmoil, about his double identity, as a priest but also a witch with power come from local folk magic, pretty much resonate with me. I liked Canas's presentation about religion, through Andres, and didn't fell that it's judging at all.

The Hacienda is told from both Beatriz and Andres's Pov, interchangeable. Usually, first PoV from multiple characters can drive me nuts, since all the voice feel the same. It's not the case with The Hacienda, I can differentiate both Beatriz and Andres. While at the first glance, Beatriz might be look like a high and mighty girl with her determination to be the Solorzano's Dona and claim Hacienda San Isidro as her domain, the reason was explained in a way that make me sympathize with her. I also like how in the end Canas make Beatriz amend her error way in the first. Of course after the haunting that happen to Beatriz in the first place, lol. The girl was pretty much tortured by the ghost! The haunting factor is pretty chilling, the effect of it give me a heebies jeebies. The description of the ghost and its apparition make me hold my breath. The idea of house with its own souls is not new, but Canas can execute it well and add her own twist on it.

While it's not romance per se, there's a romance in The Hacienda, although just a little. But, boyy...as a romance reader, the romance in this book is pretty much bittersweet. It's of course have forbidden romance in it, with Beatriz is a married woman, while Andres is a priest. Yet, the trust that come between them, the pining, the longing and the yearning, OMG, so chef's kiss! I can accept their ending because I know that this book is not a romance in the first place, but I will lying if I said I didn't enjoy the romance aspect, lol. It's suit the book tone, tbh. In the other side, the mystery that surround the Hacienda and also Rodolfo's first wife death is pretty much easy to guess. I liked how they executed and I liked how Canas write the characterization of the major characters in this book beside Beatriz and Andres. Sadly, for Rodolfo, I think his character is barely there since he's mostly spend his time away from Beatriz.

Even not 5 full stars, The Hacienda become one of my top read this year 2023. For a debut, this book captivating me and that's a compliment since sometimes I'm too chicken out to read a full horror book with ghost on it. I recommend The Hacienda if you want to read a horror book with gothic atmosphere, written by a diverse author also set outside America and with historical settings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Alcohol, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Abortion, Rape, War, and Colonisation

emzhay's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Alcohol

Minor: War, Child abuse, and Animal death

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

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

dark mysterious

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Rape, Infidelity, Murder, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion

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

lorriss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, and Gore

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Grief, War, Rape, Abortion, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal death, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization

fifteenthjessica's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Beatriz is desperate to escape the household of her mother's cousin, where she is forced to work as a scullery maid due to her mestizo heritage, and she thinks marriage to Rodolfo Solorzano, a wealthy hacienda owner in the country, is the key to a life for her and her mother similar to the one they lost when her father was killed in the Mexican Revolution. However, the Hacienda is anything but a refuge. Servants and Rodolfo's sister avoid it at night, no one really knows what happened to Rodolfo's first wife, shadows move on their own, areas of the house are unnaturally cold, and Beatriz is haunted by visions of blood. Beatriz's only hope of rescue is Andres, a mestizo priest with ties to the hacienda and supernatural powers that he's suppressed out of fear of the Inquisition.

It's a horror and historic fiction hybrid, and while I don't read the former much and can't say how well it holds up to others (it's the best of the few I've read), but the historic fiction aspects are excellent. Isabel Canas shows an expertise of the era of history she has set this in, and I think she gets around the issue of delivering exposition about the setting to readers less familiar with life in the era by making its presence related to some of the emotional wounds of her primary characters and really most of the cast. Canas demonstrates an excellent knowledge of how social issues like sexism, racism, colorism, and classism impact people/characters, and I find it hard to completely hate most of the antagonists.

The prose is gorgeous and at times macabre. I (and a few members of the book club I read this for) quickly learned that reading it at night is not a good idea as we were quite jumpy afterwards.

It's not a flawless debut. While the book focuses heavily on the casta class system in Mexico, the few members of the servant class that get development is almost entirely Andres and his family, which I think slightly undercuts the theme. Rodolfo also feels more like a plot device than a character, which I'm not sure how I feel about it. His decision to leave the hacienda in Beatriz and Juana's hands while he rubs elbows with politicians in the capital is necessary for character motivation, it leaves him underdeveloped, and readers are left on their own to reconcile the Rodolfo who his first wife adores and the one who (sexual abuse mention and a spoiler)

rapes serving girls and hides Beatriz's letters from her mother.

There is also something about the ending that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Beatriz's mother inherits a small home from her husband's family and moves into it while Beatriz is surviving her husband's home and invites her to come. Something about the knowledge that if Beatriz waited she'd have a home that she didn't have to fight a malevolent spirit to survive in feels unsatisfactory. Returning to her mother fits with the other theme of home, and I don't know how else to do that in a way that isn't majorly depressing. Plus, Beatriz grows as a person and initiates healing for Andres and his extended family as well as the hacienda itself through her actions, so it's not a total let down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Abortion, Alcohol, Vomit, and War

amberinpieces's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Grief, Rape, Misogyny, Racism, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Cursing, and Pregnancy