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rachelunabridged's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Minor: Abortion, Rape, and Sexual content
honeywine's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Abortion
Moderate: Rape, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Grief, and Domestic abuse
macknificent's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
rbash2391's review against another edition
- 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
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
rorikae's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
brichneyfloss's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Murder
Minor: Infidelity
regen20's review against another edition
- 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
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
leahrosiee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, and Medical trauma
meliroo's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity and Rape
maregred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Minor: War, Violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Religious bigotry