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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
5.0
“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?
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lorriss's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy
itsheyfay's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Physical abuse, Torture, and War
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
vaguely_pink's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
brunonadamas's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, and Murder
hayy6747's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
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: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy
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: Death, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
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, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, and Abortion
Minor: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail