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erandle's review against another edition
- 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
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
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
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
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death, Alcoholism, Animal death, Rape, Abortion, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Addiction