Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Hacienda

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?

Content Warnings

enf87's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I wanted to like this book more. The writing style seemed, from the beginning, a bit underdeveloped. I would've liked the characters to develop more, and the romance angle felt like an odd choice at times. The plot pulled me in and wasn't entirely predictable for me, but the "big twists" felt rushed - I wanted to see the characters process more of the horror of the truth as it was revealed. The pace felt uneven as a result: the beginning burned a bit too slowly for me, then the ending was over too quickly. Overall, it was an ok read, but I would not reread.

Content Warnings

lorriss's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Content Warnings

More...