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A review by chloe_liese
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
5.0
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance review copy—all opinions are my own!
WOW. I am floored. I expected to love this because I am a sucker for an atmospheric gothic horror, but I was not prepared for how deeply immersed, invested, haunted, and moved I would be by THE HACIENDA. Set in the early nineteenth century, post-War for Independence period in Mexico, Isabel Cañas' debut drew me in with its vivid, gorgeous prose as well as the perfect balance of jump scares and mounting suspicion about the evil that's at the heart of this story and the hacienda itself.
Beatriz and Andrés are each in their own ways exiles and outcasts in a society plagued by racist colonialism and corrupt societal and religious systems. Seeing how these two main characters believed in each other as no one else had, the way in which they empowered each other to step fully into their strength and identity and ultimately vanquish the lies and hatred poisoning the place they both called home, was a powerful message against those oppressive, hateful systems that would seek to keep them down.
I am so excited for the world to have this rich, atmospheric, poignant story. Cañas' gift for breathtaking prose and evocative storytelling is taking her places—I can't wait to see what she gives us next.
Content notes: gore, violence, mentions of rape and abortion.
WOW. I am floored. I expected to love this because I am a sucker for an atmospheric gothic horror, but I was not prepared for how deeply immersed, invested, haunted, and moved I would be by THE HACIENDA. Set in the early nineteenth century, post-War for Independence period in Mexico, Isabel Cañas' debut drew me in with its vivid, gorgeous prose as well as the perfect balance of jump scares and mounting suspicion about the evil that's at the heart of this story and the hacienda itself.
Beatriz and Andrés are each in their own ways exiles and outcasts in a society plagued by racist colonialism and corrupt societal and religious systems. Seeing how these two main characters believed in each other as no one else had, the way in which they empowered each other to step fully into their strength and identity and ultimately vanquish the lies and hatred poisoning the place they both called home, was a powerful message against those oppressive, hateful systems that would seek to keep them down.
I am so excited for the world to have this rich, atmospheric, poignant story. Cañas' gift for breathtaking prose and evocative storytelling is taking her places—I can't wait to see what she gives us next.
Content notes: gore, violence, mentions of rape and abortion.