Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

10 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I liked reading this book enough, but everything about it was too superficial. I think this book would've been better if longer - the relationship between Beatriz and Andrés never really got a chance to develop. I would've liked to see that one grow over a slow simmer. Same with the relationship between Beatriz and Rodolfo. Rodolfo's past sins were glossed over too quickly, so that I never really felt the impact of his actions. While they were abhorrent, I didn't get a chance to process them. Juana and María Catalina also needed more development. Their rage was assumed, when really, their motives were so shallow that their actions seemed over the top, which then put the whole book at risk of falling apart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ixris's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A historical ghost story with plenty of jump scares over a discussion of class divide and colonialism. 

There is a romance, but it's not hot and heavy, much more muted compared to many other novels I've read this year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

th3bookthief's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

linzlee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Animal death

noshakira's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I absolutely loved this book. It's equal parts spooky, empowering, and romantic. It perfectly captures the feelings, both good and bad, when you walk into a space that feels like it is living. Typically, I dislike period pieces, and would have avoided a book set in the 1800s like this one, but the storyline didn't feel as dated as many others and focused more on the timeless human and haunting aspects. Beautifully written and read like a movie in my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

cover2covertx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Abortion

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I took half a star off my rating for ending on a sort of cliff hanger, but the book is very good and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

fifteenthjessica's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beatriz is desperate to escape the household of her mother's cousin, where she is forced to work as a scullery maid due to her mestizo heritage, and she thinks marriage to Rodolfo Solorzano, a wealthy hacienda owner in the country, is the key to a life for her and her mother similar to the one they lost when her father was killed in the Mexican Revolution. However, the Hacienda is anything but a refuge. Servants and Rodolfo's sister avoid it at night, no one really knows what happened to Rodolfo's first wife, shadows move on their own, areas of the house are unnaturally cold, and Beatriz is haunted by visions of blood. Beatriz's only hope of rescue is Andres, a mestizo priest with ties to the hacienda and supernatural powers that he's suppressed out of fear of the Inquisition.

It's a horror and historic fiction hybrid, and while I don't read the former much and can't say how well it holds up to others (it's the best of the few I've read), but the historic fiction aspects are excellent. Isabel Canas shows an expertise of the era of history she has set this in, and I think she gets around the issue of delivering exposition about the setting to readers less familiar with life in the era by making its presence related to some of the emotional wounds of her primary characters and really most of the cast. Canas demonstrates an excellent knowledge of how social issues like sexism, racism, colorism, and classism impact people/characters, and I find it hard to completely hate most of the antagonists.

The prose is gorgeous and at times macabre. I (and a few members of the book club I read this for) quickly learned that reading it at night is not a good idea as we were quite jumpy afterwards.

It's not a flawless debut. While the book focuses heavily on the casta class system in Mexico, the few members of the servant class that get development is almost entirely Andres and his family, which I think slightly undercuts the theme. Rodolfo also feels more like a plot device than a character, which I'm not sure how I feel about it. His decision to leave the hacienda in Beatriz and Juana's hands while he rubs elbows with politicians in the capital is necessary for character motivation, it leaves him underdeveloped, and readers are left on their own to reconcile the Rodolfo who his first wife adores and the one who (sexual abuse mention and a spoiler)

rapes serving girls and hides Beatriz's letters from her mother.

There is also something about the ending that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Beatriz's mother inherits a small home from her husband's family and moves into it while Beatriz is surviving her husband's home and invites her to come. Something about the knowledge that if Beatriz waited she'd have a home that she didn't have to fight a malevolent spirit to survive in feels unsatisfactory. Returning to her mother fits with the other theme of home, and I don't know how else to do that in a way that isn't majorly depressing. Plus, Beatriz grows as a person and initiates healing for Andres and his extended family as well as the hacienda itself through her actions, so it's not a total let down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, Alcohol, and War

sophmcgraw's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion and Alcohol

blissofalife's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The inspirations for this book

Rebecca, Shirley Jackson novels

are obvious throughout but told through a fresh lens and seamlessly combined. The build-up was superb, the climax felt a little too fast. Would still recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War