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A review by winemakerssister
The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes
2.0
2.5 stars
An adult re-telling of Encanto.
There were parts that I liked about The Enchanted Hacienda:
*Harlow's family
*the enchanted farm in Mexico
*all the flowers (although, of course, without magic they wouldn't be blooming at the same time)
*the language of flowers (although the use it felt a bit heavy-handed by the time I got to the end)
And quite a few parts that I didn't like:
*Harlow
*Ben's character was pretty flat. The author did a lousy job of describing and defining him
*All the flitting around - why did we need to go from NYC to Mexico to Quebec to Mexico to NYC to Mexico?
*Harlow is out of work, and before that she worked in a low-paying job, yet she hops on a plane without thinking about it and spends lots of money on clothing
*Lots of little details that are brought up and then forgotten without any resolution (like the "enemy" at work)
*The author writes about Ben describing writers as nearly god-like. Does the author think she's like that herself? For some reason, her describing herself through Ben's words made me cringe
*The supposedly fabulous book Harlow was writing was actually pretty awful
*Insta-love
It would've benefitted from more fantasy and less insipid romance. I'm a romance reader, but the strength in this novel was in the magical family and farm. I wanted more of that.
An adult re-telling of Encanto.
There were parts that I liked about The Enchanted Hacienda:
*Harlow's family
*the enchanted farm in Mexico
*all the flowers (although, of course, without magic they wouldn't be blooming at the same time)
*the language of flowers (although the use it felt a bit heavy-handed by the time I got to the end)
And quite a few parts that I didn't like:
*Harlow
*Ben's character was pretty flat. The author did a lousy job of describing and defining him
*All the flitting around - why did we need to go from NYC to Mexico to Quebec to Mexico to NYC to Mexico?
*Harlow is out of work, and before that she worked in a low-paying job, yet she hops on a plane without thinking about it and spends lots of money on clothing
*Lots of little details that are brought up and then forgotten without any resolution (like the "enemy" at work)
*The author writes about Ben describing writers as nearly god-like. Does the author think she's like that herself? For some reason, her describing herself through Ben's words made me cringe
*The supposedly fabulous book Harlow was writing was actually pretty awful
*Insta-love
It would've benefitted from more fantasy and less insipid romance. I'm a romance reader, but the strength in this novel was in the magical family and farm. I wanted more of that.