Isabel Cañas

I have not read a monster-horror novel in quite a while, and it was so fun to be back! “Vampire of El Norte” had it all: great setting, interesting main characters, romance, and, of course, monsters. These vampires are less Edward Cullen and more huge bat-like creatures with no eyes that suck blood. In addition to these monsters, the Mexican-American war is raging and there are plenty of casualties from that as well.

Néstor went to live at Nena’s family’s ranchero after his family was attacked by U.S. soldiers when he was a child, and the two became close friends. But when they are attacked by a vampire, Néstor believes Nena has been killed and he runs away from the ranchero because he blames himself. Nine years later, Néstor returns to the ranchero to help out his family, and discovers that Nena is still alive and that the moment that has impacted his entire life was a lie.

Nena is training to be a healer and wants to help her ranchero with her skills, but her parents have other plans. They want to make an alliance through her marriage with another powerful ranchero. Nena offers her healing skills on the battlefield to try and show her father her value. Through this journey Nena and Néstor are reunited and there is anger and hurt on both sides. Their journey to save the ranchero and their journey of reconciliation runs parallel throughout the book.

I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I would recommend it to people who are looking for romance with their horror (or horror with their romance).

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

Hacienda by Isabel Canos.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
Available Print: COPYRIGHT:) 5/3/2022; PUBLISHER: Doubleday, First edition; ISBN 978-0593436691; PAGES 352; Unabridged

Available Digital: Yes

The version I listened to: *Audio: COPYRIGHT: 11/3/2009; ISBN: 9780593552681; PUBLISHER: Books on Tape; DURATION: 11:13:44; PARTS: 10; File Size: 320590 KB; Unabridged; (Overdrive: LAPL)

Feature Film or tv: No

SERIES: No

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: It was close to Halloween when a friend, Susan, recommended it.
What it was about: A young lady marries for convenience, thinking she has no other choice and knowing a nice home comes with the marriage that she imagines she can bring her mother to, to live. The family and servants of the man she has married are not welcoming, and then she finds that the house isn’t either. When she requests that the church assist her with blessing the house, trouble begins.
What I thought: Actually, this is the kind of story, that, were I to accidentally begin watching it on TV, I would instantly turn off. I am no longer the teenager that enjoyed ghost stories complete with gore and evil beings. (In fact, this one actually gave me nightmares.) But, because I didn’t have to endure the visuals, it had been recommended by a friend, and there was a strong enough plot, I completed it. For its genre it was great, for me it wasn’t. These are the times I struggle with ratings.

AUTHOR:
Isabel Canos
From Goodreads__ “Isabel Cañas is a Mexican-American speculative fiction writer. After having lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, and Turkey, among other places, she has settled (for now) in New York City. She holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction inspired by her research and her heritage.”

NARRATOR(S):
Victoria Villarreal:
Sorry, I didn’t find any biographies online.

Lee Osorio
From AudioFile_ “Lee is an actor, audiobook narrator, and playwright based in Atlanta. He identifies as a queer, Latinx, Democratic Socialist, Christian with Buddhist leanings. Fall of 2021, Lee was one of 1600 applicants to be selected to participate in the first cohort of Penguin Random House Audio Narrator Mentorship Program. He has since recorded multiple titles with PRH.”

GENRE:
Fiction; Horror; Romance; Thriller

SUBJECTS:
Ghosts, witchcraft; Priests; haunted houses
RATING:.
3
STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
12-18-2022 to 12-24-2022… (meer)

I was looking forward to this book quite a bit, based on the setting (1823 Mexico) and the description of Rebecca + spooky horror. Thus my disappointment that it just doesn't work for me is huge.

To start, the additional marketing line that The Hacienda is at all similar to Mexican Gothic is just that - and laughable, too. They're both haunted house stories set in Mexico, but that's about it. I found Mexican Gothic much more sinister, and thrilling, and more pointed in its treatment of colonialism, religion, and the other usual Gothic themes.


The Hacienda has some very good, evocative sections but mostly falls flat for me. I quit when on page 110, we get this paragraph:

“I will be safe, Doña Beatriz.”

But I wouldn’t be. If I knew anything about how the house felt—and lately I was beginning to worry I knew altogether too much—I knew that it resented people like him and me. People with plans and ideas. Dread drummed a militant beat in my chest at the thought of going back to my room and sitting in the dark, all the while aware he was poking and prodding around the house’s entrails. He didn’t understand what this house was. He couldn’t.

Up to this point, there has been no indication that the house resents Beatriz because of her plans for it. In fact, we know that the housekeeper and Beatriz's husband's sister do as much as they can to avoid being in the house, but not that they have any plans for it. Though it's not stated outright, it's suggested that they are also harmed by the house - in fact, the housekeeper doesn't spend time in the kitchen without spells of protection.

So where is this coming from, that the house resents people with plans for it? Does Beatriz completely ignore everyone else in San Isidro who says the house is bad news? She certainly seems to have a lot of disdain for absolutely everyone she meets, without much textual reason why. The paragraph above isn't much different from chapter 2, which I had to read three times before I could spot in the text indications that Beatriz was hungry to be in charge, and assumed she was hated by the residents of San Isidro for being the new patróness. (It was just so... mild, I didn't pick up on the grasping greed at all!)

Most of the writing style is the same breathless short sentences for emotional emphasis, but it generally feels flat for me, without any real stakes behind them, thus far. Beatriz doesn't need to be a likable character, but I do want to care about what happens to her. Unfortunately, I don't. Juana, the patrón's older sister now displaced from her position in charge, is far more interesting to me than the bland new wife who doesn't seem to care about anything but shoving her new position into her aunt's face.

This book could have been so interesting and compelling, but it has no real stakes and treats the more interesting secondary characters as not interesting, actually. (At least, as of page 110.)

Such a pity.… (meer)