Caitlin's Reviews > The Hacienda

** spoiler alert ** I do wish I had known going into the book that it is definitely not a true gothic. The Hacienda was billed as Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca, so my expectations were pretty set from the get-go. But I can confidently say this is more of a romance/thriller with gothic elements included. Expectations really can make or break a book, and I just think I would have enjoyed this more if I knew that this would be a fairly fast-paced, split narrative, forbidden love haunted house story rather than a straight gothic story.

Why is it not a true gothic? At least to me?

Our protag Beatriz is just too well supported by our other protag, Andres. And in fact, Andres is the one who saves the day and makes most of the critical decisions. This to me read more as a romance rather than in gothic literature where the mood is truly overshadowed by fear and gloom.

Our (living) villains are hardly present. Rodolfo and Juana are absent for the majority of the book, and everything horrid we learn about them is conveyed indirectly, ie from letters, rumors, visions, etc. We don’t have enough time to really soak in their bad vibes, and spooky suspenseful villain vibes is such an important part of gothic lit.

(I will also honestly say there were too many bad guys. All with different motivations. It was confusing and unnecessary.)

Can I also say….not enough gaslighting. Beatriz is so confident and sure of herself and the fact that the house is haunted and that she needs help to cleanse it. We love a strong female protag, but I need to see a little agony and self doubt in a gothic protag to really buy that she’s struggling, you know? Beatriz was honestly a little too perfect. Yes, she is sad about her mom, sure. But she’s confident about the decisions she makes at all times and hardly ever wavers.

I also just feel like the story was too fast. The haunting starts fast, the romance with Andres starts fast, the sudden reveal of Juana as the bad guy was too fast, and that’s the opposite of the atmospheric slow burn I look for in a good gothic novel.

This all said….it’s not a gothic novel. The characters aren’t SUPER fleshed out. But it’s a solid story and it’s nice to read a horror with a non-white cast of characters! I would definitely recommend this one for a fun spooky season read!