There are books that sit on your shelf for years, quietly waiting, and then there are books that make you immediately regret not picking them up sooner. The Hacienda was absolutely one of those books for me.

This was a June 2023 Book of the Month add-on, and if I am being honest, it spent far too long sitting in my stack. Going into it, I had a prediction already planted in my mind: three stars. I have a complicated relationship with gothic stories set in this particular vein because I have a very love/hate relationship with Mexican Gothic. I kept hearing “Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca” and thought, okay… this could either be incredible or completely miss the mark for me.

I was wrong.

Completely, wonderfully wrong.

Five enthusiastic stars.

By the time I finished on May 10, 2026, I was left with that bittersweet feeling every reader knows: sadness that the story was over and regret that I had waited so long to finally experience it.

This book gives me everything I love about classic gothic fiction. A young bride arrives at a grand estate full of hopes and dreams for her future. A handsome but distant husband. Family tensions simmering under the surface. Closed doors. Hidden rooms. Long corridors that seem to breathe when no one is looking. Whispering voices. Secrets layered beneath secrets.

And then there is the house.

The hacienda itself feels alive in the way only truly great gothic settings do. It isn’t just a backdrop; it becomes its own unsettling, monstrous presence. Surrounded by sharp maguey fields and shadowed by its own history, the house carries that delicious feeling of dread that slowly settles into your bones.

I adored Beatriz as a heroine. She isn’t passive or fragile; she is determined, resilient, and trying to carve out a future for herself after tremendous loss. And then there is Padre Andrés.

I will simply say this:

Padre Andrés.

That is all.

If you know, you know.

What impressed me most was how Isabel Cañas managed to balance the rich atmosphere and supernatural horror with deeper themes of colonialism, class, power, and the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence without feeling heavy-handed. It never felt like history being inserted for the sake of history. Instead, it was woven naturally into the fabric of the story, making the haunting itself feel rooted in something larger.

The gothic elements were phenomenal. I read much of this late at night, which in hindsight may not have been my best decision because there were absolutely moments that gave me genuine chills. This book understands tension. It understands lingering unease. It understands the art of making you question whether you really want to turn the page while simultaneously making it impossible not to.

As someone who absolutely loves gothic fiction, this felt like reading something familiar while also feeling entirely fresh.

A strong heroine.

A terrifying house.

Forbidden feelings.

A hot priest.

Truly, what more could you ask for in a gothic ghost story?

If you love atmospheric gothic horror and want something with all the beautiful bones of classic gothic fiction but with a fresh perspective and a haunting all its own, pick this one up immediately.

Do not be like me and leave it sitting on your shelf for years.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 enthusiastic stars)

Finished: May 10, 2026
Book of the Month Add-On: June 2023
Would I recommend it? Absolutely and without hesitation.