Review: The House of Gardenias by Isabel Cañas

The House of Gardenias by Isabel Cañas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I love a good gothic horror and this delivered. This follows Minerva, a teenager from a poor, abusive family who decides to leave her home one day and find a job. She finds work as a lady's made for a widow who has ties to the loyalist political group. This is set in what resembles a colonial Mexico, but the country is never named outright. Minerva's patron is surly, but she has her convictions and she has saved her from a terrible life and given her a home. When a political change takes place putting the Viceroy back in power who happens to be cousin of Minerva's Lady Encarnación del Valle, they retreat to the family home. The home is ancient and has been inhabited by the del Valle's for many years but Minerva finds that they were not the original owners of the estate. When Lady Encarnación dies unexpectedly in front of Minerva, she learns that there may be something else living in the house other than the del Valles lurking in the shadows.

I really enjoyed following Minerva around Casa de la Gardenias. The author did a wonderful job making the estate atmospheric and creepy. The gothic elements really came through in both the descriptions of the estate, the people, and time period. She also did a great job explaining the political atmosphere and while the del Valles had their opinions and loyalties on politics and played their parts to keep their lavish lifestyle, you could feel the tension that politics played in the country and the impact it had on everyone in the book. You could also feel the caste system that was in place not only within the aristocracy but in those who worked for them between the various levels of servants. I appreciated that all of the people in the book were realistic, Minerva isn't some superhero main character, she is surviving the best she can given her circumstances and her actions aren't out of the realm of possibility. You can feel her fear coming off the page. I loved the paranormal aspect, I won't go too much into it as it would be a spoiler, but I felt it was well done. It develops slowly but all is eventually explained.

This is my first book by the author, but I will certainly be checking out more from her. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it!

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