Another wonderful, twisty, creepy story by Isabel Cañas. Dive into another world that we can only get from Cañas.
A debut gothic YA from the USA Today bestselling author of The Hacienda and The Possession of Alba Díaz.
Sixteen-year-old Minerva has spent her whole life in the slums of the capital city of an unnamed country that resembles colonial Mexico. Though she lives in the shadow of constant government turmoil, her empty belly and her father’s brutality don’t leave time for politics—especially since her older brothers ran away. Minerva can’t take another beating or miss another meal, so she steals flees to a wealthy loyalist neighborhood to win a job as a lady’s maid to an elderly widow. (Goodreads blurb)
I love Isabel Cañas. She’s a lovely writer and especially as she writes from a perspective that you don’t normally get
The House of Gardenias was all the creepiness and edginess that you want from Cañas.
I loved how there were multiple plot lines so you always felt busy as a reader trying to follow where everyone else was going.
I did really enjoy this book, but it is my least favorite that she’s written. I would recommend any new readers to her work to read any of her back catalogue.
Still four stars from me though.
Stats: 288 pages – Expected publication September 29, 2026
**Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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