This novel wanted to be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets Mexican Gothic and missed the mark on both. Between the boring family drama of the present-day scenes and the flat characters of the flashback scenes, there really wasn't enough substance to make this book worth reading. The horror elements of the haunted house were interesting, but the prose was very simple which was disappointing. Had the author gone in the literary-horror direction instead of the action-horror direction, I think I would have rated this novel higher. If this novel had better descriptive language and a more immersive atmosphere I think that I would have enjoyed reading it more.