This book was definitely not for me. It felt like the first chapter was set up weird and just full of information that could have been expanded on in more chapters. It overwhelmed me. I think readers who liked “The Hacienda” might like this.

Trigger warning: suicide

This book encapsulates so many powerful women, Mexican folklore, with fantasy/horror vibes. It takes place in multiple time periods, all reflecting on women who have seen La Llorona but primarily centers around Alejandra in the present day. Alejandra has recently moved from Texas to Philadelphia with her husband and three children. She is feeling very isolated and depressed and has began to see a figure who is telling her to kill herself. Alejandra seeks professional help from licensed therapist and calundera Melanie. Melanie helps Alejandra to feel connected to her culture and gain an understanding of why La Llorona may be seeking her out. Alejandra determines it is a generational curse and that she is the one who must put a stop to it all.

I really enjoyed the multiple points of view. I think that Flor was my favorite and would have loved to hear a little more from her! I think this book was just the right length to keep me interested. The description of La Llorona did become a bit repetitive at times. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something different in the horror/fantasy/ghost type genres!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved The Haunting of Alejandra!

First Impressions:
I adored the cover art. And I’d be tempted to by the book on that alone.

Strong female characters trying to break a generational trauma cycle that lasts hundreds of years. Lots of La Llorona lore. A creature/demon who whispers the worst into young mother’s ears. A curse that seems like it can never be broken.

This was a real emotion twister of a story. Especially for mother’s of young daughters. I typically love everything from this author and she’s an auto-buy for me. Alejandra was no exception.

A powerful piece of fiction that explores motherhood, identity, misogyny, and Mexican folklore. Alejandra's depression is both heartbreaking and powerfully real, as she tries to navigate being a good mother while dealing with an cruel, unsupportive husband, a troubled relationship with her young kids, and a life that does not reflect the person she wants to be. Part of the horror of this is the is the physical spirit haunting Alejandra, but also the frightening reality of her situation, and the thought that thousands of women are trapped in similar situations across the country. It is also heavily gory, and explores womanhood and the body as a manifestation of horror. As dark as this story is, I also appreciated the brighter moments, such as the beautiful relationship between Alejandra and her birth mother.

I’ve been trying to read more books by Hispanic and Latinx authors so, even though I didn’t enjoy Mexican Gothic as much as I’d hoped, when V. Castro’s upcoming The Haunting of Alejandra was suggested to me because I’d read Mexican Gothic, I decided to at least read the description. The description was intriguing enough that I decided to give The Haunting of Alejandra a chance and I did enjoy it considerably more than Mexican Gothic. The horror elements within The Haunting of Alejandra felt all the more sinister for feeding on such common, relatable, and timeless insecurities of living as a woman, wife, mother, daughter.

Alejandra struggles to get through her days as a stay-at-home mother of three. She is overwhelmed by the demands of caring for her children under the judgmental eyes of her new neighbors, the other mothers at school, and her unsympathetic husband. On several occasions, she only just overcomes the urge to kill herself, a voice in her head egging her on, a veiled and shrouded figure mocking her efforts and encouraging her to give up. As Alejandra’s visions of the veiled woman become more vivid and her children begin to see the woman too, Alejandra decides it is finally time to get help. Finding a therapist whose background makes it easier for Alejandra to also connect to her Mexican heritage (a heritage she is still learning about having been adopted at birth and only recently reconnecting with her birth mother), Alejandra makes a connection between what’s haunting her and the folkloric figure of La Llorona. But it soon becomes clear that it is far from a figment of Alejandra’s imagination tormenting her and her children. Confronting and overcoming her insecurities are only the first steps in the creature that feeds on and revels in her pain and suffering.

My favorite aspect of The Haunting of Alejandra was the way the novel was structured. Balancing Alejandra’s journey to rebuild her mental and emotional strength with the stories of other women in her bloodline who had to contend with the same creature kept the action moving along while also demonstrating the stakes of Alejandra’s struggle. In so many ways it shows how much women’s struggles to balance the demands of raising and caring for their families, of constantly being told that it is your job to sacrifice yourself for the good of others, with what we need as individuals to feel fulfilled has always been there. The incessant judgment, the gaslighting, the dehumanizing. They’ve always been a part of life and continuing on in the face of them is frustrating and infuriating and exhausting. Seeing the various ways different women confront that reality and fight back (even those who eventually succumb) reinforces that they are worth battling and that it’s possible to make it better for future generations.

In many ways, The Haunting of Alejandra is a difficult book to get through, especially in the early chapters when Alejandra’s suffering is so acute. Her relationship with her husband could be so infuriating, I needed to step away from the book for a while. But as she finds the support and encouragement she needs and she grows stronger, the pace of the narrative picks up and it became harder and harder to put down. Though I didn’t care much for the creature as an actual, physical entity, the metaphor behind it worked well enough that I didn’t care. The climactic confrontation was… I don’t know that I’d call it satisfying or thrilling, but it allowed for a satisfactory conclusion and epilogue at least. I enjoyed the novel enough that I might look into reading some of V. Castro’s other available work.

The Haunting of Alejandra will be available April 18, 2023.

This book was well written and engaging but also heavy on triggering mental health content and I felt glorified self harm as a solution in many ways which I didn’t appreciate. An engaging read but I would tell others to proceed with caution.

I fell in love with V. Castro’s writing when I read Goddess of Filth. I’ve been looking forward to reading this since I heard she was writing a book about La Llorona. It’s a story I grew up hearing during my childhood. I can remember kids trying to scare each other in school with the story of the woman who supposedly drowned her children. The stories varied but usually they included a kid imitating the cry of La Llorona, “hay mis hijos.” So, coming from someone who is Mexican and who grew up with this story, I can safely say this book did not disappoint.

I really love how V. Castro’s stories are part horror, part Mexican culture, and part strong female characters. This is especially well done in The Haunting of Alejandra.

Some of the things I enjoyed about this book were the characters, the story, and of course the horror.
The author has a way of making you connect with characters in a short amount of time. The introduction to the main character, Alejandra, was perfectly done. Even if you aren’t a mother, it’s easy to step into her shoes and feel for her. The husband made me angry which tells you that he was very well written. I’m not usually a big fan of switching POVs but I think it really works in this story. I liked getting to know more about Alejandra’s family and where everything started with La Llorona.
The story kept me intrigued all throughout the book. It was interesting to get to see different people at various points in history and how they all connected to Alejandra’s story. The horror in this isn’t what you’d expect. There aren’t any cheap thrills here. The horror is a metaphor for real life generational trauma that people, especially Mexican women, go through. Obviously, it’s not to say that other people don’t go through trauma. This book just focuses on a certain type of trauma but it does also mention that men go through “curses” too.

This book was excellent and I’ll be gushing about it to my family and friends. It’s definitely the type of story that needed to be told. I’ll be looking forward to reading more from V. Castro as she’s quickly become one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to V. Castro for writing this story. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine, Del Rey for providing a digital ARC for review.

Alejandra is the stay at home mother of three children. Her husband Matthew has a new job that gives him less time to help out. Not that he ever does anything anyway. Not that he's ever noticed how miserable Alejandra is. Not that he listens when she says she wants to die. But Alejandra isn't alone like she thinks. La Llorona is in the shadows, urging her on.

I went into this thinking it is horror. It definitely has elements but the story is about Alejandra, motherhood, and generational trauma. That is what La Llorona is all about I guess but I was just left confused about this creepy creature. I never quite understood how she went about her business or what/who it really is. There are too many viewpoints, including at times from the creature which didn't work for me. We are introduced it seems to everyone in Alejandra's family tree and their stories are all the same.

I enjoyed the beginning and thought it was a good set up for some haunting. Her relationship with Matthew was relatable but also over the top. Then the creature came out of the dark, sometimes literally, and the creepiness was lost. Alejandra begins talking with a therapist and it seems we read the entire therapy sessions. The haunting feeling goes away as the tone shifts. I think other people might like this a lot more than I did especially if you like milder horror with a focus on women's stories.

I was fortunate enough to get an advanced digital copy from @netgalley (thank you) VCastro is my soul-hermana because I immerse myself in anything she writes! This story was a modern, quasi-retelling of the Mexican legend of La Llorona, or The Weeping Woman, written in a modern setting (La Llorona is the ghost of a mother who killed her children and caused grave misfortune). This was a quasi-retelling and cross-sectional story depicting multigenerational trauma stemming from Alejandra’s grandmother. Alejandra is a stay-at-home mother living a mundane life and researching her background, especially since she was adopted. Because Alejandra feels trapped in what seems to be a monotonous and loveless marriage, she inadvertently allows La Llorona to creep into her life and torment her! The best part? Alejandra was not the only one cursed with this haunting; her mother and grandmother were victims of the same!

Mexican heritage, resiliency, lore, and the supernatural were abundant in this story, and I loved every page! VCastro can interchangeably and smoothly switch from the past to the present with a big heaping scoop of Mexican heritage, culture, and history! And that cover is just gorgeous!

Look out for the release of this book on April 18th!!

This book is inspired by Mexican folk lore, which is something I would really love to continue to read about & see more books on I also love when a writer can do multiple POV’s & have them weave with each other like this one did even with the different generations.

As much as I enjoyed this concept, I think the actual writing fell a little flat for me. Assuming this goes through a decent amount t of editing, I think it has good potential & could be a great story. Too much focus on the beginning of this book, as I understand the reasoning, I just felt like it was too heavy on that & too light on the rest, including the dialog. The dialog just felt a little choppy and really forced / unnatural. A lot of telling me rather than showing me. Again I love love love this concept, it just isn’t evenly proportioned. With some revision / editing I do this this book had great potential.

**I do want to thank NetGalley & Random House for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review**

Thank you, NetGalley, and Random House publishing group Ballantine for
ARC The Haunting of Alejandra. I finished this fantastic story about a woman who is unhappy with her life. Alejandra struggles to fight the evil thoughts and voices and the Mexican folk demon La Llorona. Who haunted her; with the help of her therapist, Alejandra can break the cycle of depression.

Overall I like this book.

The book opened with Alexandra in the shower contemplating suicide and wanting it desperately. She’s interrupted by her whiny husband asking if she’s going to come cook dinner or not the kids are hungry. She recently reunited with her birth mother and has only negative feelings for her adoptive mother who took her and seven other children in and raised them as Christians. Want to start seeing a therapist she will not only know the DNA of her family tree but the history of devastating lives of the females before her. Although there is a redemption in this book I think it if you suffer from any type of depression don’t read this because I read books to escape and this book made me feel worse than I did before reading it. Her husband gas lights are and has he even taught the children to see her more like a servant then their mother in her times of despair our Johndra gets visited by our Llorona she is the mother of Mexican legend that killed her children to be with her lover and now Romes the earth looking for them and taking the children of other mothers. She has made mini deals with Alexandra‘s ancestors and wants to do the same with Alexandra but just like she’s inherited the females in her families pain she has also inherited their strength and will not give up her children quite so easy. There were a lot of things I found dark and depressing about this book and it’s most of it and as I said although there was a redemption it just wasn’t enough for me to get the book more than two stars. It takes a lot for me to get such a low star rating but this book was just too depressing. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was such an interesting mix of a contemporary novel mixed with Mexican folklore, specifically the tale of La Llorona. IT follow mostly Alejandra, a modern day woman who is unhappily married and struggling with motherhood when she starts to feel like something isn't right. She's seeing things, and so are her children. She comes to learn more about her ancestors, and subsequent chapters are told through their eyes, as well, as we learn about a monster who goes after women in her bloodline. It was spooky and I had to know what was going to happen!

God this cover is so beautiful!! Sadly, I just couldn't get into the book. I think it's a great premise. I don't really know many Latine authors in the horror genre and especially not any that focus on Mexican lore, motherhood, and generational trauma. These were elements I really enjoyed. But I just couldn't get into the writing. It felt very stilted and unnatural, and at times a bit pretentious? I think that writing in a more literary way is important but I think the author tried too hard when I think the prose could have been simpler. This also made it hard to connect with Alejandra

I want to start off saying that I decided not to finish this book at 50% through. While the book was good for what it was, I had an issue with the pacing. While this is a book based on day to day life of a mother and her children while she is struggling with mental health, this book was not what I expected it to be and not in a good way. I found this book almost a chore to read and I am very sorry to say this.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for providing this eARC. All opinions are my own.

I have to thank NetGalley and Del Rey for ethical purposes or some such thing but I actually really want to thank V. Castro for writing this book. For showing our cultura, for putting on beautiful brown women as the lead characters, and for writing this wonderful book.

Generational curses. Generational trauma. How does it begin and how do we end it?
In The Haunting of Alejandra we meet the titular character at her wit's end. She is a married stay-at-home mom with three children, living in a nice home. How many people would love to be in her shoes. What nobody knows and nobody sees are the dark thoughts that plague Alejandra's mind. Are those thoughts really hers or are they part of a generational curse she inherited from her ancestors? And how can these ancestors help her rid herself of those dark thoughts?

The best way I can describe this book is The Conjuring, Mexican-style. La Llorona had me sold on this book from the beginning. Who among us Mexican kids doesn't know the story of the wailing lady who drowned her children and now wanders the earth crying for them. She is known by other names in other cultures but to us, whenever we would hear the wind crying, we knew La Llorona was near (or so we were told).

I really enjoyed how V. Castro introduced the story of La Llorona and even went so far as to let readers know that there are tons of different versions of the story, so don't @ her (the latter is what I surmised, she didn't actually write that). I loved how brutally honest Alejandra's inner dialogue was. The struggles of motherhood, of marriage, of losing our sense of identity or never having it to begin with, of wondering what our existence means. The book starts dark and remains dark for a long time, all the while taking us through Alejandra's journey of trying to rid herself of the dark thoughts and going into the light. We are taken back to how her generational curse began -- who could blame Atzi! -- to how it affected different women throughout her ancestral lineage. I really enjoyed reading all the different points of view and all the different experiences the women had. It was refreshing to have the story centered around these mujeres chingonas who fought against cultural norms or fought that inner demon they were cursed with (or both).

I also really enjoyed Alejandra's journey with her mental health and the thoughts she had while seeking help ("She knew she had to tell Melanie about it, but that old sense of doubt, of not wanting to be a burden, snuck into her thoughts.") that make it clear that this isn't an easy journey. I did feel that Alejandra's transformation into taking charge of her life was too fast. I love it, but it felt a bit unrealistic and that's a bummer because the rest of Alejandra's mental health journey felt so realistic, from her inner turmoil to her discomfort with therapy.

I can't wait for people to get their hands on this book and get immersed into the horror that La Llorona brings.

Alejandra is being haunted by La Llorona. She must fight for her life and her children’s lives with guidance and strength from her ancestors to break this curse that plagues the women of her bloodline.

I was so invested in this story. I saw so much of myself in Alejandra and love this idea of generational trauma manifesting itself as a supernatural creature. Trauma can feel like someone or something is tearing away at your life little by little, waiting for you to fail. Wanting you to fail.

The social commentary on the pressures of being a mother, a wife, a woman of color, meeting unrealistic expectations and being everything for everyone else except for yourself was all too real. Alejandra faces what so many women have to deal with every day. The dark thoughts, the emotions, feeling that something is missing from their lives, the loss of identity or the feeling of never having been able to have one of their own to begin with. From generation to generation we are taught to be pretty and quiet, to serve men and to put the family’s needs before our own. But how can we pour from an empty cup? It is important for us to nurture our own souls so we don’t get consumed by the world’s expectations and lose ourselves.

This was a very emotional read for me. I enjoyed the folklore, the different perspectives of the women in the bloodline and Melanie the therapist. I would love to see her work with characters in other stories. I feel she has so much to offer and she was my favorite character in the book.

Overall, this was an amazing read with a powerful message and I will be encouraging friends and family to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book.

V. Castro has a very distinctive style of writing that I really enjoy. Her prose is accessible, and she tends to focus on things that interest me deeply – the experiences of women, Mexican culture/lore, and vengeful goddess-types. The Haunting of Alejandra definitely has all of that and more.

I like Alejandra a lot – I think that she is living a life not so very different from uncountable women. She is caught in an endless loop of domestic drama with a wooden, crappy-ish husband, kids that exist, etc. I really enjoyed that the narrative – at least in the beginning – is mostly Alejandra’s internal dialogue. It keeps the reader constantly slightly off balance because we don’t know how reliable a narrator Alejandra really is. We have only her word, her interpretation of things to go on.

But later in the book, the narrative splits off. So we are no longer relying solely on Alejandra’s personal perception of reality. And this splitting point is, in my opinion, where The Haunting of Alejandra really shines. The beginning stuff is good, but everything that comes after that shift is incredible.

This story has all of the tragedy you might expect (as well as a heady dose of gore you might not have expected) in a La Llorona tale, but it also has some deeply empowering messaging going on.

I love V.’s intrinsic ability to tell a compelling, empowering, disturbing story with incredible finesse. The Haunting of Alejandra is every bit as beautiful as it is disturbing. You’ll stay thinking about this one for a while.

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Is it possible for there to be generational curses? Can someone curse a woman hundreds of years ago that would affect the women of the line for generations to come? Apparently Alejandra is being haunted by a creature. A very old creature from a dark place. A creature that speaks to her. A creature that wants her soul.

Pretty horrifying, right? In modern times this might be more apt to be diagnosed as schizophrenia or some other science to explain voices in your head, hallucinations of spirits. Poor Alejandra. She’s been battling these demons since childhood and now, with three children of her own, she simply wants to be happy. Would death be the best choice?

Alejandra is in an unhappy marriage. A marriage that ensures she can be a stay-at-home mom to her kids. A husband who is willing to provide whatever she desires, as long as it fits his desires as well. Three beautiful children who simply drive Alejandra insane. She needs more.

I found this story amazing. I knew nothing of the ancient tale of La Llorona, a demon woman from Mexican culture. I loved learning more about Mexican folklore and how they honor the dead. It’s quite a lesson and quite a journey through Alejandra’s ancestry. It is at once a horrifying experience, but also shows the power of love and courage.

Great novel.

This review is a courtesy provided by NetGalley. To support this site and my other work, please consider being a monthly donor at Patreon.com/amberunmasked.

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro takes horror to an intersectional feminist level in a way that was unexpected. Castro unleashes a brazen way to deliver tropes and turn them into something brand new.

Castro presents the story of Alejandra and all her female ancestors as a folk tale that is terrifying within the Mexican and Mexican-American cultures. She allows Alejandra to tell her young daughter Catrina about La Llorona. While presenting this iconic legend, Alejandra explains that there are many versions of this story in various cultures. The tale of a weeping woman in white who has killed her children and spends eternity as a ghost searching for them is one that Alejandra can relate to – not that she would ever harm her three children only that she’s so depressed she wishes she weren’t a mother, a wife, or even alive.

As a child, Alejandra was raised by white evangelical Christians who denied her opportunities to learn where she came from or anything about her roots. She left as soon as possible and lived promiscuously and openly bisexual until marrying Matthew. She kept much of her past a secret from him and molded herself into everything he wanted in a wife. This despair she feels makes her wonder if La Llorona is real and if the cursed woman is chasing her.

Castro focuses on a different character or a pair in each chapter. These include Alejandra's birth mother, ancestors, and her therapist, Melanie. Within those chapters readers are gifted the narration of the story’s biggest villain simply called “the creature.” This is a monster who is older than the Earth itself. The creature ends up on this planet drawn to it almost magnetically by depression and despair of women – their tears and blood giving it life and power it hadn’t known before.

These elements of mental illness – particularly postpartum depression and suicidal ideations of women –are the catalyst in Castro's formula to remake the legend of La Llorona. I was not disappointed and I hope other fans of folklore are not either, especially for Chicana readers. Castro's new origin of La Llorona (not spoiled here) is so much better than ones I’ve heard and the one Alejandra tells Catrina.

Melanie is the guiding force for Alejandra to help her find her own strength not to listen to the voice telling her that the world would be better without her. As soon as Melanie begins interfering with the creature's manipulation of Alejandra's delicate mental state, there is payback.

Alejandra has another champion in her birth mother Cathy who had given her up for adoption at the moment of the birth. This is a recurring theme as well. What makes a family? Are you supposed to love and trust everyone even they hurt you? Cathy's story is also beautiful in its own way; as is Flor’s, one of the ancestors who rebuffed life in an unhappy arranged marriage and joined the war for Mexico's independence.

Castro shows how all these women are bonded yet vastly different in what choices made them truly happy in their sad, awful lives.

In typical (white American) horror stories, there will be some way to get female characters in their underwear and often soaking wet or naked gratuitously. When Alejandra gets into a bathtub naked and bloody, this is a scene surpassing other stories that tried to make urban legends claiming to be more feminist like Jennifer’s Body. I started thinking of all the female protagonists in thrillers and then I asked for help on this part because these aren’t movies I’d watch. The list illustrated that women ended up naked or in underwear for no reason other than titillation: Ripley in Alien. Norah in Underwater. Chrissie in Jaws. Most of Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, Wrong Turn, Piranha 3D, It Follows, anything labeled horror in the 1970s and 80s-- Scream basically tried to parody the exploitation but it wasn’t parody. There are too many to list quite frankly. If showing a gun or poison in a mystery has to be either a red herring or a clue; then in horror, blood-covered naked women have to serve a purpose to the plot.

To all the female characters dying in hot tubs and bodies of water, there can be more to your story! (Editors and Writers, are you reading this?)

CW:
Severe depression and mental illness
Sexual assault
Religious zealotry
Children/infant/fetal danger including miscarriage
Gun violence
Partner & child abuse

Summary:
If you feel the content warnings won't deter you, let me highly recommend this book. I do not like being scared and I never felt like I had to "put this book in the freezer." I loved it!