Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey/Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is important to note this review is based on an uncorrected proof so there may be some differences once the final version of the book is published.

Initially, I thought this was a beautiful cover with creepy horror elements, so I was excited to receive an ARC. The descriptions of the monster, La Llorona, were genuinely creepy, and knowing it preys on generations of women was an interesting premise. This also piqued my interest when I saw it was based on Mexican folklore, because it is not something I commonly come across.
However, once I started reading, I quickly realized this book was not what I expected it to be. I started reading this thinking it was a true horror novel, but it reads more as a literary novel with horror elements. The author relies on gory descriptions for everyday occurrences and killing characters, which is probably why it is marketed as a horror. As a result, this may attract the wrong readers to this book.

In terms of Alejandra, the author does an incredible job to show how she is struggling with her decisions in life and how this impacts her mental state. As the reader, it becomes a little redundant because you feel for her suffering, but you are tired of rehashing it again and again. I believe the beginning of the novel should be focused on the first woman La Llorona interacts with and then flashes forward to the present day with Alejandra. Starting the novel with the main character’s internal dialogue made it difficult to keep reading. By beginning with the monster, I believe this novel would have had a stronger start.

Another edit that should be made is to reorder the flashbacks, since they felt disconnected from Alejandra and with each other. Lastly, the dialogue between characters felt forced and at times, awkward.

Overall, this was not the right fit for me. I would still recommend this book to literary fiction fans, who are interested in reading and relating to the struggles of motherhood and depression.

I picked this book for a spooky read around Halloween, but it turned into more than what I bargained for. The narration was tough to follow at times and the creepiness was disturbing and made it harder for me to follow along. Perhaps it is because I am not a huge fan of horror, but this sounded awesome and I wanted to try something new.

Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this novel before publication date. The review that follows is honest and done freely.

I have become more interested in Mexican folklore lately, and The Haunting of Alejandra was a perfect fit. I knew a little about La Llorona, but it was still new enough for me that I really enjoyed diving into the world created by the author. I don't have children of my own, so I can only imagine how being a struggling young mother would feed into the horror.

V. Castro created a wonderful character with Alejandra. It is easy to relate to her character's depression even if you are not in her particular situation. The author was able to put into words how someone in this state can feel.

Horror aside, I strongly recommend this book for anyone that is interested in reading about a woman who is trying to find herself again.

Admittedly since it deals with the story of La Llorona, I do think some people will find this book a bit too dark. If you are not a fan of horror (or the story of the La Llorona), you should skip this book. The horror is more psychological but some descriptions are rather graphic and can unsettle those that are easily disturbed.

V. Castro's The Haunting of Alejandra brilliantly incorporates themes of generational trauma and motherhood into this modern retelling of the La Llorona mythology.

We meet Alejandra is in crisis. She is clearly suffering from depression and is unsatisfied with her stereotypical upper middle class life as a stay-at-home mother to three kids. She loves her kids but feels stifled by them just as she feels repressed and dismissed by her controlling husband.

Adopted from birth, Castro uses Alejandra's interest in reconnecting with her Mexican heritage and her birth parents. This brings about flashbacks and insight to the origins of the generational curse plaguing and feeding off of the women in Alejandra's family as each generation can claim the trauma of maternal abandonment or emotional distance. While the curse manifests as the ghost La Llorona, there are very clear inferences that this ghost could easily be postpartum depression as the spirit was often first seen in the hospital room after they gave birth.

Overall, the husband was the least interesting aspect of the book. He was such a stereotypical gaslighter that his dialogue felt odious and it made his character a bit flat, but that wasn't a significant detriment and more of a jab at the fact that this story wasn't about him, or even really Alejandra's marriage even though her dissatisfaction with the marriage carries through the story. What does stand out is the strength of women supporting women, as Alejandra finds healing by connecting with her birth mother and therapist to take ownership of her identity and find support in saving herself and her children from suffering the same generational curse as her ancestors.

When we first begin The Haunting of Alejandra we find Alejandra in a pretty dark place. She is having feelings and thoughts that if acted upon could be harmful for herself and her three kids. She is married to Matthew and they’ve recently moved away from her family and friends. She is a full time stay at home mom thanks to Mathew’s job but she is beginning to question whether or not that is what she wants. We see her struggling with different thoughts and trying to figure why she feels this and deciding what she’s going to do about it. Being of Mexican descent she is also curious to learn more about that part of herself. Without giving too much away this novel is perfectly titled. Alejandra is being haunted and it goes deeper than anything she can fathom. I enjoyed myself immensely reading this book. I’m not normally a horror reader but this is the perfect book to introduce you to the genre. I went into the book expecting and thinking I knew where it was headed to being completely enthralled by the direction the author takes us in.I loved the Mexican folklore found within these pages as well as the deep conversations surrounding motherhood. I also enjoyed the different POVs it really made the story that much more cohesive. I will definitely be reading more from V. Castro. 4⭐️

The Haunting of Alejandra is a captivating horror novel with Mexican folklore and urban legends. The history and culture surrounding Dia de los Muertos is beautifully illustrated and as I reader, not only have I fallen in love with the story line but I have also learned through the generations of Mexican woman as they journey and fight for healing.

Wow. This story was so well written and engaging. There were a few times where it was so real and relatable that it was viscerally painful to read. The generational trauma was so vivid and tangible. I don't know that it would be one I'd revisit, but it was absolutely worth a read.

The Haunting of Alejandra was an interesting, albeit dark, story of Alejandra, a woman who has sacrificed so much for her family until one day she no longer knows who she is. Exacerbating her woes, Alejandra's marriage is stale and she has come to resent her husband for his career success and for not helping as much with the kids. Dwelling on all of the ways life isn't working out in her favor, she begins to see a ghostly woman who pushes her further into the darkness that threatens to consume her.

Combining the tale of La Llorona with generational curses presented an intriguing conflict for Alejandra as she wrestled her inner demons. I liked watching her struggle with reconciling who he was with who she's become when she realizes she's lost her identity, as motherhood can often be consuming, especially when raising littles.

It's written in a way that crosses timelines and characters to piece together Alejandra's ancestor's past to make sense of her present, which also means other points of view are used. Some readers may not care for this, but I enjoyed reading other character's experiences with the ghostly woman that haunts the women in Alejandra's lineage.

This book deals with suicidal thoughts, depression & hopelessness, and loss of children, so if those are triggering, this book may not be for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise is good here, drawing on the folklore of La Llorona, but the writing is cliched and forced. It reads like an early draft, where the author is trying to make things very obvious but does so in a clunky, unpolished way. This really could have used some more developmental work.

I think I would’ve preferred reading this in Spanish. There are so many different versions of La Llorona and I found this to connect to some of them that I’ve read but I kind of expected more. But, again I think if this was in Spanish, I would’ve enjoyed it more.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a powerful read for me. The first pages drew me into the story as it felt as though this could be written about my own life. Alejandra is a mother of three young children dealing with the loss of identity many of us experience as mothers. This book has so much deep and metaphorical meaning regarding generational trauma, personal identity, motherhood and our journey to becoming our authentic selves. This is so much more than a story. There’s much meaning to be found here if you are open to it.

La Llorona is one of those ghost stories I’ve heard time and time again but this book’s take on it was wild! I really really enjoyed it even though it definitely had me a looked spooked at times (ghosty stuff always gets me!) Horror and paranormal fans alike will enjoy this!

A book about motherhood and the sacrifices one makes all set against the backdrop of an ancestral monster and La Llorona.

I’d never heard of the legend of La Llorona until I moved from the plains to Arizona. The story is fascinating and the way her legend is interwoven in this book is well-done and well-placed. She’s used as a device to talk about ancestral damage, the damage caused by adoption, and the pain of motherhood. The world this book occupies is vivid and realistic, even during fantastical moments.

This author is one of my favorites, so I was really excited about the opportunity to read The Haunting of Alejandra. It did not disappoint. I love how this author uses Haunting, Gothic themes with everyday life in her books. Alejandra is a reluctant mother… she loves her children, but is depressed and haunted. She actually becomes haunted! She begins seeing apparitions and hearing terrible things. Her husband doesn’t understand her and is busy working all the time. She begins seeing a therapist who specializes in the Mexican occult. She is determined to beat her demons for good with the help of her therapist and her ancestors.

I recommend this book to those who love a dark, Gothic story. I enjoyed reading the Mexican folk tales and cultural references. Such a great story.

I wanted more from this book. More horror and thrill. I think it toned down the Mexican folklore of la llorona but it wasn’t a bad read.

While beautifully written, V. Castro's The Haunting of Alejandra feels like a gut punch for any woman who has suffered post-partum depression or the isolation of being home alone with children with little to no support from a spouse or family. For those who suffer from severe depression, this book feels a bit like a mirror reminding us that we're probably not supposed to want to die on the regular and beg for just five minutes alone to breathe. There is a supernatural element to this book, but the stark reality of the main character proved to be too much for me.

Thank you for the free copy in return for an honest review.

Here’s my honest review- I DNF’d this book. I really wanted to like it, but I felt what hurt the book was the character jumping. This story is a slow burn, which I don’t mind, but I felt once I was invested in a character, it changed to another character, which required me to then have to push through the slow pacing to become invested again.

Three stars because I did enjoy the concept and may revisit later, but at this moment, this book fell flat for me.

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro is a horror novel about a woman trying to learn more about her family after being haunted by La Llorona. Mexican folklore is one of my favorite types of horror. It never fails to give you that gorey, creepy story that you want when reading horror.

The story centers around Alejandra, who was raised by her adoptive parents while losing a lot of her family's history and culture. She notices little things happening to her throughout her life, but it starts to worsen after she has a family of her own. She is occasionally visited by this being La Llorona, and now she feels like her children have seen her too. It causes her to have negative thoughts about herself and her family.

This story is heartbreaking and deals with trauma, depression, thoughts and mentions of suicide, mentions of hurting children, feelings of not being or doing enough and the feeling of loneliness even with having everything at your fingertips. It is a definite page turner and extremely haunting.

The Haunting of Alejandra has such a beautiful, underlining story about the strength of family love and female empowerment. The idea of how generational trauma can affect everyone around you is written so well. Lastly, what I love most about every single Mexican folklore that I've read is the imagery of the story!

Alejandra is depressed. Very depressed. She isn’t sure who she is besides a wife and a mother. She struggles with a lot of things and feels she is losing her mind.

She goes to see a therapist when she begins to see a ghostly figure when she is the most stressed.

To find her way she will go back to the past. To her biological mother and her history. The more she digs the more she finds that her female relatives have more in common than being family. The crying woman was with them as well. This begins with the stories of La Llorona, the vengeful mother of Mexican legends. And this ghostly woman won’t leave until Alejandra has made the journey into darkness as well.

I was intrigued by this story of heartbreak, and strength and I enjoyed all of it.


NetGalley/April 18th, 2023 by Del Rey