This book was a bit of a "miss" for me. After reading the book's blurb, I was so excited to read about La Llorona and Alejandra's haunting. However, I had to actively focus (and refocus) on the story instead of being sucked in by the writing. On one hand, I enjoyed the description of the creature and some of the creepier scenes, and I appreciated hearing from the different perspectives of Alejandra's ancestors. On the other hand, I felt like many of the characters lacked necessary development and the pacing of the story seemed too fast or too slow at times. I thought certain aspects of the story were quite powerful, but I don't know if I would reread The Haunting of Alejandra.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Very enjoyable book with gothic vibes and elements of horror. Recommend for any who loves Silvia Moreno-Garcia!

2.5 rounded up. Honestly this book was a letdown. It was so repetitive on creating the whole stay at home mom that hates her life story. The back and forth from the past with its forced dialogue and taking advantage of historical trauma. Like barf. Nothing I read from this book was original. It’s like a copied tiktok and the author is basically trying to claim it as her ideas.

This wasn’t for me. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. I was very intrigued that it was going to include the legend of La Llorona and it had some creepy elements, but I ultimately didn’t enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-copy of the uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Suicide, rape

The story is told part from Alejandra's perspective in the present and part from her ancestors' perspective when they lived. The author did a great job of switching between the perspectives and differentiating their voices. I loved how the author weaved in La Llorona into the different stories. The demon/spirit/monster thing an interesting character who enhanced the story - I enjoyed wondering about what it really was.

I felt for Alejandra and all the pain she was dealing with. One of the earlier scenes where she's crying in her shower while hiding from her children and thinking about killing herself was so heartbreaking. As she grew throughout the story, it felt believable.

The book was written in a very flat tone. The dialogue was very stilted and felt awkward. The dialogue didn't feel natural or authentic. It reminded me of book translations where they lost the flow and elegance of the original story. The author does so much "telling" about what people were thinking and feeling and not enough "showing". Especially towards the end, all the "this person felt __" and "this person thought __" got exhausting. There were a number of spelling/grammar errors, but that might have been because it's an ARC.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

The Haunting of Alejandra is a beautifully written, utterly terrifying, and wholly unique story of breaking generational cycles of abandonment, abuse, and neglect. I was completely enraptured while reading this tale and identified strongly with Alejandra as she fought to put an end to the curse her family had passed on for generations. My only critique is that the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the pacing of the rest of the book. Overall, this was a gorgeous and original read, and I highly recommend it.

This book left me wondering how many women out there are just like Alejandra, mothers who love their children but who desperately need a break or any sort of help from their manchild husband. The beginning of the book was a bit of a slog to get through, the pace picked up after the first event happened (and the first POV switch) so I think maybe dividing up the things that are weighing down on Alejandra might make it more digestible. Like have some of what’s causing this depression, then after the flashback go into more detail about how her husband is unhelpful, etc.

It was a little tough to make it through but I really did identify with the main character after we got more of a view into her wants and needs as a person.

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

I wish this book had been edited better. The writing becomes repetitive and has moments that become an interesting idea but then the same idea is repeated again a few lines down. I will still be checking out this author's future work though.

Alejandra's story of discovering more about her ancestry and culture through her haunting that mimics La Llorona is a wild ride taking readers through the past generations of Mexican American and native women who suffered the same curse. The tale is full of cultural attributions that introduce readers to many lesser known folk practices, especially as Alejandra works with a curandera (healer). Alejandra fights for her life and the life of her children as she investigates her past to clear a path for her future, giving everything she has to make it happen. While the story line is great, characters can be flat in spots and dialogue often feels artificial. I would love to see this author develop the main characters more fully to make this a spectacular novel.

This is a fantastic tale that explores a lot of deep-themed issues while creeping the hell out of you. I did tear up in a few places in the book but not out of fear but a connection I felt with Alejandra. The moments of depression, of wanting to be more, her ultimate love for her children, and how hard she fought to get better and face the entity haunting her, her family, and her ancestors. Growing up Mexican American myself I didn’t truly appreciate my culture and heritage until I was much older. Seeing parts of my culture being featured heavily in this book resonated with me in a way I didn’t think it would. The take on La Llorona here is very interesting and gives new meaning to having a life of its own. It explores the what if and I appreciated Castro's take on it. I can’t say more without spoilers. I did like the entity in this story or rather like the eerieness of it and the visuals that were associated with it, While not freighting it was definitely hair raising.

Now for what I liked:
A new fresh take on La Llorona
Steep deep into Mexican Culture and traditions.
Exploring themes of generational trauma and inherited generational trauma.
Explores women's views and how they were treated in the past.
Mental illness and the importance of seeking help (depression and self-harm)

What I didn’t like:
At some points, it did drag just a bit. Towards the end where is where I saw this as an issue.
The “flashback” timelines. I understood why it wasn’t linear, but it did get a little dicey to recall/guess “when” we were.

Thrillingly creepy! Growing up, the stories of La Llorona used to freak me out, so I went into this looking to get a little scared. And it delivered right out of the gate! The creepy, atmospheric elements are so good, and the sci-fi/supernatural take is refreshingly unique while remaining true enough to the traditional. I loved ALL of that and enjoyed learning about the generations of women in Alejandra’s bloodline. Be aware that it’s a sometimes heavy read that captures the despair and loneliness of postpartum depression, loveless marriages, and suicidal ideation but also an inspirational one about the healing power of love and determination.

Big thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review just in time for spooky season!

This is a beautifully written, haunting and sad story. While it starts off following a modern woman seemingly struggling with her family, emotions and mental health, we quickly see that the issue she faces go much deeper. The author does an amazing job of weaving the folk tale of La Llorona into the many generations of women in this family.

The Haunting of Alejandra Review!!

Thank you to @netgalley and @RandomHousePublishing for this gifted copy, in exchange for an honest review! The Haunting of Alejandra come out April 18, 2023!!

I’ve heard a lot about La Llorona and have always been fascinated with this legend, so I knew I had to read The Haunting of Alejandra. This one was a 4.25/5 ⭐️ for me! This story was definitely a unique one with a creepy plot. I loved the different povs in different time settings, it kept things interesting. I feel like this could have been more detailed. The premise and creature could have been terrifying (not saying they weren’t) but I couldn’t sink into this book well enough to be scared. I also felt that the ending climax was a bit rushed and ended pretty abruptly. Definitely a spooky story though and I will be keeping my eyes open for Castro in the future!

Synopsis: Alejandra is dealing with some sort of horrible depression. As she connects with her birth mom, she soon begins to realize that a lot of women in her family tree deal with suicidal thoughts and thoughts of harming their children. It is not soon after that she understands that the presence that will not leave her is the reason for all these thoughts.

This book just wasn't for me. I was expecting a completely different tory and vibe, that had similarities to other books I read in the description that were actually a haunting.

This beautiful story takes the very real premise of inherited trauma and generational curses and paints a supernatural portrait: what if your family's curse was an actual haunting, a malevolent something feeding from and encouraging the suffering of your people? What would it take to stop something like that? Jumping between Alejandra's present-day attempts to work through her depression with therapy and her ancestors' past stories and struggles with the same curse, this book reminds us that we are not just the products of women who have suffered, but of women who have survived.

This book was fabulous! I loved the Mexican culture that is integral to this story and the very honest portrayal of someone who has been adopted out of their community and the struggles to reclaim a heritage or identity that was taken from them. I love that Alejandra's story is so thoroughly mapped to her therapy and takes readers through real therapeutic approaches to handling overwhelmingly negative emotions. I hope to see more books published that showcase the benefits of therapy in the future. Even as someone who is not a fan of historical fiction, I enjoyed jumping back into Alejandra's ancestor's stories (with one notable exception - more on that later). These are much shorter narratives, almost vignettes, and provide some action-packed breaks from Alejandra's emotion-heavy chapters.

There was much to love about this book but I also don't think it's going to be good for everyone. Most importantly, there is a lot of potentially triggering content with regards to suicidal ideation and deeply depressive though processes. There is graphic violence, emotional abuse from a partner, violence against children and the book touches on adoption trauma as well. Please check any other CWs I may have forgotten about.

Secondly, the book is very plot-driven - we only really get to know one character (the MC Alejandra) and even then her character is mostly sketched out through emotional episodes where she is at her lowest, and there is not much breadth to the character's thoughts. Beyond that, the other characters are largely interchangeable in voice, although not in circumstance, and can read flat at times. So, if you are mostly into books for character dev, maybe this isn't your cup of tea.
As well, if you are not a fan of historical fiction, those parts of the books may drag for you. I typically do not like hist fic but in this book they were short and entertaining snippets that kept me engaged in the story at crucial points. However, I must complain about Flor's chapter - perhaps it's because the Mexican Revolution is much more recent history than the other chapters, or because I personally know a little bit about that time period, but ugh this chapter was SO BAD. It was incredibly cheesy and completely unrealistic and didn't fit in with the concept of generational curses at all. <spoiler> Did she really have to get with Emiliano Zapata? Did the author have to include a trans fighter in her story only to have that trans character reveal his transness to her upon their first meeting & BY UNBUTTONING HIS SHIRT???? I get it, you learned a fun fact about a trans revolutionary and wanted to put it in your story, but just by the way it was written, it is obvious that that is not your story to tell as it was not handled with care, and doubly obvious that it did not go through sensitivity readers before being published. In fact, if I may digress for a moment, that scene seems to me to be a case of self-insert, with the author jumping to show her readers that she is queer friendly (especially since the curse appears suspiciously heterosexual) than actually adding to the story or bringing attention to Amelio Robles Avila's story with the respect he deserved. </spoiler> Anyways. Right around that chapter I felt the quality of the plotting fell off quite a bit. What was that ending? We were not given an explanation before or after as to the logic behind this ending. Also, as far as the haunting being a metaphor for generational curses, that ending is pretty awful... I also felt like more could have been done with this curse (no mention of poverty as the main cause of such an inescapable cycle?). BUT ALAS, I still enjoyed it and thought it was a good idea and decently executed. Maybe a stronger editor could have pushed it over the edge into great.

The Haunting of Alejandra is a retelling of the Mexican folklore La Llorona. The story follows the titular character Alejandra through her struggles with daily life as a mother and wife, and her identity crisis about who she is as a person and a brown woman. She is constantly haunted by voices telling her she isn't enough, isn't worthy, isn't any good at anything. Alejandra slowly puzzles together that this voice might not be in her head and is actually a creature haunting her and her family.

There were a lot of great things about this book. I was not familiar with the tale of La Llorona before picking up this book so I was very intrigued. I think the story had a lot to offer in terms of retelling this folklore, giving the women throughout history a voice, and depicting the vastness of maternal love. It also addresses some heavy topics (I suggest going through the cw's before reading).

However, I do think this book could use some editing. I felt there was too much back and forth between being in Alejandra's head and the POV's of her ancestors. Was it really necessary to introduce that many characters? I think, structurally, the back and forth could've been used to show how the family is haunted throughout history with a reveal of what the "ghost" is at the end instead of just giving it away at the beginning. Doing so would've added to the creepy/spooky vibes in my opinion. There is also quite a bit of monologuing as opposed to conversing between characters. It felt as if we were being spoon fed information about the characters' lives instead of naturally picking up on their thoughts and feelings.

Overall this book had a lot of potential, but fell a little flat for me. There was no twist and the main character was so in her head the whole time that the plot seemed to drag.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with an eARC of the book for my honest review!

V. Castro absolutely obliterated every nerve fiber that could possibly fire at this moment.

How Castro could take a simple childhood game of "Telephone" and spin such an extraordinary web is just "WOW!!!"

But that is precisely what V. Castro manages to do in her mind-boggling tale, The Haunting of Alejandra.

Let us begin:

Alejandra is a married mother of three young children, Catrina, Will, and Elodia. A stay-at-home mom who, if she had her way, would be out working and making her way. However, Alejandra is a people pleaser; who does not like to disappoint people or make unnecessary waves. She would rather not upset people, especially not her husband, Matthew, who she has picked up her entire life, to move from Texas (after finally reuniting with her birth mother) to a sprawling 6-bedroom home in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Matthew feels that Alejandra should be "grateful" for she has everything that she could ever want. But Alejandra thinks that there is nothing of her when she looks around. Everything was already decorated in there; she had no money of her own, no credit; what should she feel grateful for besides her children? She is miserable; she has no friends and family close by and thinks that she does not even deserve to be a mother to her children and that the children would be better off without her. Then she begins to see the visions more clearly, natural and life-like, in the tattered gown, only not human, grotesque looking, like a monster. Reaffirming to her how horrible a mother she is, how she would be so much better off dead. Alejandra feels like she is losing her mind and does not know what to do. That is until she gets the call from Catrina's school, where she must explain that she told her daughter the tale of La Llorona the night before.
That night her daughter confesses that an awful lady in a white gown told her that her mother does not love her, that she would be better off dead. That is when Alejandra has had enough and decides to seek help, if not for her sake, for her daughters.

Alejandra seeks the help of Melanie Ortiz, a Curandera who reignites Alejandra's Mexican heritage by telling her to start her prayer altar. Alejandra tells Melanie that Matthew will not like the prayer altar in the house. Melanie explains that whenever Alejandra does something for herself, she takes a piece of herself back.
Alejandra's next showdown with La Llorona is when Melanie tells Alejandra to call La Llorona and find out what she wants with Alejandra. After La Llorona tries to scare the wits out of baby Will, Alejandra confronts it and point-blank asks it what it wants precisely. But the answer is not one she wants to hear, and she becomes furious, and that fury causes Alejandra to be able to cast it away. Alejandra calls Melanie immediately, and Melanie comes by to purge the house. Upon purging the house, Melanie finds a substance on Will's bedroom wall, which she sends to her friend for analysis. Next, Alejandra plans to get with her birth mother, Cathy, to find out any information she can to see if she knows anything about a generational curse.
Before Alejandra calls Cathy, Cathy has an odd experience over in Texas and immediately books a flight to Philadelphia. Cathy arrives in Philadelphia, and Alejandra feels like a load has been lifted already. Having her mother there, finally having someone of her own that she can talk to, makes her feel much better.

After putting the children to bed, Cathy hears a noise in Elodia's room. When she gets up to check the baby, she sees a creature trying to attach itself to Elodia. Cathy knocks the beast away; however, the beast is more muscular and lands on top of her. Hissing that she is the one that got away to save everyone, why doesn't she kill herself? Instead, Alejandra clicks on the lights, and the creature vanishes. Finally, someone else has seen La Llorona; both women no longer need to hide it from one another. That is when Cathy confesses that she gave up Alejandra to save her. But she did not escape; neither of them had escaped the curse. Alejandra calls Melanie immediately since the creature has made contact. Alejandra and Cathy meet up with Melanie the next day, where she hurries them into the room, explaining that La Llorona had threatened her to back off and knocked over the oil on her desk. That is when Alejandra decides she knows "EXACTLY" what must be done to beat La Llorona. And this is where I must leave you, my fellow reviewers.
I am not sure I would associate this book with horror because I was "way, way too consumed" to be scared. Maybe I would put this more with Sci/Fi, Thriller, and Suspense? (Definitely Sci/fi)

Castro poignantly touches upon the utmost significance of therapy needed in WOMEN of COLOR
Especially for Post-Partum Depression, Suicidal Ideation, and Generalized Depression, Castro does it "STUPENDOUSLY" and "BEAUTIFULLY."

This book is so extraordinary that I could not even begin to review it; it took me three days to even write this, and I could go on and on.

V. Castro SHOOK the damn foundation, CRACKED the walls, and brought DOWN the house with this book.

Her writing style is exquisitely done, especially with her flawless POV narratives and timelines.

Castro's word building is stellar, and she makes sure not to use any word filtering, which would lead to word dumping.

Castro's scenic imagery of times past, such as with Flor and Dorotea or Flor and Emiliano (Sniff)

Flor!! That was my girl!!

Even the scenic past of Frances and her time with Rogelio were all epically done. It was like you were truly there, watching it happen before your eyes.

The aspects of generational curses, are they tangible? If so, how does one go about breaking that cycle?

Hands down, this book will have you pondering days after.

But like the "FANTASTIC" book that it is, your questions will be answered until only one question remains.

"WHAT THE F@CK?" "HOW?"

"CASTRO, YOU GO, GIRL"

BEST BOOK OF 22/23

LISTOPIA!!

SHE KNOCKED IT WAY OUT OF LEFT FIELD

Thank you, NetGalley/V Castro/ Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine.Del Rey/ For this "INCREDIBLE" eARC for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Alejandra, all I can say is I FEEL YOU BABE. This novel is a love letter to all women who carry the complete mental and emotional load of running a household with no acknowledgement or compensation. Thanks for seeing us and telling us we aren’t alone, V. Castro! Obviously this über-relatability had me fall in love with our main character and start rooting for her right off the bat.

In the beginning, there was something about Castro’s writing that was so accessible and soulful—it was very easy to read…for a bit, anyway. Also, the comparisons to the Legend of La Llarona were perfect.

This story occurs during multiple timelines consisting of present day, the 1960s/70s and 1500s Mexico during the Spanish invasion. The commonalities between these timelines are stark and poignant. The commentary on generational trauma and how little has actually changed in society is sharp. Castro poses us the cutting question: What’s scarier—being cursed by an ancient Aztec god or cursed to live out the same predestined socialized gender roles as our mothers, grandmothers, great-great great-great-grandmothers?

My biggest complaint is that the story lost its steam for me in the middle section. It could not hold my interest for the life of me! The more typical “horror” pieces of this story felt a bit lacking, mainly because they involved a sub-genre that I really don’t find particularly scary or riveting. I kept trying to find the flow that had so captured me in the beginning chapters, but after I lost it it was nowhere to be found. I guess when push comes to shove, this one was a mixed bag for me.

Overall, I read this as more of an empowerment piece than a horror story. It ended up being just ok in both of those genres. A promising start, but this one fizzled to mundanity fairly quickly. Not sure if I’m crazy or what, but it seemed like there was a noticeable decline in the quality of the writing starting at about 1/3 of the way through?? The dialogue became almost unbearable after the first couple chapters. It almost seemed like the author didn’t quite know how to get us to her envisioned conclusion, so just threw a bunch of literary spaghetti (and mediocre horror) at the wall until we could get to the final act. It definitely could be trimmed down, and I do believe that would make for a more impactful story.

I read an ARC copy The Haunting of Alejandra from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity.

I loved the atmosphere and reflection in this book. With my migraine, I can’t say that I always was able to completely follow how everything connected with all the flashbacks, but let’s give an overview of the plot.

Alejandra’s life as a mother and wife has left her feeling depressed and suicidal. There appears to be voices and hallucinations urging her to follow through with the worse of her thoughts, but her husband has moved her away from the mother she just found and any family she had before. All she has is him and the children who don’t seem to appreciate what she does in their lives. When she visits a therapist, she starts exploring her family’s history. The pain passed from mother to daughter, the curse of La Llorona, of how colonialism and misogyny as driven them all to a watery grave, and she learns to find the strength and love that was in them and start fighting against what seems her family’s fate.

The book primarily follows Alejandra as she deals with a husband who refuses to listen to her needs, often looking down on her reaching out to seek her birth mother, or her seeking out a job for herself. His dismissiveness is almost over the top, but I wondered if it either was part of the curse or if it was part of his own curse, as the book hints there are more to be found in the world besides hers.

As the book continues, there are parts from the point of view, just snippets, of the curse, and how it sees her and the women that came before her. Especially after the first story of how it made a deal with the first woman who was suffering after being taken by an invader who was taking her against her will, and she wanted her daughter safe, but him to suffer as much as he had made her suffer.

Overall, I really loved the book. It was a great exploration of grief and how it affects people through generations and how it can’t just be put to the side. How it has to be confronted. If you’re looking for a gory, dark read that looks at how women have been treated, especially women with Alejandra’s ancestry have been treated through the years, then this is an excellent read.