Big yikes for me on this one. I am so sorry, I hate giving ARCs low ratings based on writing quality because I feel like there could be a lot of editing that still could take place. That being said, this was not good. The story was okay. But the writing was so bad it was a major distraction and led to me not enjoying this book at all. This author needs to learn how to show, not tell. It felt written by and for about a middle-school aged child, if you ignored the content. Also, The content. I couldn't stand the MC. Her character arc could have been beautiful but she spent 95% of the book being such a whiny, annoying, turd, it meant that by the time the last chapters/epilogue came around, I just really didn't care what happened to her.

But thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me give it a try!

This book was so haunting as the title says. Also as a mom dealing with her own darkness, this is the first book that made me feel seen.
I’m gonna buy it for my shelf for sure!

This book started off intriguing, but ultimately it wasn't for me. The POVs in the past wound up becoming boring and I couldn't focus through them. I understand why they were there, it just didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the book, I found myself wishing for the book to end. However, I did like the haunting being a metaphor for generational trauma and Alejandra being the one to break it. I liked her character growth and I liked the side characters of Cathy and Melanie. Matthew definitely should've been punched in the face many times, but I understand that it's not that easy. While this book wasn't for me, I did like the writing and the plot, and I might try others by this author.

DNF @50%. I really tried to get through this whole book, but the writing just didn't do it for me at all and it was feeling like a chore to pick up. I've gotten to a point where my eyes glaze over whenever I try to read this and I'm just not absorbing what's happening anymore, so I think I need to just stop.

Aside from the stilted writing, all the characters just felt so flat and undeveloped, even the main character Alejandra. She's undergoing such a terrifying journey over the course of this book, but I felt literally nothing because I felt like I had no sense of her as an individual or any of the people around her. Her husband, especially, just reads like a caricature of a "bad husband" with no depth, and it's impossible to see why they even fell in love in the first place or why they've stayed together.

It's a shame I couldn't get past the writing and the characters, because the actual plot and the themes it's trying to explore are so interesting! I just couldn't bring myself to push through the way it was executed.

This book was chilling and beautiful. I loved the way they tied in the story of la llorona with the difficulty of healing generational trauma. Had the perfect amount of creepiness, and was a beautifully woven stpry. Loved it!

Wow….just wow, will probably have to edit this as I’ve lost my words having just finished this AMAZING story! Gah! Hooked me from the start, and never let up! Such an emotional outpouring from Alejandra throughout her journey to find herself and save the ones she loves. This. Book. Was. Everything! I highlighted so many wonderful passages. The verbiage and scenery were exquisite. I feel this will touch many women out there who feel misunderstood, and feel they lack having a voice. Beautiful, amazing, wonderful, captivating, mesmerizing……this book was IT. V Castro is an amazing writer for the women of our times for sure!

Ahhh this is a story that deals with La Llorona, whose story is part of Mexican folklore, and it is SCARY! 🫣 Like, damn. I be having nightmares now.

Also, this book really goes in on Motherhood and the stay-at-home wife life. It describes the sacrifice many moms make in a lyrically haunting way that was very chilling to read.

It all begins when the main character, Alejandra, moves with her husband and 3 children into a new home. It’s large, and beautiful, and she knows she should feel lucky…but the feelings she has instead are troubling.

Then, the book rewinds to expand on the generations of mothers before Alejandra. They too felt the heavy darkness. This presence is something that has stalked her bloodline for centuries, and it is choosing this moment to be known. But why? What is this entity? How can Alejandra rid it from her life and protect her children?

I want to make it clear that this story has gruesome moments and is not for the half-in horror fan as it goes full out. It is essentially an interesting take on generational trauma and Mexican folklore, as well as an artistic commentary on women’s place in the world, and the expectations society has historically hefted onto them. It was frightening to read as the character’s mental and emotional stability falter in the face of maternal duties and the darkness that lurks around her…but women are powerful and motherhood brings forth a new force within us.

I am gonna slap a huge TRIGGER WARNING for postpartum, or any form of depression or suicidal ideations, especially if those are tied to motherhood. This book gets very heavy and dark at times.

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 for this review

The premise of this book was so interesting. Alejandra, the main character is stuck with a generational curse, the curse of La Llorona who has followed her since the birth of her daughter. The story was so well done, and very informative and interesting. I learned a lot of things about curanderas, La Llorona herself, and Mexican-American culture that I would not have known about before. The story follows Alejandra as she starts experiencing more and more serious run ins with the curse, and goes about trying to handle the situation without causing worse things to occur. As I said, the story was nothing like anything I have read before, which honestly was a breath of fresh air since I was able to find out about things outside my usual realm of understanding. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes supernatural things, but also enjoys mysteries.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Through a retelling of La Llorona, this book tackles themes of self identity, motherhood, and mental health.

Alejandra is a mother of 3, very unhappy in her marriage, overwhelmed by her children, unsure if she’s even fit to be a mother, and has completely lost herself. On top of all that, she is also haunted by a generational curse at the hands of the La Llorona, the murderous mother in white. Alejandra, who was given up for adoption at birth, must learn about her blood family’s past in order to stop La Llorona from harming her and her children. The story is told through the alternating lens of Alejandra and her ancestors, a group of strong women who range from the present all the back to the 1900s.

This is not your typical horror book. I’m my opinion it’s pretty light on the horror but some scenes are definitely very creepy to read alone at night. I don’t often read retellings so I don’t have a baseline to judge this book off of but I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was compelling and the stories of each ancestor tied everything together nicely. The scenes with La Llorona were creepy but based off the description, I was expecting it to be more horror focused.

Our protagonist, Alejandra, is haunted literally and figuratively by the so-called curse of La Llorona and years of resentment, loneliness, and overwhelming lack of acceptance. She seeks the help of a therapist when her crippling fears begin to come to fruition.

This story is unique as it is FAR from your average haunting. There is an overall theme of self-discovery as our marginalized protagonist tirelessly fights to overcome her fears and force recognition in a life she has always been deserving of... she just needs to believe it herself.

I was berated on all sides by the intended feelings of dread, hope and a need for the protagonist to overcome her fears and fight to save her family from a grotesque presence determined to feast on their flesh and despair. An ancient being who's only known hate...

The only difficulty I had in reading was in the frustrating way our protagonist was treated by her husband. He is not a likable character by any means, which makes the continued belittlement tough to take in as it is a recurring theme. It naws at you!

Overall, this story was well written and held my attention throughout its entirety and CREEPED ME OUT!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review and am so thrilled I was granted the ability to do so!

☆☆☆☆ 4/5 rating

An emotional, finely knit portrayal of a woman who is being haunted by a spirit that has doomed the women in her family for years.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a really good story of generational trauma and finding the strength within oneself to end the curse and take charge of one's life. Finding yourself through trauma is something a lot of people can relate to, especially women. I really enjoyed how V Castro connected Alejandra's experiences to the Mexican legend of La Llorona. Her writing is strongest when it comes to the context of Mexican folklore and the horror aspects of the book; V Castro absolutely knows how to write eerie, creepy, scary, and gross body horror, that's for sure. The descriptions of the creature were A++ and I am hopeful that Castro's other works lean heavy into the horror, because she excels in this area. I liked the multiple timelines that demonstrated the generational curses, but none of them felt unique in their stories so they blended together and really didn't add much to the story. I did struggle a bit with the dialogue in the book...as lots of other reviewers mentioned, it seemed unnatural and forced. I don't think V Castro went deep enough into her characters, either; everyone seemed to be in the book solely to move the plot along (even though there wasn't a ton of plot either). By the end of the book, I was glad it resolved the way it did, but I'm not sure I really connected with Alejandra in the way that was intended. The only characters that I really had a strong reaction to were Matthew (Alejandra's husband, who I completely despised) and Catrina (Alejandra's oldest daughter, who I just wanted to hug and comfort). Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I will definitely read more of V Castro's work! Thank you so much to #NetGalley and Del Ray Books (a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House/Penguin Random House) for the opportunity to read #TheHauntingofAlejandra in return for my honest review!

Just look at this beautiful cover!
The Haunting of Alejandra is a story about a Mexican folk demon haunting wife and mother, Alejandra. This story was relatable for wives mothers who, at times, feel depressed, anxious, and not good enough. The imagery is vivid as Alejandra battles the demon who has put a generational curse on her family. Super creepy and a wild ride! I will definitely be recommending this book!
Thank you Netgalley for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Very provoking. I can see this doing very well in bookclubs. Wonderful female protagonist. The family dynamics and cultural trends that can affect a person were very familiar. Alejandra and the myth of La Llorona intertwine seamlessly.

Wow. This book was absolutely incredible. I'm very glad I got an early copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! I'm going to flesh it out more (no pun intended) on Mzinigan Mshiiken, but briefly: what an incredible horror story about addressing generational trauma, breaking generational curses, and learning to love yourself in glorious imperfections. Castro does arresting work in depictions of Alejandra's inner life interspersed with glimpses of her ancestors and how their decisions impact her and her children. This book is gory, glorious, and full of love. It's very firmly an adult novel, but it's one I might recommend to older teenagers looking for something to keep them up at night. I can't wait to introduce this to my patrons.

V. Castro is becoming one of my favorite authors. She consistently keeps writing engaging horror novels based in Mexican folklore. I loved Goddess of Filth and The Haunting of Alejandra is the same high quality. I cannot wait for her next novel!

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this was an okay read, with the synopsis hooking me in to a horrific story about multigenerational trauma and finding your own strength, with hauntings following her everywhere. however, the book fell short with the bland writing, which threw me out of the experience and made me detached, which was unfortunate for me, as i was excited to delve into this book.

I've been following V. Castro's work for some time now and falling in love with this author's writing with every book they release. So naturally, The Haunting of Alejandra was on my most anticipated books of the year list. I've also been OBSESSED with the tale of La Llorona for as long as I can remember!

V. Castro took a well-known folktale and successfully made it her own. This is probably one of the most beautiful and creepiest books she's ever released, and I enjoyed every single moment of it.

We're following Alejandra, a reluctant mother of three energetic children and a workaholic husband who is unappreciative of her as a mother, wife, and person. This causes Alejandra to fall into extreme bouts of depression which leads to thoughts of suicide. The perfect conditions for La Llorona to infiltrate.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes supernatural horror and folktales that make you squirm.

3.5 stars!

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Haunting of Alejandra is about Alejandra, a woman in a marriage she doesn't really want to be in anymore who is struggling with motherhood. In addition to her familial struggles, she's also being haunted by La Llorona, a mythic character from Mexican legend. Throughout the novel she reconnects with her birth mother and her ancestral roots in an attempt to heal and to exorcise La Llorona.

I think that on a thematic level this is an exquisite novel, and I absolutely loved the way that Castro weaved Mexican folklore and myth in with her exploration of generational trauma. I really enjoyed seeing the way that Alejandra's ancestors' decisions played into her life, and I thought that La Llorona was sufficiently creepy for a horror novel. I also really liked the way the genre played into the themes, and I thought they complimented each other really well. Alejandra's overall character development was also quite nice, and I think that seeing her get a few wins was really satisfying.

Still, I found that the prose didn't work for me and I found it a bit too bland, and the dialogue felt a bit too unnatural to me. A lot of the time it felt like everyone kind of sounded the same, and though I really loved the care and attention Castro brought to the story and her themes, I really struggled with the overall craft. This definitely tripped me up, but I think that if you're not too particular about prose and writing styles, then this will be a really excellent read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

Any time someone incorporates La Llorona into their story, I’m there. I’m reading it as soon as I can.

This book is heavy. While it’s not that long, I felt like I was in a fog while reading which helped with understanding Alejandra’s mindset. There’s a familiarity with Alejandra giving her life decisions to others because she doesn’t believe she should. I’m sure there are a lot of readers who would identify with this and I hope they see how she gets through it.

The narrative structure is a lot of fun since the focus is Alejandra but we get to visit others and they really enrich the story.

I would enjoy seeing this as a movie since there are beautiful images throughout the book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It’s definitely going to sit with me for a while.