I want to thank Netgalley and Ballantine for my gifted e-arc!!! The Haunting of Alejandra was on my most anticipated releases. I love V.Castro's books so I've been looking forward to this book.

I really liked it. I thought it was creepy and atmospheric. I really love how V. Castro writes unconventional main characters. Alejandra is a SAHM of three kids. Her marriage is going through some troubles since her husband is pretty selfish.

As a Latina, I grew up listening about stories of La Llorona. I thought V.Castro had a unique twist to the legend. I didn't give it the full five stars because it wasn't as scary as I wanted! I wish it would of been. I never felt scared but I felt it was still a good solid story. If you don't know anything about La Llorona then this book would be a great one to start with.

2.5

hmm, i’m not sure how to feel about this book. i feel like i lost interest throughout it and got more tired of reading it as time went on. i also wasn’t that connected to the characters, and, most of the time, i didn’t like the going back and forth timelines/point of views. i also didn’t really feel scared and was getting tired of the horror-type tangents and descriptions that were written. the dialogue felt kinda off every now and then, and i wish some characters, like matthew, had more depth.

however, i did really enjoy the concept. it was something i’d never seen being the plot of a book before. it was really interesting to learn more about mexican culture.

thank you to netgalley and random house publishing for the ARC !!

This was a struggle for me to read and it’s really disappointing because I really loved “Goddess of Filth” and “Mestiza Blood” by this author. This book I would not recommend. Alejandra felt lifeless and i couldn’t connect with her character, she was really lacking something. The POV and timeline shifting was also excessive and became irritating. I understand the author wanted to explain generational trauma but I would have preferred if there was just mention of what they went through and not full chapters. It felt very repetitive and the book read like one long complaint about struggling to be a good mother.

The one star is for La lloronas creature design. It was grotesque and I loved the visual it gave me. However, the creature would have been much more horrifying and mysterious if it didn’t actually talk.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Definitely a page turner, this book was creepy and atmospheric and kept me invested the entire time. Well done and terrifying at times. Loved this book and will recommend to horror lovers. Thank you for giving me early access!

I want to thank #Netgalley for letting me read an eArc of #TheHauntingofAlejandra.

This book was amazing! The beginning of it starts with Alejandra in the shower practically having a breakdown while her husband and kids are at the door all needing her for one thing or another. While in the shower she sees a vision of something she’s just not sure what.
Alejandra wants to know more about her past, she has recently connected with her bio mother and decided to dive into her past. She begins having dreams of women far in the past but it seems as though they want to help her.
She feels as though she is losing her mind. Unbeknownst to her something stalks her family and has for many many years and it wants her children as it has taken so many others.
This is an interesting take on The Curse of La Llorona. I definitely recommend!

4 stars for a prose that will stick with you. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Suicide, Emotional abuse, and a heavily religious family.

Alejandra feels trapped....trapped in her marriage, trapped by her children, and trapped by the voice telling her she isn't enough. Is there more to this voice, something ancestral that has poisoned her lineage? And will Alejandra be able to find the strength and support she needs to break this cycle once and for all?

This novel is everything you want in a spooky story. It's atmospheric, an original origin story, and will make you check under the bed before swinging your legs out in the morning. Alejandra is such a relatable character, even with her feeling of being overwhelmed with her children, being alone in her marriage, and wanting to understand where she came from. Being a fellow adoptee, her struggle with her heritage and wanting that relationship with her birth mother hung with me. Her relationship with her husband(to me) borderlines and even crosses the line of abuse throughout this story and it's amazing to watch Alejandra grow and reroute bad situations. La Llorona was a new story for me, but this contains such a unique story that fans of the classic folklore will enjoy the author's take.

4 stars and a recommendation for fans of supernatural horror/mystery. Age recommended for 16+ as there is alot of older topics that aren't suitable for younger readers. Allow Alejandra to share her journey with you, I promise it won't be one you soon forget.

At the beginning of The Haunting of Alejandra, Alejandra, a wife and mother of three, believes that she is just suffering from depression. Little does she know that La Llorona is waiting to take her soul. The reader gets a glimpse of how La Llorona made a deal with Alejandra’s ancestor from Mexico which resulted in a long line of souls to reap.

Alejandra has recently had her third child with her unsupportive husband. He provides for the family but he wants her to be a stay at home mom. He keeps telling her that this is the plan that she agreed to and Alejandra just goes along with it. I think she wanted to keep the peace but she does want to do something besides being a mom.

So Alejandra begins therapy with Melanie, who specializes in therapy with a focus on Hispanic culture. With the help of Alejandra’s biological mother, they discover the motivation of La Llorona and also a way to possibly defeat her.

When I started the book, I was traveling to Detroit. Between the spookiness of the book and the nightmare of highways, it was too much anxiety for me. I quit reading for the day. It has been a long time since a book has scared me so much. Kudos to the author – V. Castro! I will forever be scared of La Llorona and bad marriages.

Recommendation
If you want to read a seriously spooky book about La Llorona, then you will have a chance when The Haunting of Alexandra is published next April.

If you are more of a child to your spouse than a partner, then it is time to grow up. After maturing, maybe you can enjoy this book.

I received the ebook from NetGalley. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Haunting of Alejandra.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but I didn't for a number of reasons:

First, I didn't like the writing style. The internal dialogue rang false; people don't talk like that, especially to themselves.

Second, I wasn't a fan of the flashbacks, some of which felt drawn out and read as filler. I realize these scenes were meant to showcase the generational trauma passed down but each ancestor seemed to make the same mistakes, drawn to the same men, have mindless, soul numbing sex before realizing nothing would heal their emotional and psychological trauma unless she took control of her life and destiny.

Third, there was gore and frightening scenes, though I wasn't scared at all. Once Alejandra connected with her therapist, the narrative became nothing but dialogue and read as more of a domestic trauma drama, rather than a horror tale.

Fourth, I would have preferred less interaction with La Llorona; when you start speaking to the ghost or poltergeist or Bigfoot, the fear and mystery is gone.

Fifth, the narrative was slow, full of dialoguing and monologuing and the urgency and pacing drags once Alejandra reaches out to Melanie, and her birth mother, Cathy, arrives to help.

The reader gets a lot of self help babble and mumbo jumbo from Melanie to Alejandra; I would have liked to see Alejandra discover, on her own, how to defeat La LIorona.

I understand Alejandra drew strength from Cathy and Melanie, and eventually empowers herself, but Alejandra is a weak character from the start, and when both women enter the story, it's easy to forget Alejandra is the main character.

I wasn't a fan of the constant shift of perspectives; the flashbacks, chapters devoted to Alejandra and Cathy, then Melanie, then back to Alejandra.

What I did like: the La Llorona myth, the topic of generational trauma and how each woman seems to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors.

I didn't sympathize with Alejandra; I didn't dislike her, but I didn't like her.

I wish there was more mythology, more darkness, but this read as more of a domestic drama with the myth of La Llorona as background.

Overall, I enjoyed this story of an unhappy woman's journey into the labyrinth of her soul by confronting her past and the (often painful) matrilineal history stretching back through her Mexican heritage. As a piece of women's fiction, there is much to appreciate, even if some of the more new-age elements had me rolling my eyes. But again, and disappointingly, we find another book misshelved as horror. There is a lot of telling instead of showing and zero suspense. Still, Alejandra's psychodrama intrigued me enough to award it three stars.

The Haunting of Alejandra had me hooked from the beginning thanks to the mixture of generational trauma/cursed and Mexican folklore. I immediately felt that I could somewhat relate to our main character, Alejandra as she struggles with parenting and loving herself. I loved that you got to follow several generations of family throughout the story. This was probably one of my favorite aspects.
On to the critical parts!
I do feel as if the book was a little….unfinished? I’m not sure if that is the right word or not. It read to me as if it were a rough draft that still needed to be worked through a bit. Some of the dialogue and timeline got a little shifty which did pull me out of the story. It didn’t make the book unenjoyable or bad necessarily but it did leave me sad.
If you are looking for a unique, tense horror read you should give this book a try. Just maybe go into it with these things in mind!

I absolutely loved this story. It really touched me in a way other books have not.

I just reviewed The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro. #TheHauntingofAlejandra #NetGalley

Generational curses, an urban legend, and self-acceptance come together in a fast-paced haunting package in V. Castro’s The Haunting of Alejandra. Told in alternating point of views, Castro’s novel is more than a simple ghost story to be read during spooky season, it is a story about bonds. The ones people share, with themselves, their culture, friends, and their ancestors—the ones shared by blood and trauma.

Alejandra is a stay-at-home mother, an adoptee, and she feels lost. She has no connection to her culture, barely knows her birth mother, has never met her father, and recently moved with her husband and children from Texas to Philadelphia, losing the community she once had. Alejandra is a supportive wife and mother, but her dreams—if she had any to begin with—fall to the wayside to make room for her husband’s wants and her children’s needs. As the novel progresses, Alejandra finds strength in herself with the help of Melanie, a therapist/curandera, who connects to her ancestors so she can face La Llorona head on and from her mother, who offers love, support, and familial stories.

Alejandra’s journey of self-acceptance and self-love is punctuated by one scary moment after another creating a nicely paced novel. Taking on trauma can be terrifying and isolating but add a creature that feeds on the despair into the mix and you’ve got an amazing horror story. Castro’s work is deep and speaks to all the things that make people human.

I tried reading this book multiple times, but the beginning just did not draw me in. I found the writing bland and boring. I eventually skipped ahead and was able to somewhat get into the novel. However, I found I still couldn't connect with the main character. I did end up enjoying the book when I made the connection with mental health. There are a few kinks with the writing to be sorted out- I don't dislike the author's writing style, but I don't feel it was appropriate for this novel specifically.

This is probably not the best book to read while being pregnant myself. A twist on the myth of La Llorona, this takes a deep dive into Mexican lore and the overwhelming feeling motherhood can bring. The inner dialogue of how Alejandra feels was so painful and powerful that I actually had to set this book aside at times because I didn't want to take away from the personal joy I was feeling.

This was such a great concept. The idea that La Llorona was the embodiment of generational trauma women in Alejandra’s family had to deal with was so interesting. I’d hoped for the gothic feel of Mexican Gothic and The Hacienda couched with a modern woman. This was not that.

The first quarter of the book was fantastic, but I lost interest and had to keep forcing myself back. It had its moments, but I felt overall the story was rushed. I felt the historical scenes were some of the best in the book at development, I wanted more development with Alejandra. I think this story still has a lot of promise, I just wish it hadn’t felt so disjointed.

Thank you @netgalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.
Okay, this cover!!!! My goodness! 😍
I absolutely love the premise and the fact that the author incorporated Mexican culture and folklore into this piece. I also appreciated the authors writing style and structure. And the incorporation of generational trauma and curses, all tied into the La Llorona folklore.
The book was haunting and told the La Llorona story beautifully, but it was not as scary as I had hoped for it to be. Still, very well written.
I would love to read more by this author in the future.

I have left this review on my goodreads and I strange am

The Haunting of Alejandra brought to readers by V Castro is a hauntingly modern take on the Mexican legend of La Llorona. I was personally really excited when I first read the description because my husband who is Mexican, has told me all about the horrifying tale of La Lorena. Through this story you will go on a journey as Alejandra is haunted by generational curses passed down to her, but as you read you will see if Alejandra gains the strength to push beyond the past traumas and find her own strength and willpower to overcome her haunting. Alejandra is a woman who from an onlooker seems to be living the perfect life, a mother to three, married to a husband who with his job allows her a 6 bedroom home, but all is not as it seems, when the dark shadow of depression wraps itself around her. Will she be able to defeat the evils threatening to break her? Find out in The Haunting of Alejandra, coming in April 2023!

I am so thankful that one of my end of the year reads is this one. I can not put into words how much I loved this book and I will be picking it up when it comes out.

V. Castro is an excellent dramatic writer with a flourish for unsettling horror. In this novel, you follow Alejandra and other women from his family's history that have been plagued by an other-world creature thought to be La Llorana. It's emotional, creepy, and powerful. Some of the pacing is unsteady due to stretches of telling over showing, and the finale left me a little confused (I think I missed a vital piece of info at some point), but I adored reading this novel. I devoured it whenever I had a moment to read. It is definitely recommended for all, whether you're a fan of horror or not. This is a thematically moving story.

That was pretty good and is good for if you want something to read between that September to December timeframe I think that it should be on many peoples TBR list