At first I wasn’t sure what to do think of this book. I thought, it’s listed under horror, so why does this not feel like horror?

It just took me a little while to realize what type of horror this book was about. Generational trauma is a real thing. It can often feel as if something is just lingering overing you and you don’t understand why. What was the cause of this unhappiness?

Is it the curse of a demon haunting every descendent? Or is it what happens when each generations trauma is thrust upon the next and a pattern is created? A pattern in which feels as if you may never get out of.

We follow Alejandra on her journey to see if she can break the trauma pattern. If she can do what is best for her and not just what is best for others.

I really ended up enjoying this book. I loved to see the strength that Alejandra brought and showed her children. To stop that trauma from spreading. One of my favorites this year.

I saw another user describe Alejandra's husband as "cartoonishly evil" and I wholeheartedly agree. I'm really interested in the concept of intergenerational trauma within horror but this just didn't feel focused enough. There seemed to be tension between whether the REAL monster was motherhood/forced heteronormativity, or an actual ghoul woman, or both, or neither?

V CASTRO is the new voice of Latinx Horror 💀

When I heard of “ The haunting of Alejandra” a contemporary horror novel about “LA LLORONA” I knew I was going to be in for a treat.

Alejandra seems to have the perfect life, Married with 3 Children living in a beautiful house in Philadelphia. Right? But on the inside… the darkness is taking her.. the sense of who se was and who she is.. lost in her. She has lost herself so much that she starts hearing voices & seeing things ( someone 💀) and so the story begins…

With the help of a Curandera Melanie Ortiz, Alejandra goes out to find out that the things are suddenly happening to her have been happening to the women in her family for generations..

This story was Fantastic! I’m obsessed and I can’t wait for you all to read it! V Castro does what she does best to bring Mexican folklore and generational trauma and paints a perfect picture of what that is like.

Definitely pick this one up! It’s a MUST read in 2023

This books was not quite what I was hoping for. I think I had gone into it looking for something like Mexican Gothic and instead felt shortchanged. I never really connected with Alejandra and kept waiting for that moment to click. I think it's an interesting take on multi-generational trauma, but ultimately, not what I was looking for.

My thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book!

This book was not for me. Alejandra's internal dialogue is a well written portrayal of depression. It was too much for me. Triggering. So, a warning to anyone for whom themes of depression/postpartum depression/generational trauma may hit too close to home.

I think characterizing this book as a provocative horror novel is a bit off - it would be better characterized as a family history that explores generational trauma, with elements of horror.

That said, I love Castro's incorporation of Mexican folklore and culture. The only character I really got to know was Alejandra, and she was well developed. Definitely some good elements here!

The prolific V. Castro is back with a story of generational trauma, misogyny, and La Llorona. Alejandra is a mother of three, in a loveless marriage, she yearns for a better life, but feels trapped by her lack of financial independence, and the societal expectations placed upon her as a woman. Not to mention the generational curse that has plagued the women in her family for generations.

Alejandra delves into her past, and with the help of her therapist, and her newly-reconnected mother, discovers how to save her children and herself from the various supernatural and natural terrors of the world.

This book is absolutely terrifying. The history of Alejandra’s family contains some incredibly disturbing moments. The visions that haunt Alejandra and her family leave the reader with some real nightmare fuel.

V. Castro’s voice is tremendous. Not only has she created a truly scary horror novel, she also writes of the pressures and expectations of womanhood in an incredibly astute and poetic way. This was the first work of Castro’s that I have read, and I am a total convert.

Alejandra’s heartbreaking story is a mother dealing with depression, feeling incapable, forgotten, taken advantage of, yearning for love she never felt in her marriage or from adoptive parents. The start of this book was depressing and a little slow, but I think V. Castro really set the scene. I struggled to stay with this novel after about 150 pages in, but I pushed through and I am glad I did.

Alejandra is in deep mental pain: She feels empty, after moving to another city for her husband’s job, saying goodbye to her birth mother she recently met after years of not knowing her. As a stay-at-home mom after resigning from a data analyst job to take care of three kids: nine years old Catrina, four years old Will and their little baby girl Elodia who is only eighteen months old.

Alejandra didn’t want to give birth to the third child and she didn’t want to stop working, but she felt as if she had to sacrifice her life to take care of her family. Her choice for financial security over love makes her question her marriage. She’s not sure she loves her husband.

She starts seeing a shadow of a woman in white dress just like La Llorona: a Mexican folklore figure and a vengeful spirit of a woman who drowned her own children, still mourning them by hunting the delicate souls of women who have been scorned.

Alejandra thinks about taking her life after hearing whispers encouraging her to end her misery. But she decides to be strong for her children. She decides to find a psychiatrist which is also a curandera who can help her with her healing powers. When she starts seeing Melani, it forces her to dig deeper into the history of her ancestors and where the haunting is coming from.

Alejandra finally realizes an ancient curse is ruining the women’s lives in her family for centuries! One of her ancestors had made an agreement with the vengeful spirit: La Llorona. The vengeful spirit gets fed by their sorrow, anger and after a long time of misery the women take their lives.

I LOVE stories about family and this story has such a gorgeous plot and characters. It explains the true trials of being a mother and being forgotten, and forgetting who you are. Stories that delve into family history and where a person comes from are such an interesting read.

While this is a horror book, it's a different type of horror. Yes, there are scary elements, but overall, I would say it's more of a social horror novel rather than a Stephen King-esque horror.

With the folklore element, this book gives all kinds of interesting vibes. I can't wait to do more research on La Llorona.

First, thank you Netgalley & Random House - Ballentine for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to get a look at this because La Llorna is a tale I am very familiar with. And growing up in San Antonio, TX, I was surrounded by Mexican culture. And a haunting? It sounded right up my alley.

Unfortunately, it felt flat. I started quickly losing interest. This shouldn't be marketed as a thriller. It's mostly a look at generational trauma and how it affects you.

I also couldn't connect to the writing styles. And where I did connect A LOT with the MC, every time jump/pov changed I got quickly uninterested.

I'm sorry, but this one wasn't for me!

Thy synopsis sounded amazing but this one was ended up not for me. Too graphic for my taste. I thank the publisher and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to completely love this book due to my heritage but I just felt let down. The story over all is modernized Llorona retelling. I just went in with more thriller in mind. Now that I think back on the story maybe it had enough of its own mental thriller but I really wanted that goosebumps on my arm, keeping me awake at night thriller.

This book was a beautiful look at generational trauma and Mexican folklore - I enjoyed it for the most part but at the end of the day, I didn't love this as much as I wanted to. I don't think it should've been marketed as a thriller, either, since the plot was kind of predictable so it took me much longer than I would've expected it to given that it's not overly long.
I had high hopes for this but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

Maybe I just don't know wnough about the cultural references in this book but I didn't really care for this book. I unfortunately had to DNF this book.

I gave this book 2/5 stars.
I think it should not be marketed as a thriller, it’s very predictable, and more of a generational saga. There weren’t many surprises or twists that you would expect in a thriller.
I didn’t like the long drawn out paragraphs from the POV of the creature. I also didn’t like the POV of Flor and didn’t find it to be pertinent to the story.

I’m a sucker for Hispanic folklore so when I saw that this book was centered around the tale of La Llorona I was eager to snatch this up and review it.
Alejandra is a young mother of three children who is married to a fourth child. Alejandra has come to find her husband to be volatile and demanding and dismissive of her feelings of being a shell of her former self. Feeding off of her despair La Llorona or the “weeping woman” shows up sporadically to feed off of her anguish.
We follow Alejandra and the women in her lineage as they battle with their demons. La Llorona being one demon, postpartum depression being the other.
I felt that the authors writing style in this book was not for me. She embellished some things to the point where it would lose my attention. It took me about three months to finish Alejandra. About 2/3 of the way through the book does pick up however. If one is looking to read horror there are brief moments in the book where it is scary, but to me this is more a take of a woman being reborn and finding herself.
My profuse thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mexican folklore always intrigues me. I don’t believe in the supernatural, yet I temporarily believe when I read something like this. Add to that the fact that this was a bit of a woman-finding-her-power story and I truly loved it. It changed POVs throughout from a few people in the current day to people from the past, but it never got confusing, just very well put together.

Alejandra has the kind of life many people dream of; a devoted husband, three beautiful and healthy kids, and a home in a prosperous community.
The slow creep of the haunting that starts off sounding like the malaise a lot of women feel in their 30s as they struggle to reconcile their personhood with their motherhood but we soon find out that it is more of a slow boil that will take Alejandra and her eldest daughter down if she doesn't fight for them and for herself.
This is an old-fashioned, spooky, atmospheric read more than a jump scare and I love that about it; Alejandra's frame of mind is so richly painted that she feels like a friend we become very, very invested in.
I love how the author addressed multigenerational trauma, masterfully weaving it in with the story instead of hitting the reader over the head with it like a PSA; V. Castro's writing is sheer brilliance.

Alejandra is young mother stuck in an unfulfilling marriage when she begins to have visions threatening her and her children's lives. She must dive deep into her personal and ancestral history to find the power to protect her loved ones.

This story is incredible. It's inspired by the La Llorana myth. This was my first time reading a V. Castro book, and I’m blown away. The beginning of this novel lulls you into a sense of complacency that you’ll be reading about a broken marriage - and then you’re quickly thrown into a gorgeous plot that navigates an intergenerational curse that stems from when colonizers arrived in the Americas. There are women revolutionaries, queer identities, and a centering of curandera practices. The latter was particularly powerful - and actually essential - because in any other healthcare setting in the US, Alejandra likely would have been institutionalized for the symptoms she was reporting. From a political perspective, this book is subtly but importantly quite radical - and I unsurprisingly adored this.

I have little to critique here but can consider what other reviewers have written. Yes, there are multiple POVs and flashbacks. While I’m generally cautious about these narrative techniques, I thought that V. Castro used them masterfully. They were peppered into sections that appropriately moved the plot forward. I do agree that there are brief periods where the writing is more choppy or the pace is a little slow, but I didn’t find this to be unusual for a book of this length. Though a significant portion of this book takes place in Philadelphia (my favorite US city and home for four years), I don’t know that the geography ended up being central to the narrative. Alejandra could have been living in any other city outside of Texas, so the lack of Philly characteristics was a little underwhelming. Ultimately, none of these critiques are enough to dim the overarching beauty of the story for me. I can’t wait to have my hardback copy once the book is published.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for approving this e-ARC. It’s my favorite NetGalley read yet!

This book was very interesting. I am Mexican so I am quite familiar with the various tales of La Llorona and her origins, this was an interesting and different take on a well known story and I enjoyed it.

This book uses the supernatural to address generational trauma, which was really interesting to see and read. It also stresses the importance of therapy and healing, connecting with yourself and your heritage. Some scenes were perfectly creepy and genuinely terrifying, but I'd say the main focus is the growth and exploration of the different women in Alejandra's lineage, including her.

I wouldn't consider it historical fiction, although it has a lot of flashbacks to Alejandra's ancestors and the time periods are accurately described, creative liberties are also taken, I still think they were included in a good way and added to the plot.

Something I didn't like very much were the dialogues, sometimes they felt forced and almost unbelievable. Also, the fact that the creature was described to us every time someone saw it, I understand it's a shock to the character, but I don't think it's necessary to describe it to us that many times.

Overall, I think I really enjoyed this book, it started off slow but picked up eventually and addressed important themes in a unique way.

cw: suicide thoughts, blood, colonization, death, gaslighting, gore.

Immediately engaging! The writing is so emotional and real, the characters so relatable. I love the discussion on connecting to culture, and reclaiming identity. This book is great for fans of Nightbitch (Yoder), with a touch a of creature horror similar to Slewfoot (Brom). Also, fans of Sylvia Moreno-Garcia will feel at home in this book.

I would include content warnings for suicide and suicidal ideation, as well as for emotional abuse/gaslighting/grooming.

There is potentially problematic messaging in mental health (depression) being linked to supernatural causes, but I think in this book the author sidesteps that by making the creature attracted to the mental anguish and generational trauma in the first place. The problem is that there is a family curse and the women's symptoms are exacerbated by being haunted by this creature, which toes a fine line as far as the portrayal of mental health as a real vs supernatural issue. The inclusion of counseling/therapy in the story is great.

The book ended up losing my interest so that I couldn't even finish the last 20%. My biggest problem was with the dialogue. Not believable at all.