A young woman, Alejandra, struggles with darkness and trying to find her identity while coping with the burdens of being a wife and mother. Visited by a ghostly vision in white, La Llorona, in her darkest hours she begins to question her sanity. After visiting a therapist, she begins exploring her matriarchal family history and realizes the women who came before her were also haunted by the specter. She will have to pull from her foremother’s strength and courage if she wants to save herself

The Haunting of Alejandra is a tale of identity and despair which follows one woman's haunting by La Llorona, a vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. This was the perfect addition to my fall reading list and I don't see many tales about La Llorona so I was pretty excited to start this one. I wanted to love this novella so much but I had such a hard time with it. This novella is beautifully written but Alejandra's struggles with "darkness" were a little too overwhelming for me. I felt like this authors writing style was very similar to that of Mariana Enriquez so if you enjoy her writing style then you will probably like this author just as much. Although this wasn't a good fit for me I think many readers will really enjoy this haunting tale of Mexican folklore and history.

I don't give out many 1 stars, in fact I think this is only the second time I've done so. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.

THE CONCEPT
This is marketed as a retelling of La Llorona, which is a folktale I have always been familiar with.

THE PLOT
Alejandra is a mother of three and is experiencing severe depression. Her marriage is a crumbling thing; she feels zero support from her husband and has no friends since their move to a new city. Alejandra hears a voice in her head that feeds into her suicidal thoughts. This voice tells her she is a terrible mother and that there is only one way out. Alejandra also begins to see a strange figure lurking in dark corners. She starts to think that this being isn't a hallucination, but a very real entity that wants to harm her and her children. With the help of a curandera, Alejandra learns more of her ancestry and the possibility of a generational curse that has been affecting the women in her family for centuries.

WHY IT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME
La Llorona is a story I grew up hearing (belonging to the folklore of many Latin American countries), so despite my genuine intrigue, I can't say this book met any of my expectations.

To put it simply: I didn't enjoy the writing and plot execution. I found the writing to be scattered, like it didn't know what it wanted to be. The metaphors and similes made cringe and felt extremely forced. The dialogue was always so overly convenient and made the characters feel one dimensional.
The plot was somehow incredibly basic and convoluted at the same time. I can appreciate Alejandra's character arc, truly I can, but it wasn't enough to make me enjoy this. I wanted a horror retelling of La Llorona, but it missed the mark for me. I get creeped out pretty easily, but the boredom was so great that I didn't find anything overly chilling, and the way La Llorona is integrated felt very unimportant. I can also appreciate the exploration of Mexican culture (e.g. Día de los Muertos), but even those elements fell short in the grand scheme of things. They felt thrown into the story at random times when convenient.

I would never wanna put anyone off to reading something that genuinely intrigues them, so I hope my experience isn't the case for the majority of those that read this.

TW: suicide, blood, gore, murder, abuse

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Haunting of Alejandra was a really great read. It kept me engaged and I really enjoyed the story. I wasn’t anticipating the separate timelines and point of views, but I think it definitely worked with the story. There’s a lot of emotion in this book that I also wasn’t expecting, it’s much heavier than I thought it would be, but it was still a great read. I also really loved how the Mexican folklore and culture was woven through the story.

Thank you for the ARC of “The Haunting of Alejandra.” The cover, the premise, and my interest in learning about La Llorona caught my attention with this one. I appreciated elements about it: the struggle that Alejandra went through as a mother and wife and that I learned about la llorona and Mexican culture. The story, though, felt repetitive in many instances and I found my attention waning. I’ve given it 3 stars for its message about tradition, women empowerment, seeking help and fighting for what you love.

Loved the Mexican folklore, learned so much. Excellent characters and use of timelines and POV. Looking forward to more from this author. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This is the perfect book for the upcoming spooky season! Alejandra was such a unique character and I felt so close to her the entire time I was reading. This was such an original horror book and a really nice spin on La Llorona legend that most people already know about. I recommend for any horror fans.

Motherhood may be filled with struggles that seem universal, but a generational curse adding to those struggles pushes the women in one family to extremes in V. Castro’s The Haunting of Alejandra.

Overwhelmed with taking care of three young children without consistent support from her husband who frequently travels for work, Alejandra is struggling to cope with the demands of everyone else upon her while also trying to make space for, and assert, what she might want out of life; frightened by a dark voice and eerie visions of a woman in white, La Llorona, haunting her with increasing frequency, Alejandra begins therapy to try to work out what’s going on with her and hopefully uncover who she is in the process. Through her sessions, she explores her family history – or at least what she knows of it – with the limited details she’s learned from her biological mother; delving further back in her maternal family line, she learns that the dark and despairing experiences she’s had ties her closely with the women who came before her, but the pain isn’t all she inherited – she also has their strength and courage, which she’ll need if she’s to banish La Llorona for good.

Featuring generational trauma taking the form of a curse and using the legend of La Llorona, a compelling story filled with familial bonds, born and found, and living authentically emerges through dark, occasionally gory, events in a befittingly atmosphere of uncertainty. While building a narrative that incorporates the overlooked voices and lives of her ancestors, Alejandra’s battle and confrontation with what’s haunting her in her deepest moments of despair slowly reveals a tapestry of lives with similar experiences, demonstrating the power of being afforded the option and ability to choose your own path in life and to have an identity discrete from merely mother or wife. With so many perspectives offered from different women across eras and cultures, there was an abundance of information to be shared and while there was necessity for most of it, at times it came across as forced, through unrealistic dialogue a bit too heavy on information, to propel the story along instead of being intricately woven together a bit more subtly and the order of the backstories didn’t seem to have much logic that was contextually-linked with what Alejandra was enduring at the moment outside of affirming not being alone in what she experienced. As the multiple women’s lives are explored, what haunts them all in the guise of La Llorona is also provided with an opportunity to make itself and its desires known, providing a disconcerting feeling to the overall story that keep things unsettling and eerie.

Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing haunting. This hit the core of my soul., as a mother and a wife. It’s supernatural haunting but also has the haunting of family trauma. Exactly what I expected from V. Castro. Highly Recommend.

What a read. This powerful multigenerational story of a family curse that has embodies the La Llorona horror. It is terrifying, real, and honors the strength of women. For me this had some Twin Peaks vibes combined with just creepy. I think more stories need to portray the very real postpartum/ depression experience of women.

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.

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!