First I want to start out by saying that I really love Castro's writing and the voice that she uses. Technically, this book was well written and I enjoyed the prose itself. What I did not connect with was the story and the characters. BUT that said, this book was not written for me. This is the story of a Latina woman trying to reconnect with her roots and navigate motherhood and her marriage. I can not relate to a single one of those things. I struggle with stories about motherhood, but that is purely a person thing. Like I said, the book was excellently written and the unsettling moments were top notch, the story was just not meant for me. I can see so many people finding representation here though, and I would recommend people pick it up. Also, the cover art is phenomenal. I will continue to read and recommend Castro's books!

Alejandra's return to her roots and the information I learned about her culture were incredibly interesting to me.
La Llorona could be considered the antagonist in this story, but it's more likely that she represents the trauma that society and successive generations have inflicted on women over the course of time in an effort to make them conform to certain stereotypes. Alejandra needs to find a method to defend both herself and her family.
I appreciate the chance to read it and would like to thank the author, publisher, and NetGalley.

It took me longer than necessary to start this novel, a fact I regret. It is, most definitely, haunting.

I do not know anything about cinematography but I would say that this book has a cold open in the sense that it does not give you any time to prepare for what is to come -- you are right in Alejandra's head as she struggles with her will to live. In fact, the book starts so viscerally that I had to put it down for a while because of how permeating her feelings were. The book continues to be this visceral for the duration of the story as it details Alejandra and her ancestors suffering.

That is another thing I had not been prepared for: this is not a single POV book. It weaves between perspectives and times, which is something that felt necessary and worthwhile. I found the other perspectives fascinating as they provided a wealth of insight not only into history but also Alejandra's ancestry, giving the readers a much deeper glance into her as a character and making the theme feel incredibly fleshed out.

The word building was effective, the horror that the hauntings induced nauseating to read but I would still argue that this book is more literary than horror. The supernatural aspects are more of a vehicle to explore the generational trauma Alejandra has as she works through it, which was marvellously executed. I admired the author for allowing Alejandra to get mental health aid, it should be more common in the genre and as a whole. So that was great.

The writing felt a little bit too passive at certain moments, there was a lot of stating what the characters felt and what was happening, as well as them reciting things we hadn't seen. However, I think that's just the author's style and it is something that is easily accustomed to. Although I do wish we'd seen more emotion from some scenes.

The other thing is that sometimes it felt as though the story likened being a woman to being a mother. I think this is just because the story heavily focuses on the nature of motherhood in combination with generational trauma but nevertheless it was something that made me feel a bit uncomfortable. But maybe it's just me.

Overall, a haunting story of resilience and the strength it takes to overcome generational trauma.

I tried twice to get through this book. The main character is horrible and we are subjected to basically living in her head with the same recurring thoughts and little to no action. The dialogue is awkward and stilted throughout. Am I missing something? I'm not sure how this book has received so many good reviews.

I started this book because I was interested in the story of La Llarona and a Mexican folklore horror story. There is very little of that, but I did enjoy those brief gasps for air in a book that felt like I as drowning. Sorry, but not my cup of tea to listen to this woman complain for 150 of the 200 pages.

The cover, however, is beautiful.

Thank you Del Rey and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've read this author's previous paranormal horror novella, Goddess of Filth, and I really loved it so I was so excited to dive into this new release from this author. Unfortunately it did not work for me. Because of the hype of this author's last novel being so fun and spooky, I went in thinking I was going to get the same vibe for this one. While it did have the spooky and ominous vibe, it was more sad and somber than fun, and that really took away from my experience. I think if I knw going into this book that it was going to be really heavy on the mental health rep and more about inner demons than actual demons, I would have enjoyed it more.

The book was still beautifully written and atmospheric just like I knew this author's writing to be, the tone just didn't work for me. I think this book can work for so many horror readers looking for a more realistic paranormal horror.

I appreciated Alejandra's journey with her depression and feelings of postpartum guilt; her journey is not linear or neat or tidy. THE HAUNTING OF ALEJANDRA explores the complicated bond between mother and children and uses the idea of haunting as a symbol for generational trauma and inherited mental health patterns, as well as a representation of Alejandra's uneven marriage. The interludes of other women/mothers in Alejandra's line was very smartly utilized and helped keep the quick pace of the main narrative. This horror novel highlights the importance of community between women, both blood and found. Looking forward to more novels by this author.

I would rate this somewhere between 3.5-4 stars.

Things I liked about this book:
1. Girl power! It was filled with strong females throughout.
2. It was packed with so much Mexican history and culture, including a bit about Emiliano Zapata and also, Colonel Amelio Robles Avila, a transgender hero during the Mexican revolution.
3. Highlighting the importance of therapy and making sure to find a support system when things are bad
4. Pointing out the stress that moms face every day, especially when they don't have a support system. Stay-at-home mom is one of the hardest jobs because there is NEVER a break! Castro did a great job of showing the stress and anxiety that Alejandra was going through.
4. That cover!! It is my favorite of the year, just gorgeous!!
Things I disliked:
1. The monster/creature wasn't necessarily scary, just gross. I don't know how else to describe it but gross.
2. I never really connected with the characters and maybe it is because the story was told through the eyes of so many different ancestors that I was never able to connect with any one character completely.

Castro did a great job of making the husband despicable. I kept hoping he would come to an untimely, horrendously bloody death. Maybe I have been reading too many horror novels.

THE 411...

When we meet Alejandra she is a wife and a mother living her days feeling invisible, under appreciated and unloved. She's in a dark place and any moment of solace she comes across allows her the introspection that otherwise she doesn't have time for. Mother to three children, Alejandra struggles with the feelings she's having towards motherhood as a whole. Her third child was unexpected after a tubal ligation didn't prevent her pregnancy.  She's not exactly in a loving marriage, her husband dismisses her cries for help and feels she should be satisfied in the life he has provided her with. Her adoptive parents (father) were just as dismissive of her struggles with mental health while growing up, as her husband is now. No one seems to really understand or want to acknowledge that Alejandra is not ok and is struggling daily with some dark thoughts. Soon enough she starts seeing a woman crying  in ragged white gown, always catching glimpses as she leaves or enters a room. When her daughter mentions having seen the woman in white to a teacher, Alejandra is called in to discuss these dreams her child is having. This gives Alejandra the push she needs to seek therapy for herself.

In what feels like kismet, her therapist is also a Mexican Curandera and she knows all about the legend of La Llorona. As she begins to delve deeper into her family history, track down her biological mother and get in touch with her roots and spirituality, Alejandra discovers some truths. She is not alone in her struggles, the women in her lineage have all been haunted by La Llorona who is an angry vengeful mother who killed her own children. La Llorona has appeared to all of the women in her family and pushed them into dark places in an attempt to take them with her. This is one generational curse Alejandra will need help with breaking before she too has a tragic ending.

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS...

This was an audiobook read although I was also very lucky to have been granted a DRC from Del Rey. Immediately when I heard Alejandra's voice narrated my first thoughts were this woman is tired. This woman is haunted. The bathtub scene in the first few pages where she's just trying to get a few more minutes alone but her very young children need her and her husband is not trying to help was tough. Readers should really take care to look into content warnings, suicide ideation is prominent as is depression. This story is told in alternate timelines between present day Alejandra's POV and one of her ancestors. Personally, I did find myself wanting to spend more time in the chapters told by her ancestor who was waging her own war against the patriarchy and reclaiming her body. These chapters have a different tone overall and gave me the break I needed from being in Alejandra's main story line.

I appreciated how learning of her ancestors gave Alejandra the motivation to take the reigns in her own life. The road to this discovery however is heavy with the thoughts of a woman who is close to losing her mind. It was interesting to see the way V. Castro wove in themes of body autonomy or lack thereof for all of the women being haunted by La Llorona. I was expecting this story to lean in a bit more into the horror vibes tied to the Mexican folklore of La Llorona. We still get a healthy dose of the legendary woman in white but it's definitely taken up a notch towards the end of the book. This could just be me since I do not watch horror movies AT ALL but do enjoy reading the genre, so I was surprised when I didn't really find myself spooked whenever I was reading this story. I'd recommend The Haunting Of Alejandra to readers who enjoy psychological horror, motherhood explored, folklore, spirituality, and stories of breaking generational curses.

I really wanted to love this book more than I did. The audiobook was done well but the story just fell flat. I liked the idea of an entity taking on the identity of the myth that people created surrounding La Llarona. I absolutely loved the scene depicting the creature in the water of the pool. Perhaps if I was a mother I could have enjoyed this more - or maybe it would scare me more. But since I don’t have children I don’t have the same struggles as many of the characters in this book and cannot relate to that. More ghosts - less motherhood trauma.

I loved this debut novel from V. Castro. It was a bit slower paced as our main character figures out that she's being haunted by a demon and getting rid of the demon.

The descriptions were gorgeous and haunting.

Wow wow wow! I absolutely love V. Castro and her writing so much and The Haunting of Alejandra did not disappoint. This book was a dark and atmospheric retelling of the Mexican legend of La Llorona.

Read this if you like:
- gore & body horror
- retellings
- multigenerational curses
- strong AF women
- Mexican folk lore

Thank you to #NetGalley and #DelReyBooks for a digital copy of The Haunting of Alejandra by V Castro for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

On the surface, Alejandra seems to have it all...a husband, children, financial stability...everything you could possibly want. Yet, she's unfulfilled and getting lost in the darkness taking over her life. She no longer loves the dream life that everyone thinks she has. Alejandra has dark thoughts and doesn't know what to do about them. Then, she starts seeing a dark figure during her lowest points, and it keeps getting worse. The figure starts preying on her children, and Alejandra knows that she has to do something before tragedy strikes. In the heart of her depression, Alejandra starts seeing a therapist who helps to guide her in the right direction, but it is up to Alejandra to put a stop to the figure.

To help with her therapy, Alejandra starts to connect to her ancestors, all of whom had their own trials and darkness. Interspersed throughout the novel were the stories of each of these ancestors, and how this being came into their lives. Many strong women in Alejandra's lineage had been plagued by this shadow figure, and she is determined to be the last one, before it can get it's claws into her own children.

All in all, this was an interesting look into Mexican culture and folklore surrounding La Llorona.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to review.
I tried really hard to finish this book but I just couldn't get into it. I absolutely hated Alejandra's character and I couldn't get past that.

It pains me to rate any book by V Castro lower than 3 stars, but it was such a chore to finish this book.

First let me start by saying V Castro is a goddess of Latina Horror featuring generational and cultural struggles particularly for women of Latin American descent. Her horror is more than just some scary entity, it’s also real life horror and I praise her for singing it loud!

What didn’t work for me…..

- The pacing I found to be extremely slow, part of that I attribute to the type of stories V Castro writes, part of it I felt was due to how many character POVs were introduced.

- I felt extremely underwhelmed with this story, mainly because I couldn’t find much (if anything) to relate to with the characters. I’m not a mother, I’m not of Latin American descent or mixed race, I’m not married, and I’m not upset with how my life has turned out. The only thing I could relate to with Alejandra is being given up to an adoptive family at birth by our biological mothers.

I truly think this story will resonate for many, especially if you fit those tropes that V Castro writes so incredibly well. I hope I’m in the minority of readers who didn’t care for this book, but we truly can’t love them all.

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro was...not what I expected. First, let me say that the cover of this book is what initially grabbed my attention. I think it is beautiful and would look amazing on any shelf. After that, the synopsis sounded amazing and was right up my horror loving alley. The character development was a little "meh" for me meaning that there was some room for depth but I didn't dislike the character outright. There were times where the story felt disjointed for me, but I still enjoyed reading it.

This was an interesting book. I did like it but it was different from my typical reads as I don’t really do a lot of horror and it involved kids and that is typically a big no for me as I have two little ones at home. The look into the generational trauma was amazing and truly taught me so much about generational trauma and how different cultures also respond to mental illness. I would recommend this book but it is definitely for adults and has too mature of content for middle schoolers.

I really enjoyed this and connected with Alejandra as a mom trying to find my own way. There was some good haunting imagery as well.

Rating: 4.06 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 4/5
-Cover: 3/5
-Story: 4/5
-Writing: 4/5
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mythology, Retelling
-Historical Fiction: 3.5/5
-Fantasy: 4/5
-Horror: 1.5/5
-Mythology: 5/5
-Retelling: 3.5/5
Type: Ebook
Worth?: Yes

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

Wow okay... where to even begin? When I first started into the book I will admit the MC was annoying as hell then the story wasn't really connecting but the more I read the more I realized the message of it all. How generational curses can kill a family until someone stops it. This retelling took a Mexican mythology and used it to master a really good message.

THOUGH I do have one problem with all of that. It seemed randomly put. We get the very start of the curse only for it to not start till 94 years later? That is the major issue I have with it all.

Alejandra is at her wits end. Frustrated with her life, she finds herself being haunted by something she just can't place. But as the days go by, she realizes that she is not only being haunted, but she is being haunted by an ancient spirit that is preying on her bloodline's generational trauma. With the help of her therapist and her birth mother, Alejandra finds the strength in herself to take on the spirit and save her family.

I really liked this book! I generally don't like scary things but I think it wasn't too scary. It is not subtle about its feminist undertones (which I liked) and there are so many metaphors and explorations of what it means to be a woman in the modern world. Alejandra's return to herself was poignant and inspiring as we watch her find her strength and shed all of the weight of society's expectations in favor of her own. The husband was so well written - I guarantee you we all know someone like him. As infuriating as he was, watching Alejandra reclaim control had me cheering.

The book is pretty gory, but if you are prepared, I think it makes it easier. It's all in service to the plot, but may be tough for some readers. Trigger warnings abound, including: sexual assault (off-page), violence, miscarriage, suicide, etc.

This book will haunt long after you put it down . A fabulous retelling of the legend of La Llorna this has it all creeps , scares and believe it or not relatable. The main character is a SAHM to her three children. Realistically portrayed as tired and struggling . As she delves into her family history she finds out her ancestors have dealt with similar demons . This is a great horror novel