The Haunting of Alejandra
By V. Castro


Alejandra is a stay at home mom who bit by bit has lost more and more of who she is. We meet her at her breaking point. While her child pounds on the bathroom door, and her husband is shouting for dinner, she reaches a crisis where she contemplates whether it’s worth going on. It is at this low point, she sees the image of a woman in white. Alejandra is troubled by her dark thoughts and reoccurring apparitions. She enlists the help of a therapist who is also a traditional Mexican healer. She embarks on a journey to uncover the roots of her haunting and discovers that for generations, the women in her bloodline have been visitied by the same mysterious woman in white - La Llorona. It is up to Alejandra to break the family curse once and for all.

The Haunting of Alejandra is a creepy and atmospheric gothic retelling of the La Llorona Mexican folk tale. It is a cuento Mexican children grow up hearing from parents who use this cautionary tale to keep their naughty children in line. Or is it a taunt to keep naughty mamas in line? Here V Castro, reimagines and expands this piece of folklore to explore generational trauma, motherhood, connection, postpartum depression and healing.

During a time when many traditional myths are being re-voiced from a feminist perspective, it was a welcomed change to see a Mexican folk tale receive a fresh interpretation. One can read V Castro’s work strictly for its dark entertainment but it is so much more, it is subversive. I would recommend this book to fans of Silva Moreno-Garcia, Gabino Igelesias and Grady Hendrix.


TW: mental illness, suicide, attempted infanticide, traumatic pregnancy, stillbirth, forced marriage, rape, violence, gore, parental abandonment.


Many thanks to @NetGalley, @DelReyBooks for the opportunity to read this digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Haunting of Alejandra is a chilling and gripping literary horror novel that delves into the depths of motherhood, family legacy, and self-discovery. This haunting tale is packed with dark secrets that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

The author masterfully weaves a tale that is both ravishing and provocative, drawing readers into a world of terror and suspense. The characters are richly developed, and the plot is expertly crafted, keeping readers guessing until the very end.

V. Castro's THE HAUNTING OF ALEJANDRA combines modern suburban reality with ancestral magic. When unhappy Alejandra moves to the suburbs, she loses home, identity, and profession and is thrust into a world of competitive parenting, absent husbands, and stratospheric expectations for who she is supposed to be and how she is supposed to live, The appearance of a ghostly figure throughout her life sends her to a therapist where she starts the long unraveling of a family legacy that drives her to summon her courage, intuition, and intelligence to save her own life. The story is hypnotic, one of those that keeps me up way too late under its spell. I received a copy of this novel and these are my own, unbiased thoughts. .

I have hella mixed feelings on this one. The best way I can describe my feelings about this book is that the "horror" is not traditional horror and focuses more on mental stability rather than the sightings of La Llorona. It is a symbolic magical realism story about depression, if anything. Because of that, the story didn't turn out how I thought it would and wasn't what I expected.

My full review is on my blog, The Litt Librarian, but I must warn you that it is riddled with spoilers. But I'm down for a debate if anyone wants to talk about it.

Haunted by the Mexican folk demon, La Llorana, this visceral novel is about intergenerational trauma, colonization, systemic oppression, and the horrors at the heart of motherhood.

The theme of supernatural tied to colonization has been a recent trope that I have seen by postcolonial authors who are trying to make sense of eons and eons of intergenerational trauma that has been passed down as a result of decolonization. We meet Alejandra, a wife and mother of three children, who has been adopted into a religiously cult-ish family and witnesses a woman in white - a creature - who begins to haunt them, and the women in her family. This haunting leads her to search for a therapist in the form of Melanie who encourages Alejandra to reconnect with her roots, which leads her to learn about her birth mother, Cathy. Through her birth mother, she learns of her great grand mother who was in an unhappy marriage to a man named David, and due to guilt of infidelity, she ends up committing suicide following the footsteps of La Ilorana.

Without giving away the ending, the novel is visceral, thought provoking, and heartbreaking. It is a story about motherhood, and how as Matthew, her husband who often feels entitled to rescuing her and controlling her, also says, “mothers needs mothers”. It is something that made me recognize how my own decisions regarding motherhood as been shaped by the fact that my own mom has not been present in my life. Castro’s brilliance, however, ultimately lies in this novel by not only envisioning intergenerational trauma as a monster consuming the women in her family. While Art Speigalman used the graphic narrative to demonstrate intergenerational trauma in Maus, Castro deploys the supernatural to understand how this trauma envelops generations.


Thank you @penguinrandomhouse, Ballantine, and @vlatinalondon for the gifted e-arc of the novel.

This was my first book from this author, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was surprised to find the story felt more like a literary fiction/drama than I was expecting for a horror book and ultimately lost interest in the story about 1/3rd of the way through. I'm still interested in reading more from V. Castro because I've heard great things about their writing, so I plan on trying out more books from them in the future. Unfortuantely, The Haunting of Alejandra was a miss for me.

Alejandra’s life is suffocating. Her husband, Matthew, is unavailable, and her three children are overwhelming. Dealing with mental health issues, Alejandra feels the curse (in the form of La Llorona) that has haunted the women in her family for generations. Now she has to confront the curse before she loses more than her sanity.

This was a page turner! I really enjoyed V. Castro’s writing: it just flowed so wonderfully. The chapters are told in third person from multiple points of views, and with a nonlinear timeline. I really love the themes of mental health and the struggles of being a woman intertwined with the story of La Llorona, and wrapped in a real haunting. My only trouble with this book was the unrealistic path to reaching a solution. There were ideas that came out of nowhere, but provided the perfect explanation. That being said, it did NOT take away from the story or the writing. I also liked that the book explores different ways of being a mother.

This book made me cry, mad, and have nightmares. It did its job as a horror novel.

Pick up today!

Trigger warning: suicide ideation/attempt, racism, sexism, mental illness, intrusive thoughts, sexual assault, colonization, intimate partner violence

Prepare for the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Del Rey Books for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️ 4 / 5

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

I want to thank Random House-Ballantine, Del Rey and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The opening scene did an amazing job at keeping you guessing about what was going on in Alejandra’s life. I won’t deny that at the beginning this was a tough book to get into because it brings to the forefront so many difficult topics like mental health, postpartum depression and the less positive aspects of motherhood. As we encountered other points of view and as Alejandra embarked on a journey to self healing, I started to love all these strong women around her.

One of the coolest aspects of this story, as it developed, is how the story of La Llorona is woven into the narrative. The way this story delved into Mexican American history and identity is so refreshing and was one of my favorite aspects of the book. Particularly with Flor’s chapter.

As for my reservations, while this was a short book the beginning was hard to get into because it was so much negativity and slow to build. Some of the monologues felt a bit out of place. The pacing, especially in the beginning, could’ve been better and the order in which some of the other female POVs are presented could’ve been reorganized so that the reveal was more impactful.

Would recommend for those who are fans of
- Creepy/Spooky vibe
- Non-Linear timeline
- Multiple female POVs
- The power of healing
- LGBTQ+ rep
- Mexican American History and folklore

Motherhood has been no picnic for Alejandra. She has always felt broken in that regard, unable to find the bliss that children are supposed to bring. Alejandra just isn't able to connect with her kids and often longs for her life before she had them. These feelings bring her to the brink of desolation, and there Alejandra is visited by a vision of terror. A deadly entity is stalking Alejandra and her family, and it will be the absolute fight of her life to survive.

Wow. This book goes places others fear to tread, into the fear and pain of being a mother. I learned so much about Mexican folklore and really connected with the story. If you're looking for something creepy and crawling with dread, definitely check out The Haunting of Alejandra. It's available everywhere you buy books now. Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books for the chance to review this advance copy.

Such a powerful novel about motherhood and identity. Alejandra is a mother and wife and seems to have lost all other aspects of her self. Connecting with her birth mother leads her down a trail to better understand her heritage, including multigenerational trauma and a curse that follows the females of her family.

At first it seems Alejandra has a severe case of postpartum mood disorder, or possibly even postpartum psychosis. However, when she finds a therapist who’s also a curandera, they work together to exorcise the demons from Alejandra’s birth family’s past.

A novel most mothers can relate to on many levels with doses of La Llorona lore, fantasy, and horror woven in.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Haunting of Alejandra was a haunting exploration of generational trauma through the lens of La Llorona, a popular Latin American folkloric figure. The story is layer with these of racism, colonialism, dark family secrets, and finding your own path while honoring those who have come before you.

A stand out is the complexities of what it means to be a mother and a woman shared through the point-of-views of different generations of Mexican American women in one lineage. I did have some issues with the character dialogue feelings a little flat and the pacing in some places felt slow.

This is the second book I've read from V. Castro that speaks to how women do not need to follow a strict path set by other people's goals or desires. They can pave their own way- no matter what that may mean for them. And I really love that about The Haunting of Alejandra.

The Haunting of Alejandra follows generational trauma through multiple members of a cursed bloodline, incorporating the Mexican folklore of La Llorona. One thing that stands out to me about V. Castro is her ability to merge feminist prose seamlessly and purposefully into horror plot lines. I cannot wait to read more of her previous work and any future releases!
Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

This was terrifying, atmospheric and well written! The story follows Alejandra who feels trapped in life, but ultimately confronts her family’s demons and fights to end a curse that has been plaguing her family for centuries. The differing timelines and POV were done well. The Mexican folklore was fascinating. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed, but it worked.

Alejandra is a young stay at home mother who is disenchanted with her life and marriage. She begins to see an image of a shadowy woman dressed in white that she identifies as La Llorada, a mythical creature prominent in her Mexican culture. Alejandra also occasionally hears a voice encouraging her to kill herself and saying that it wants her children. When the children start to tell Alejandra that they also see evil shadowy beings, Alejandra is determined to stop this ghostly creature so she enlists the help of Melanie, a therapist/curandera and her biological mother, Cathy. With the help of these women, Alejandra uncovers the stories of her ancestors and an ancient curse and in the process, she becomes more sure of herself and what she wants for her life.
Overall, I found that I just could not get into this book. One thing that I liked were the historical stories about Alejandra’s ancestors and the Mexican history and culture that was included. I also enjoyed the strong female protagonists and the supernatural suspense that was creepy but not over the top. I would describe it as magical realism mixed with horror which is usually a nice genre change for me. However, there were several aspects of the book that I struggled with. I really felt lost trying to figure out why Alejandra’s family was cursed - apparently this was included but it must have been vague because I never understood it. Also, I felt like the characters were poorly developed - I never really got a sense of the backgrounds of any of the characters and their inclusion in Alejandra’s struggles and acceptance of her solutions seemed unrealistic. And the character of Alejandra’s husband, Matthew and her relationship with him was just weird - his level of detachment was also way too unrealistic. At times, I found the dialogue to be lame and strained such as random mentions of people jumping into cenotes that were meaningless and made way too often. So, I would conclude that many readers will love the book much more than I did but like all books, it’s not for everyone.
#NetGalley #RandomHousePublishing-Ballantine

V. Castro’s The Haunting of Alexandra is unquestionably one of the darkest and perhaps most brutal books I’ve completed. I might have stopped after the first 50 pages, feeling I had given the book a chance. However, although I disliked parts, other factors drew me through its pages. One such factor lies outside the book. Because I recently read Krystle Zara Appiah’s Rootless—another book dealing with a mother’s post-partum depression leading to self-harm and alienation from her husband, I found myself wanting to see how Castro dealt with the issue also at the heart of Appiah’s British Kenyan treatment.

Although Appiah’s Sam was ultimately more likeable than Castro’s Matthew and Appiah’s Effie dealt with her problems without battling a grotesque monster, Castro’s novel is well worth reading because of even greater differences, one of which was her central issue of generational trauma brought out by adopted Alejandra’s search for her family history spanning Latinx history from the days of the conquistadors and Emiliano Zapata to an aging hippie, shifting the timeline to tell the stories of Alejandra’s ancestors and not only reviewing Mexican history but introducing some unfamiliar details.

Throughout the story, the folkloric La Llorona, sometimes known as the Weeping Woman. Although La Llorona haunts the generations of women throughout Alejandra’s bloodline, it shouldn’t take readers long to realize this is more a symbolic ghost or monster than a real one. Each generation has suffered from its own version of the trauma now destroying Alejandra, who has given up her independence and career for a husband who insists she stay at home to raise child after child while constantly reminding her that she has an easy life.
Two of Alejandra’s encounters with people outside the family especially stood out. One was with non-Hispanic educators in her young daughter’s school, who are horrified that she has told the story of La Llorona to a child, the other with the health care professional, also a spiritual healer, who understands her needs and guides her to discover her lost family.

I did not care for the graphic blood and brutality and am inclined to feel the “rotting flesh” resembling “writing maggots” in the La Llorona’s mouth were overkill. Nevertheless, I tried to set my personal preferences aside, remind myself that this was Alejandra’s symbolic vision of the horrors that were her life, and focus on Castro’s accomplishments, which are many. Her melding of Mexican history, family history, folklore, and all too real social, racial, and psychological issues make me glad I read to the end. Most of all, the book offers hope. As the epigraph tells readers at the beginning, we need to know the past to overcome it. A reminder of that epigraph might help some readers make it through to the end and be happy they did.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey/PenguinRandomHouse for an advance reader copy.

The Haunting of Alejandra was hauntingly beautiful and horrific in equal measures.

Castro delves deep into intergenerational trauma, the way women are abused by the patriarchy and a reclamation of one’s own life. The weight of the history of oppression weighs heavy and I loved how each woman got their own section of the narrative. These were stunning excerpts, totally imaginative and immersive. They were all also unspeakably tragic. Castro welds in darkness and the horror of humanity without hesitation. Through everything, we follow Alejandra. She was a character I instantly connected with, feeling her fractured nature and conflicting desires. Her voice was so compelling and emotionally rich. The narrative entirely spins around her and the slow reveal of her family history, intersecting with the dark curse placed upon them.

It is no secret that I adore the Gothic genre and I think it was the perfect vehicle for this story. Castro takes many tropes of the genre and reimagines them in fresh, startling ways that often intersect with the societal or personal commentary of the scene. This is woven with a retelling of the La Llorona myth and the way Castro blends genres and cultures is superb. There has often been a villainization of anyone considered the other in the Gothic, but Castro delves deeper than this into a grey morality. When choices are forced upon you or there is none other than survival, you will be pushed to unspeakable places. Through this, there is a commentary on the evolution of patriarchal and colonial power, how it intersects and the specific violence done upon the bodies of women of colour. It is deeply powerful and emotional, with a raw vulnerability and an unflinching need to show the full truth.

The Haunting of Alejandra takes questions of legacy, trauma and modern motherhood and combines them with a searing and Gothic narrative.

I was very bored. I didn't really care and I felt bad that I didn't care. I skipped ahead to the La Llorna chapter. Cool take. I just don't care about generational trauma stories either. Weyward didn't work for me. Homecoming was a drag. I wanted more Haunting and less Alejandra

First off, look at the cover! Gorgeous!

I really enjoyed exploring the story of La Llorona in a different way than I expected. I think Castro shines a light to an important topic of generational trauma and mental health in a very unique way. My favorite parts were when we got to look back in time to read the stories of the other women in her family tree.

Although I loved the concept and story, I did have a hard time getting through the first chunk of the book. Overall, I would give it a solid 3.75.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

For generations, women in Alejandra’s bloodline has been haunted by La Ilorona and it’s up to her to end this for her children and the future.

I started this last month but just finished it, currently in Mexico - which was very fitting.
I think this was a very interesting take on womanhood and motherhood, what people do for love. I loved the retelling concept more than the actual story. I felt it would be a better novella as there were quite a few tangents on nothing. Some of it felt super dramatic too but overall, I did enjoy this.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book! Comes out tomorrow 🧡

DNF at 50%. I think that I'm not the audience for this story. Not being a mother, and this story being about motherhood and the challenges that come with that, it was all a bit out of my experience.

That said, I think this could be a powerful, relatable story for mothers. I enjoyed the writing, but the dialogue was a bit unnatural. I would definitely read from this author again.