The Haunting of Alejandra

"I'm not even sure where to begin......oh La Llorona. An amazing twist to a horrid folklore. Alejandra's desire to kill what has haunted generations of women within her family is admirable, honorable. V. Castro's description of La Llorona's demise is horrifying and not what I expected, not how I expected Alejandra to kill La Llorona. Further proof a mother's love will win. "

"Too whiney and depressing for me. "

"This story!!!!! No....this LEGEND blew me away. I am usually not one for contemporary books but this one took the cake and made me reevaluate my previous notion. I loved the mysterious turn of events that we follow Alejandra on and the representation of Mexican folktales. The Haunting of Alejandra was suspensefully paced and gives Verity vibes in that manner. The one gripe I have is that the writing is a little simply put, the prose not quite polished. But that didn't take away much from my enjoyment of the story. Overall this gets a 4.25/5.<br/><br/>Extended Breakdown:<br/>Story: 4.5/5<br/>Characters: 4/5<br/>Pace: 4/5<br/><br/>TikTok: @wvbookwitch<br/>Blog: http://wvbookwitch.blogspot.com/"

"This was one of those books that I could not seem to put down. I don't know if it was the ties to the childhood story of La Llorona or what, but the story was so intricately woven in and out of generations of women in the same bloodline suffering this curse. It was painful to hear these different women's stories of not feeling good enough or not wanting to be a mother or really not feeling like they had any choice in their lives. Watching them suffer with how to best stop their pain for them and their daughters. Bringing in the story line of the Curandera and how she helped them to reach into the power of their familial roots for strength and knowledge was simply beautiful!"

"This is my favorite book of 2023 so far. <br/><br/>Alejandra is a wife and a mother and is seriously struggling. She feels as though she has no identity other than those two things and she isn't even good at them. As her depression gets deeper she starts to see a ghostly figure of a woman in white - La Llorona. After deciding to get therapy this entity starts wreaking havoc on not only her but her children. This leads Alejandra to connect more with her birth mother who gave her up at birth and to learn more about her family history. She wants to learn more about this woman in white and how she can get rid of her for good. <br/><br/>This book is the epitome of how much heart horror can have. To start, Alejandra is such a beautiful, flawed character. I am not married and have no children but as someone who has depression I felt her agony. I have many friends who have felt the way she felt about their own partners and children and I know that Alejandra's struggle will resonate with so many. Yet the strength and love she has for her children will have you cheering for her the whole way through the book. <br/><br/>I also loved the exploration of her family history and heritage. Alejandra is a woman that was adopted and raised by people that had no ties to her heritage which made her feel even more lost in her identity. Getting to go with her has she learned and connected with her family and the strength it gave her had me crying. It was truly beautiful seeing her and the women of her family line experience the very real emotions that come with being human but specifically Mexican American women. <br/><br/>Finally, La Llorona is terrifying. I know enough about this legend and this take on it was so unique. The way that the moments of horror were paced seriously left me on edge. This book is told through multiple POV's and multiple timelines that made the story unfold in a way that made it hard to put the book down. I highly recommend this book!"