This book blew me away. So packed with emotion, intrigue and genuine, monstrous horror. I couldn't get enough of it, and read the whole thing in just a couple of sittings. Fantastic.

3.5*

What worked for me?
- The POVs over time were really good at illustrating Alejandra's lineage and how they fit into Alejandra's story.
- The women in Mexican folklore were fascinating (La Catrina, Mictecacihuatl: The Lady of the Dead, La Llorona)
- The atmosphere was good and the plot (minus the intense focus on motherhood) was good and left quite a bit to the imagination, so the horror was quite clever.
- The mental health aspect is very prominent.

What didn't work for me?
- I think what stopped me enjoying this book (and it IS a me thing) is that I don't connect to any plot around motherhood. I've read plenty of books that focus on motherhood (it's a hard plot to avoid) but I think this book is so heavily focused on motherhood that this story doesn’t really stand up without it, and if that part of the plot wasn't pulling me in, then I think the story didn’t have much of a chance. The plot is good but it is hard for me to give a higher rating if I didn't feel as connected as I should have.

The Haunting of Alejandra" by V. Castro is a chilling and evocative horror novel that explores the haunting legacy of Mexican folklore. Alejandra, a wife and mother, finds herself tormented by the spectral presence of La Llorona, the weeping woman of legend. As she delves into her family's history, Alejandra uncovers dark secrets that bind her to this vengeful entity. The novel is a masterful blend of supernatural horror and family drama, with rich cultural elements that add depth to the story. Castro's writing is both atmospheric and provocative, making this a compelling and eerie read for horror enthusiasts.

REALLY enjoyed it. I got to the end and thought ‘yeah that’s brilliant’. The characters were thrilling and watching the main character go slightly crazy was heartbreaking and slightly terrifying.

This book was so good! It was intriguing and really drawed me in. I'll be reading more of this authors work.

3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC! I love books that centre around motherhood and generational trauma so I thought I’d give this a go.

This is a horror novel that almost reads like a literary fiction. The book follows multiple generations of women in the same family but mostly Alejandra as they are haunted by La Llorona. Each woman is plagued by sadness and the apparition of a demonic creature that tells them to end their lives after they have children. Alejandra wants to put a stop to the curse but to do that she must learn where she came from.

This whole book is a not so subtle metaphor for postnatal depression and generational trauma that is passed on until someone breaks the cycle. As someone who is breaking the cycle in my own life I really respected and took a lot from this novel. There were some beautiful quotes and I loved seeing Alejandra blossom as she discovered her true self and the meaning of life. A lot of different types of mother-daughter relationships and periods of history were explored which I found fascinating. I wouldn’t say this book is very scary, there is a lot of body horror and gore but I didn’t find myself needing to keep the lights on.

Where this novel lacked was in the writing. It was beautiful one minute and the stilted the next. The dialogue was incredibly unnatural and unrealistic which took me out of the story a lot. The descriptions of La Llorona/the creature were very repetitive as well. She was literally described the same way every time she appeared word for word pretty much which got a little boring because we weren’t learning anything new.

Please check trigger warnings before reading this, this book is going to be for a certain type of person and I think people will either love it or hate it. I enjoyed it but the writing knocked it down half a star for me. It was released on 17th October if you want to check it out.

A slow burner but powerful throughout.

📖SYNOPSIS: Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife and to her children, a mother. But Alejandra is struggling when a ghostly vision appears to her - a crying woman in a ragged white gown. When she begins to explore her family history, she learns that tragedy is not the only thing she shares with her ancestors…

💭MY THOUGHTS: This book was a little tough to get through as there are many themes that could be quite triggering, so please do check the content warnings before hand. It was painful to read about her experiences but it explored generational trauma in such a powerful and clever way.

I think the multiple timelines worked really well and I loved hearing each women’s narrative. Although the book wasn’t the most in-your-face scary, there was an eerie/haunting feel throughout which added to the atmosphere of the story. I’ve always found the legend of La Llorona interesting and the author tied it in with the ending beautifully.

Add this to your TBR !!

DNF - This was simply a case of me not being the target audience for this book. I did think this would be a great fit, being a lover of horror but, ultimately, this would be better suited for casual readers. I am sure this book will make its way into the hands of readers who will enjoy it for all that it is.

The Haunting of Alejandra is a fascinating and nuanced book.

Things I liked:

- The characters were incredibly believable and V. Castro paints a bleak yet realistic story. I truly felt for Alejandra and believe that this character and the others in the book could exist in real life, which made the subject matter really hit home.
- The idea of generational trauma was fascinating and I really enjoyed the aspects of the book that focussed on Alejandra's discovery of her heritage and culture.
- The book overall was very well-written with an extremely interesting plot.
- There was excellent body horror throughout this book.

Things I didn't like as much:

- The book is very metaphor-heavy, and sometimes I found that they were a bit too on the nose.
- The writing is very stylised and interesting to read, but the dialogue was often very stilted which took me out of it at times.
- I found the slow burn a little too slow burning for me, and I was hoping that the book would be a little scarier than it was.

Overall, I'd give this book a 3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars in my rating). Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book that I received in exchange for an honest review.

A creepy and horrific novel featuring a demon from the Mexican mythology, La Llorona. It's a story a bout family secretes, about who you are and what is going on.
Alejandra is a complex character and the author did a good job in developing this slow burning story.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I rarely write 2-star reviews, but this book was not for me at all. It was a slow burn in every sense of the term. Now I have no problem with slow burns as long as the buildup is good, the characters are interesting, and the feel of the book is dread. A sense of doom that you know is coming so you can't look away. I unfortunately got none of that here.

The first 40% of the book I loved and stuck with but after that the dialogue felt like it was being repeated and the flashbacks I no longer enjoyed. I lost interest around the 45% mark. I loved that this book deals with mental health issues, Mexican folklore and generational trauma, done right it would've been a 5-star read for me without hesitation, but it fell felt for me.
I also did not connect with the FMC as I should have. I didn't hate her, but I didn't like her either and did not feel sorry for her at all.
This one read like a domestic thriller with supernatural bits thrown in and while that's okay, I wanted more spook and more haunting. The ending was also extremely underwhelming. This was my first book by this author, and I would more than likely give their work another try.

Thank you to Netgalley and Titanbooks for my eARC of this book. All opinions are 100% my own.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC in exchange for a review!

If you’re looking for some creepy horror fiction to add as a late addition to your October TBR, consider The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro! I had a few stylistic issues with it, but in terms of creepiness and content, I can’t fault that - I had to hold off reading it for a night when my girlfriend wasn’t here as I couldn’t deal with the idea of seeing La Llorona at the end of my hallway when I went for a nighttime wee 😂😂
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Alejandra finds herself struggling with her sense of self and purpose being a stay-at-home mother to her three children, with her husband expecting her to be the perfect Stepford wife. Her suicidal thoughts begin to get overwhelming, and she’s suddenly confronted by a figure in white encouraging her to end it all. I found the merging of motherhood, postpartum depression, Mexican folklore and actual hauntings to be super compelling - and super creepy! Castro’s writing shines the most when she’s delving into the nitty gritty of body horror, demonic apparitions and tension.
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Unfortunately I did think her style falters elsewhere. The dialogue sometimes felt stilted and unnatural, and I often felt like I was being spoon-fed certain aspects of the plot. I don’t like it when things are over explained and the reader isn’t able to infer. I also get that Matthew, Alejandra’s husband, was intended to be a villain, but his sexism came off as cartoonish at times. There are definitely men out there who act like this, but I would have appreciated a little more nuance.
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Concerns aside, I do still think this book stands strong as a piece of horror fiction that’ll have you running up your stairs as fast as you can on a night, while also tackling the pressures of motherhood and the idea of reconnecting to an identity previously denied to you!

I do like that quote from Gaiman misquoting Chesterton that we need fairy tales to have dragons in order to remind us that dragons need to be beaten (although let’s face it dragons are cool). Battling monsters or demons can very easily be a reminder of the constant struggles we all have to face everyday. Perhaps not against the amassed forces of hell but in many ways things that are more important as they shape our entire lives. In V Castro’s powerful and thoughtful The Haunting of Alejandra we have a tale of a woman who not only is cursed by a strange demonic force but also as with so many of her ancestors battling to survive in an often cruel and uncaring world.

Alejandra is at a point in her life where she is no longer sure who she is. She knows that she has the role of a wife to a rich businessman who expects quiet obedience; she knows she must be the mother to her two children but now those roles are the only thing she is. She has no job, lives no longer in her hometown; far away from her recently discovered mother and the pressures of life are rising fast and increasingly terrifying. At the same time Alejandra finds herself feeling watched by some malevolent presence. Alejandra investigates with the help of her new therapist, and this uncovers a longer family curse linked to the ongoing legend of La Llorona but the spirit may be far more real than a simple legend told to scare children at night.

This is a very smart layered horror tale that on one level has a family curse that the latest generation needs to learn to face but also importantly has something to say about people feeling trapped in their lives within a society that often wants women to be only in roles that meet its needs. We get to witness various generations of Alejandra’s family and watch sexism, violence, depression and attitudes on abortion explored and the outcomes further back in time are very distressing but importantly accurate reflections of those periods – often the women lose and arguably a demonic force isn’t the only factor in this to make their outcomes horrific. What though is really encouraging and unusual is the exploration of having therapy explored. Alejandra meets Melanie who is also familiar with ethe more spiritual/magical side of life and its important that it shows its ok to talk; explore your feelings, look to change your perspective and get better. Watching Alejandra take control not against supernatural forces but also the human barriers in her way gives this tale a real feeling of empowerment which is really refreshing. Castro has done a beautiful approach to balancing these two halves of the tale to tell a compelling story.

This is a intelligent and powerful tale that mixes supernatural and societal threats with a lot to say about the world women face today and also importantly how to tackle it. Castro continues to be an author I’m always intrigued what they’ll have to show us next. Highly recommended!

This book took my heart, shattered it into pieces and then put it back together. It was both beautiful and harrowing. It was very difficult to read in many places but it was so worth it. The way that the author wove the horrors of the supernatural with the struggles of being a woman and a mother was fantastic. Honestly I'm still struggling to put into words the impact this book has had on me.

My only issue is sometimes the writing was a little stilted. There was one (short) chapter that felt like it didn't want to be there at all.

3.75 stars
I have to admit, I was a bit cautious going in to this book. Why? Because I really didn't enjoy this authors previous work Goddess Of Filth.
I was hoping going off the blurb this would be more up my street and thankfully this was a really enjoyable read for me.
I got into the plot straight away and I liked the main character Alejandra and was fully invested in her and connected with her early on.
I liked how we got chapters for different characters that were her family members of previous generations. This really added depth and emotion to the story.
I do have to say though that it did feel a bit drawn out. The story did seem to go on and on and the pace could have been a bit quicker for my tastes.
This was a major improvement from her previous book and I would read from this author again.
If you are looking for a gothic, horror, feminist story this might be up your street.

Wow, I didn't know what to expect when I went into this, but I loved it!

We follow Alejandra, a mother of 3 who feels stuck in her life and deeply dissatisfied with it. She often thinks of ending it all and when she's having one of those moments, a ghastly figure appears to her, egging her on. This starts a journey for Alejandra where she decides to get help and she discovers she's battling a generational curse.

Given that it's a generational curse, we get multiple POVs and learn how it has affected other women in Alejandra's line. This story has magic, it's creepy and atmospheric, and it's also very emotional. You feel for Alejandra when she's at her lowest and it's so empowering to see her heal, get stronger, and ultimately prevail with the help of other powerful women in her life and her ancestors.

This is also a La Llorona retelling, which I looooved. I'm not Mexican, I'm Venezuelan, but La Llorona is also part of our lore. It's one of those legends that you hear as a kid and are super creeped out, so you always remember it. I really enjoyed what the author did with it and the spin she gave it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! Very easy to read and uplifting. If you like character-driven and atmospheric stories of good battling evil, you will like this. I could easily see this turned into a movie! It would be better than the La Llorona movies that have come out in recent years, that's for sure.

Book Review 📚
The Haunting of Alejandra by V.Castro - 4/5 ⭐

Don't you just hate when reading a horror that seems so real life?! It really creeps me out, but it made the book so much more enjoyable! It really did keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

There's so much horrific description that your imagination gets the better of you and send you over the edge in thinking it's gonna happen to you! What brilliant writing skills you have when you start to freak out the reader!

The emotions you feel whilst making your way through this story are intense and insane. There are some, actual, heartbreaking moments. You can honestly feel the pain in some of the scenes. It's heartbreaking and really kills you inside. But, it's so beautifully, beautifully done.

I'm in awe over how brilliant the writing was throughout this book and how intense some of the scenes were. Flawless. Brilliant.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Both haunting and realistic, this novel was the perfect blend of horror and real life. I found myself not wanting to put it down and I’d pick it up at every chance I’d get. The writing was so gripping and I loved the way the author blended different timelines and generations. It was entertaining, incredibly well written and researched, and clearly a labour of love.

"The Haunting of Alejandra" is a horror novel written by V. Castro.

This book was a roller coaster of emotions! I admit that I started the reading expecting a horror inspired by the figure of La Llorona, a demon from Mexican folklore, but that was not the case. Or rather yes, it is a horror story and yes, there are scary and gory scenes, BUT the book is not limited to just that! No, "The Haunting of Alejandra" is a story about depression, anguish, grief, and generational trauma. It is a story about pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood, and the complex mother-child relationship. It is a story about hope, love, friendship and freedom. It is a journey of self-discovery, a path of personal growth, a road to self acceptance, understanding and healing. It is an intense, deep and powerful tale, at times truly unsettling and distressing, that pleasantly surprised and won me over!

I loved the writing! Evocative, lyrical and at times poetic, it enchanted me. In my opinion, the author did an excellent job of expressing the haunted atmosphere of the book and its characters. Alejandra, the protagonist, is immersed in an abyss of deep depression that is eating her alive. Her despair, her pain, her sense of helplessness, hover heavy between the pages. And the same goes for the emotions of the other female characters involved, all struggling with their personal demons. I felt a lot of their oppression, their affliction, their longing for peace and freedom. At several moments I found myself crying over the situation experienced by these women, at others I got angry, and at others I did both. Seriously, it is all extremely involving! Likewise, I greatly appreciated the eerie and sinister tones of the story. Because yes, it still remains a horror story, so the scary component of the text is not missing. I think the author handled this aspect well, creating excellent situations charged with tension and eeriness, with a decidedly ominous atmosphere. I admit I was not scared, but I hardly get scared reading horror, so I don't count. On a general level I considered it elegant and sophisticated prose, not exactly easy and light to follow because of the themes it deals with. I personally enjoyed it and can't express anything but compliments!

The plot captured me!  As mentioned above, it is not just a horror novel, but much more. It is a story that plunges into the dark and tormented depths of the human soul, delving into despair, anguish, suffering and a sense of inadequacy. It is a story about abuse, injustice and prejudice against women. It is a story of generational trauma that has dragged on through different centuries. But it is also a story of hope, resilience, redemption, love, friendship and freedom. A story in which light manages to make its way through darkness, no matter how deep it is. Through the legend of La Llorona, a demon from Mexican (and more generally Latin American) folklore, the author creates a story about personal growth, discovery of one's origins, self-understanding and self-acceptance, and healing. It is a tale that blends horror, psychology, history, folklore, and women's fiction, creating a book that is deep, complex, and rich in feeling. The narration has a slow, almost suffocating pace, into which sudden horror scenes are inserted to shake things up. The action is concentrated in the second half, especially toward the end, while otherwise there is a great introspection. The thoughts of Alejandra and her foremothers alternate between the pages, with all their strong inner turmoil. It is a tale that unfolds over multiple timelines, with multiple povs, showing the various generations of women struggling with the curse of La Llorona, from its origins. However, being still a horror story, there are numerous situations typical of the genre: creepy ghostly apparitions, sudden visions, flickering lights, treacherous creaks, and much more. In addition, I loved the various information provided on Mexican folklore!

I loved Alejandra, the protagonist with her third person pov! Alejandra is a woman of Mexican descent sunk into an abyss of utter despair. She is a wife and a housewife to her husband. She is a mother to her children. She is a set of roles imposed on her with which she no longer identifies. Alejandra in fact no longer knows who she is. She feels lost, confused and stuck in a life that oppresses and consumes her. An empty shell, a nothingness, a failure, a ghost that drags on in this world. She is a deeply lonely woman, abandoned to herself, despite her seemingly happy family. A husband with a stable and remunerative job, three beautiful children. Too bad the man is as good at maintaining her as he is incapable of talking to her and really understanding her, considering her solely as a wife and housewife, who should be grateful for what she has. There is no communication between them and perhaps, come to that point, not even more love. Too bad she didn't want to have a third child or stop working to end up being a housewife. She loves her children so much, but the darkness is devouring her love, her joy, leaving her perpetually tired and defeated. Alejandra considers herself incapable, inept and awful, full of self-loathing and self- criticism. Depression is eating her alive, one painful piece at a time, leaving her with frequent and insidious suicidal thoughts. And it is in this already severe context, in moments of deepest despair, that the ghostly and frightening figure of La Llorona begins to appear to her, in her ragged white gown, whispering to her about her failures and encouraging her to kill herself, flanked by visions of mysterious yet familiar women. Alejandra, however, cannot and will not give up, if not for herself then for the sake of her children, and so she begins to attend sessions with a therapist, also a curandera, to deal with her difficulties. And through her help, digging into the history of her ancestors, she begins to see a pattern of suffering and death. A pattern that pushes her to reunite with Cathy, her recently rediscovered biological mother, who gave her up for adoption at birth to follow her own plans. A pattern that leads her to discover a curse that has been running in the women of her family for generations.A curse represented by the vengeful spirit of La Llorona, who feeds on their despair, their tears, their blood and their children. Alejandra is a character I have grown so fond of! Beautifully described, she follows a wonderful and painful path of personal growth and healing. I cheered for her, cried for her, and was outraged at what she had to endure.

As mentioned above, the book proceeds on multiple timelines, showing Alejandra's different ancestors, all with their third person povs. I don't want to go on too long, but I was moved by each of these women with their inner torments, exacerbated by the malevolent presence of La Llorona. Each has just one chapter (except Cathy, Alejandra's mother, who has more), but they are truly meaningful and touching, as well as disturbing at times. Also in the book there is a chapter dedicated to La Llorona, in which her story is shown, which I really appreciated and touched me!

All in all, this is a deep, painful and intense story, steeped in Mexican folklore, featuring horror and macabre scenes, which I absolutely recommend to lovers of the genre!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

The writing in this book is wonderful, so evocative and beautiful. The story was engrossing while the characters were written so well I really felt for them all the way through, especially the main character. There are lots of layers to this book and I loved every minute of it.
It is a horror and there was a bit of gore which I usually hate but it went with the story and worked very well
The length of this book was perfect, a story well told without any fillers or rambling
Really good!