Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

27 reviews

kier__'s review

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Slavery, Death of parent, Self harm, Death, Genocide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Body horror, Colonisation, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: War, Alcohol, Infertility, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Drug use

chavonnwshen's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Murder, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Colonisation and Sexual violence

archaicrobin's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Castro’s writing is very blunt and it’s always hard for me to get into at first which affects my overall enjoyment of her books, but it’s very much a personal taste. If you’re looking for flowery, descriptive prose or a complex horror novel I wouldn’t recommend this one, as it’s very point blank and you have to accept a lot and just move on.

If you can do that though, this novel tells and eerie tale of a woman stuck in her depression hating her life, her children, her husband, and herself, all while being haunted by an entity she assumes is La Llorona. Alejandra at first is insufferable because she is so miserable but once she starts seeing a therapist and valuing herself, she begins to find the power within her self to not only change her life but defeat the curse of La Llorona for good.

While Castro’s writing style isn’t my favorite I always love her strong female characters, her ability to create terrifying imagery, and the strong cultural elements she weaves into her story. If you’re looking for a well crafted supernatural tale about strong women, generational trauma, and identity this one is worth trying!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicide, Blood, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Grief, and Toxic relationship

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexism, Torture, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Blood, Gore, Child death, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Medical content, Alcohol, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: War, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Miscarriage, Cursing, Infidelity, Biphobia, Mental illness, Abandonment, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Racism

Minor: Gun violence, Drug use, and Infertility

missychristo's review against another edition

I really want to know were La Llorona comes into fruition, but the beginning has too many ideations of suicide, and pretty triggering situations of implicit expectations, and emotional abuse was too much

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

allyem_reads's review

4.0

7.14 CAWPILE 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicide attempt, and Gore

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Death of parent, Body horror, Dementia, Infidelity, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

gillian_darkholme's review

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Grief

time4tori2read's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Mental illness, Body horror, and Grief

shaun_dh's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I found this to be slow and boring. The husband is insufferable. I kept reading for Alejandra’s arc (which I was very happy with) and I was hoping it’d get scarier (which it never really did)

As a mom who battled postpartum rage myself, some parts of this were hard to read. The gorgeous cover hooked me and the writing was beautiful and descriptive, but it just never took off for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child death, Miscarriage, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting and Mental illness

Minor: Colonisation, War, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Self harm, and Abandonment

sophi_b's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide, Grief, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Infidelity, Abortion, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Blood, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Body horror