Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

29 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

---

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

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!

---

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

vi0letskies's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Suicide

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

---

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

perdita's review

hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

The book's synopsis was what brought me to read it - yet I was disappointed. There are many things that The Haunting of Alejandra gets right: for example, the portrayal of intergenerational trauma, and the toll that motherhood takes on women (and it emphasises how important it is for women to have some sort of identity besides being mothers!). Nevertheless, many of the characters felt one-dimensional. Some of the twists were forced and the explanation for them was weak, to say the least. The writing style felt off, and disjointed at times. Overall, I believe that this book would have benefitted from further editing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

disenchantedx23's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment

allyem_reads's review

4.0

7.14 CAWPILE 

---

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

osoordinary's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

While Alejandra and I live VERY different lives, so much of her pain and sadness, despair, negative self-talk, etc. was a direct description of what I so often struggle with. To see it all depicted in writing was beautiful and normalizing in a way. I give it 4.5 stars because two major moments fell flat for me. Overall, this was a great horror with Mexican-American heritage and lore highlighted. This was a fantastic twist on the legend of La Llorona, and entwining the idea of general curses into Alejandra's journey was engrossing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

Generational curses

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

---

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

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Blood, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Dementia, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Rape, Body horror, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse