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kelseyreads17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
jessicaoreads67's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.0
I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this book. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before and I love when that happens. I enjoyed the way in which the author chose to tell the story. I enjoyed the plot. My favourite thing about it was Mercy’s character development, it was so enjoyable to read about. It was a quick easy read yet despite it only being 140 pages, it took you on such a journey. And although I like where it ended, I did have a few wishes of things which never happened/questions which didn’t get answered. Also the cover is stunning, whoever designed it did such a good job. Many thanks to Henry Roi PR for sending me a copy as part of its tour taking place in October!
blossomjin's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
a beautiful exploration of generational trauma and healing.
mirificmoxie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-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
4.0
eol's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.0
shirin_mandi's review against another edition
5.0
Mercy and Sherry, two Inseparable friends, live in the town of Sueño, so close to the Shadow Lands. Part of a forgotten place in New Mexico, A sorrowful land!
La Llorona, lady of the river, made a horrible mistake, can be heard on stormy nights, weeping and wailing for all she lost. La Llorona, Weeping Woman, hurting people because she hurt too much to know better, always got the women, came for them. Women had no power. They will be like La Llorona, weeping and always in sorrow!
"We were powerful women, and we could choose our own fate."
Mercy and Sherry want to escape from here, from La Llorona. But, La Llorona is too vindictive to let them free. Always something gets wrong with the plans.
"I am built for tears. It's in my blood."
...
"The next time I cried, I killed someone."
Now, it's the time for Mercy to face her family curse alone. She manages to buy a farm, Mercy Farm. Growth miracles and lives her loneliness. She collected each tear spilled into the jar. It took some time but, by the end of it, the many jars were full. She doesn't want to let La Llorona see her weep and moan and break.
"But nothing makes a woman brave except living."
This gothic- horror tale was very beautifully written, so engaging, and compelling! I loved the story, Narration, Mercy's character. The story told by Mercy made it very heartwarming. I really enjoyed this book and Please do not forget the cover!
Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and Netgalley, I have given an honest review of Weep, Woman, Weep (A Gothic Fairytale about Ancestral Hauntings) by Maria DeBlassie.
La Llorona, lady of the river, made a horrible mistake, can be heard on stormy nights, weeping and wailing for all she lost. La Llorona, Weeping Woman, hurting people because she hurt too much to know better, always got the women, came for them. Women had no power. They will be like La Llorona, weeping and always in sorrow!
"We were powerful women, and we could choose our own fate."
Mercy and Sherry want to escape from here, from La Llorona. But, La Llorona is too vindictive to let them free. Always something gets wrong with the plans.
"I am built for tears. It's in my blood."
...
"The next time I cried, I killed someone."
Now, it's the time for Mercy to face her family curse alone. She manages to buy a farm, Mercy Farm. Growth miracles and lives her loneliness. She collected each tear spilled into the jar. It took some time but, by the end of it, the many jars were full. She doesn't want to let La Llorona see her weep and moan and break.
"But nothing makes a woman brave except living."
This gothic- horror tale was very beautifully written, so engaging, and compelling! I loved the story, Narration, Mercy's character. The story told by Mercy made it very heartwarming. I really enjoyed this book and Please do not forget the cover!
Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and Netgalley, I have given an honest review of Weep, Woman, Weep (A Gothic Fairytale about Ancestral Hauntings) by Maria DeBlassie.
sgrantham_23's review against another edition
5.0
Powerful. Deep. Creative. These are a few of the words that come to my mind after reading this book! It was a compelling story that was artfully crafted by Maria DeBlassie. I fell in love with her writing style, and I felt so many emotions throughout Mercy's journey.
mommasaystoread's review against another edition
4.0
Weep, Woman, Weep has the Gothic feel and it definitely hits on some dark subject matter. The scary elements kind of sneak up on you, but to me, the horrors that weren't so spooky were some of the most chilling parts of the story. It's a quick read, easily finished in a couple of hours, especially with the compelling story Maria DeBlassie has created. A story that turned out to be as much about grief, moving on, finding your place, and making your own magic as the chilling tale about La Llorona. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this one when I started reading. The darkness at times is almost heavy, but the writing style and the character, Mercy, kept me turning the pages, and I'm really glad I did.
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
5.0
*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.
This may be one of the more compelling, beautiful books that I've read this year. An unexpected joy (which is a weird descriptor, given the themes). While it was short (classifying as a novella), it was packed full of detail and intrigue.
Mercy has only known sorrow in her short life. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true, she has her friend Sherry and they are able to have some semblance of fun. But in general, the women in her small town in New Mexico don't have much to be happy about. It's generational. And because of their sorrows, La Llorona haunts the village, preying on the women and sucking their dreams dry into her river.
Mercy herself is a complicated character. She wants for things, but then turns on herself, believing that she doesn't deserve them. That they'll just be ruined in the end. I think it's a very relatable theme for a lot of people. Add in the haunting from La Llorona, and it just gives it a sinister/creepy vibe.
A surprising detail I found I enjoyed was Mercy's employment (and that around her). It made the book comfortable at the same time the creepiness crept in and the odd mix between the two just strengthened them. I also enjoyed watching her grow into the social scene and handle relationships that were more complicated than what she grew up with.
Throughout all of the book, various social issues came into play; like colorism, racism, sexism. The author did a great job weaving those serious topics in with the other elements of the story. She presented them as driven into the sadness that the water witch fed on and so tied everything together. Finally, the magical realism was done so well that you can't tell if there is magic, or if it's just a vivid picture of life told through a different lens.
Definitely one to read; I couldn't put it down.
Review by M. Reynard 2021
This may be one of the more compelling, beautiful books that I've read this year. An unexpected joy (which is a weird descriptor, given the themes). While it was short (classifying as a novella), it was packed full of detail and intrigue.
Mercy has only known sorrow in her short life. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true, she has her friend Sherry and they are able to have some semblance of fun. But in general, the women in her small town in New Mexico don't have much to be happy about. It's generational. And because of their sorrows, La Llorona haunts the village, preying on the women and sucking their dreams dry into her river.
Mercy herself is a complicated character. She wants for things, but then turns on herself, believing that she doesn't deserve them. That they'll just be ruined in the end. I think it's a very relatable theme for a lot of people. Add in the haunting from La Llorona, and it just gives it a sinister/creepy vibe.
A surprising detail I found I enjoyed was Mercy's employment (and that around her). It made the book comfortable at the same time the creepiness crept in and the odd mix between the two just strengthened them. I also enjoyed watching her grow into the social scene and handle relationships that were more complicated than what she grew up with.
Throughout all of the book, various social issues came into play; like colorism, racism, sexism. The author did a great job weaving those serious topics in with the other elements of the story. She presented them as driven into the sadness that the water witch fed on and so tied everything together. Finally, the magical realism was done so well that you can't tell if there is magic, or if it's just a vivid picture of life told through a different lens.
Definitely one to read; I couldn't put it down.
Review by M. Reynard 2021
juliwi's review against another edition
4.0
Horror and folklore go together so well. Just look at how Midsommar (2019) mingles shattering grief with a "folksy" festival, or how Carmen Maria Machado employs it in her stories in Her Body and Other Parties, specifically in 'The Husband Stitch'! The stories that are told from generation to generation always carry a specific trauma and I adore it when authors explore that to the extent that DeBlassie does in Weep, Woman, Weep. Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love the scary side of folklore, the dead women that haunt particular bends in rivers, the little lights hat confuse your path in the woods, the stones that call you and then entrap you. I'm about it, especially because Northern European folklore is full of them. But there is so much more to explore, so many other cultures full of the scary and the awe-inspiring. And that brings me to Weep, Woman, Weep, a Horror novella that doesn't so much put a spin on the La Llorona tale, but rather draws it to a conclusion. La Llorona, or the 'Weeping Woman', is a big part of Latin American folklore and has become so well-known that Hollywood tried to incorporate her into their Conjuring franchise. As is natural with folklore, there are a variety of stories about her, but central elements remain the white dress, the midnight wailing, the drowning of children and women, and the crushing weight of the patriarchy. All these come to play in Weep, Woman, Weep, where crying is dangerous, openly expressing sadness is dangerous, and where men and their desires and expectations are dangerous. The content warnings in the blurb should be taken into account, as DeBlassie does not pull her punches when it comes to the horror. But thankfully she also doesn't shy away from beauty, magic and the slow journey of healing.
Mercy's life is marked by the sorrow of those around her and the growing sorrow within herself. The women of her town carry their sorrow wherever they go, especially once La Llorona has baptized them in her river. Sometimes it seems that the only way to survive is to give in, to let her drag you down into the watery depths and emerge wet-haired and red-eyed. Mercy has lost her friend to La Llorona, but she is determined she won't be dragged down herself. You see, Mercy is a fighter. Not in the traditional, almost cliché, way, where everything becomes a battle and heroism is worn like a cape. Instead, Mercy takes one step after another, moves forward without looking up; survives day by day, letting time pass and her flowers grow. It is a seemingly small act of rebellion and yet it feels epic. Through sumptuous language, a casual yet sharp tone, a down-to-earthness that belies the magic, Weep, Woman, Weep tells of recovery, of restraint, of the difficulty of opening up, and of the beauty of a fulfilling life.
DeBlassie almost seamlessly weaves a whole set of heavy themes into her story without interrupting its flow. Despite the horrors it describes, Weep, Woman, Weep never loses faith in its own main character. It never undercuts her power, even when she is at her lowest. Mercy's journey throughout the novella is one that utterly gripped me as I accompanied her from her teenage years to solid middle-age. DeBlassie shapes her growth well, the way in which the world moves around her but she doesn't let its movements affect her core. There is loneliness there, but also beauty, a balance I believe is at the core of good horror. Magic is something elemental in Weep, Woman, Weep, not in that it is linked to the elements, although it is, but that it is something normal in Mercy's life. She speaks to her plants, just like her mother buried protection charms. I loved how DeBlassie balanced the inheritance of trauma with this inheritance of skill and understanding. I can't wait to read more by Maria DeBlasie!
I raced through Weep, Woman, Weep, engrossed by Mercy's story and fascinated by the folklore and details that DeBlassie weaves throughout her story.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2021/11/review-weep-woman-weep-by-maria-deblasie.html
I love the scary side of folklore, the dead women that haunt particular bends in rivers, the little lights hat confuse your path in the woods, the stones that call you and then entrap you. I'm about it, especially because Northern European folklore is full of them. But there is so much more to explore, so many other cultures full of the scary and the awe-inspiring. And that brings me to Weep, Woman, Weep, a Horror novella that doesn't so much put a spin on the La Llorona tale, but rather draws it to a conclusion. La Llorona, or the 'Weeping Woman', is a big part of Latin American folklore and has become so well-known that Hollywood tried to incorporate her into their Conjuring franchise. As is natural with folklore, there are a variety of stories about her, but central elements remain the white dress, the midnight wailing, the drowning of children and women, and the crushing weight of the patriarchy. All these come to play in Weep, Woman, Weep, where crying is dangerous, openly expressing sadness is dangerous, and where men and their desires and expectations are dangerous. The content warnings in the blurb should be taken into account, as DeBlassie does not pull her punches when it comes to the horror. But thankfully she also doesn't shy away from beauty, magic and the slow journey of healing.
Mercy's life is marked by the sorrow of those around her and the growing sorrow within herself. The women of her town carry their sorrow wherever they go, especially once La Llorona has baptized them in her river. Sometimes it seems that the only way to survive is to give in, to let her drag you down into the watery depths and emerge wet-haired and red-eyed. Mercy has lost her friend to La Llorona, but she is determined she won't be dragged down herself. You see, Mercy is a fighter. Not in the traditional, almost cliché, way, where everything becomes a battle and heroism is worn like a cape. Instead, Mercy takes one step after another, moves forward without looking up; survives day by day, letting time pass and her flowers grow. It is a seemingly small act of rebellion and yet it feels epic. Through sumptuous language, a casual yet sharp tone, a down-to-earthness that belies the magic, Weep, Woman, Weep tells of recovery, of restraint, of the difficulty of opening up, and of the beauty of a fulfilling life.
DeBlassie almost seamlessly weaves a whole set of heavy themes into her story without interrupting its flow. Despite the horrors it describes, Weep, Woman, Weep never loses faith in its own main character. It never undercuts her power, even when she is at her lowest. Mercy's journey throughout the novella is one that utterly gripped me as I accompanied her from her teenage years to solid middle-age. DeBlassie shapes her growth well, the way in which the world moves around her but she doesn't let its movements affect her core. There is loneliness there, but also beauty, a balance I believe is at the core of good horror. Magic is something elemental in Weep, Woman, Weep, not in that it is linked to the elements, although it is, but that it is something normal in Mercy's life. She speaks to her plants, just like her mother buried protection charms. I loved how DeBlassie balanced the inheritance of trauma with this inheritance of skill and understanding. I can't wait to read more by Maria DeBlasie!
I raced through Weep, Woman, Weep, engrossed by Mercy's story and fascinated by the folklore and details that DeBlassie weaves throughout her story.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2021/11/review-weep-woman-weep-by-maria-deblasie.html