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A review by courtneyreadsitall
The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
TW: suicidal ideation, suicide, mental illness, generational trauma, postpartum depression/anxiety, body horror, violence
I started off really enjoying this and then about halfway through felt like it was falling flat. The story was repetitive, had a lot of what the characters were thinking but lacked action, and I felt like it was choppy. I also feel like the end fight between Alejandra and La Llorona happened quickly, wasn’t very clear in what occurred/how La Llorona was defeated (though this could just be because I was trying to push through to the end to get it finished), and sort of anticlimactic. The dialogue between characters felt so forced and unrealistic - take, for example, the conversation between Alejandra and her father at their first meeting:
She too felt this undeniable familiarity as they matched each other’s gaze. “Are you Rogelio?”
He nodded. “You my daughter with Cathy?”
In this scene, I just feel like it would be so unrealistic for him to immediately recognize her when he’s never met her and she’s coming into his shop for the first time. Why would he automatically assume she was his daughter?
I felt like the alternate timelines was cool and helped develop the generational trauma point that the author was trying to make but I would have liked more character development for Alejandra as as soon as the book starts she’s already seeing La Llorona and deep in suicidal thoughts. I also think the author did well in explaining what postpartum anxiety and depression can look like/how it can develop, though Alejandra’s was because of La Llorona.
I enjoyed the tie-in of Mexican folk-lore, which is the initial reason I picked up this book. I think I would have liked more information on how the entity became La Llorona/how it came to Earth (I know it was briefly touched upon).
Overall, I enjoyed the book but found that it took too long to get to the finish line - which is saying a lot for such a short book. I found the final showdown to be short and still don’t really know how La Llorona was defeated. The author did well with descriptions of La Llorona and other aspects of the story, but the body horror & violence could be construed as graphic so be aware of that!
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I started off really enjoying this and then about halfway through felt like it was falling flat. The story was repetitive, had a lot of what the characters were thinking but lacked action, and I felt like it was choppy. I also feel like the end fight between Alejandra and La Llorona happened quickly, wasn’t very clear in what occurred/how La Llorona was defeated (though this could just be because I was trying to push through to the end to get it finished), and sort of anticlimactic. The dialogue between characters felt so forced and unrealistic - take, for example, the conversation between Alejandra and her father at their first meeting:
She too felt this undeniable familiarity as they matched each other’s gaze. “Are you Rogelio?”
He nodded. “You my daughter with Cathy?”
In this scene, I just feel like it would be so unrealistic for him to immediately recognize her when he’s never met her and she’s coming into his shop for the first time. Why would he automatically assume she was his daughter?
I felt like the alternate timelines was cool and helped develop the generational trauma point that the author was trying to make but I would have liked more character development for Alejandra as as soon as the book starts she’s already seeing La Llorona and deep in suicidal thoughts. I also think the author did well in explaining what postpartum anxiety and depression can look like/how it can develop, though Alejandra’s was because of La Llorona.
I enjoyed the tie-in of Mexican folk-lore, which is the initial reason I picked up this book. I think I would have liked more information on how the entity became La Llorona/how it came to Earth (I know it was briefly touched upon).
Overall, I enjoyed the book but found that it took too long to get to the finish line - which is saying a lot for such a short book. I found the final showdown to be short and still don’t really know how La Llorona was defeated. The author did well with descriptions of La Llorona and other aspects of the story, but the body horror & violence could be construed as graphic so be aware of that!
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Suicide