The Haunting of Alejandra: A Novel
A woman is haunted by the Mexican folk demon La Llorona in this “utterly terrifying and wholly immersive . . . story about generational trauma, colonization, systemic oppression, and the horror at the heart of motherhood” (Library Journal, starred review).
“Castro is one of the most exciting genre authors on the scene right now, and this might be her most powerful book yet.”—Paste
A POPSUGAR AND CRIMEREADS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.
Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.
When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family’s history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.
Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her mother, her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.
But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers—and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.
“Castro is one of the most exciting genre authors on the scene right now, and this might be her most powerful book yet.”—Paste
A POPSUGAR AND CRIMEREADS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.
Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.
When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family’s history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.
Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her mother, her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.
But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers—and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.
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Community Reviews
Beautifully harrowing and deeply identifiable...
I did not miss the allegory here. The sharp edges and horrifying aspects of this book truly mirror an experience many mothers will be able to relate to. Honestly many people dealing with depression will feel "seen" when reading this book. But only if you dare (hehe) its jumpscares from chapter 1.
But this book had me captivated in such a delicious way. It's my first book by V Castro but I look forward to reading more by them!
I wrote a full review on The Lit Buzz if you are interested
here it is!
I did not miss the allegory here. The sharp edges and horrifying aspects of this book truly mirror an experience many mothers will be able to relate to. Honestly many people dealing with depression will feel "seen" when reading this book. But only if you dare (hehe) its jumpscares from chapter 1.
But this book had me captivated in such a delicious way. It's my first book by V Castro but I look forward to reading more by them!
I wrote a full review on The Lit Buzz if you are interested
here it is!
This was one of those books that I could not seem to put down. I don't know if it was the ties to the childhood story of La Llorona or what, but the story was so intricately woven in and out of generations of women in the same bloodline suffering this curse. It was painful to hear these different women's stories of not feeling good enough or not wanting to be a mother or really not feeling like they had any choice in their lives. Watching them suffer with how to best stop their pain for them and their daughters. Bringing in the story line of the Curandera and how she helped them to reach into the power of their familial roots for strength and knowledge was simply beautiful!
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!
Creation/alien version of La Llorona? While that aspect of the story I didn't care for too much, I absolutely loved the journey the main character, Alejandra, took toward healing generational traumas. It's wild how history repeats itself within our families (I was able to trace back the same canon events in my own family 4 generations back).
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