The Haunting of Alejandra by V. CastroRATING: 3 STARS
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“The Haunting of Alejandra” touched on heavy topics such as mental health, toxic and unhealthy relationships, abuse, myths/legends, hauntings and more. Most importantly: La Llorona.
If you weren’t already aware—"The Weeping Woman" or "The Wailer" is a Hispanic-American mythical vengeful ghost—better known as La Llorona—who is said to roam waterfront areas mourning her children whom she drowned. Growing up in a Hispanic household, my brothers and I were told of the folktale when we were young and being firm believers that she is real—I was immediately drawn to this story and was anticipating the author's take on this infamous being.
Was I disappointed by this take? Yes and no. From page one, I was immersed by the eerie atmosphere, realistic and broken down characters (Alejandra for obvious reasons), the story and the background of “The Weeping Woman ''.
The slow build up for the first 80% of the novel was absolute perfection. The author had a unique writing style that fit perfectly with the novel’s themes and despite it being hard to frighten someone with the written word—there were moments where I felt like something was about to jump through the pages. And I think if the author continued this momentum in the remaining 20% of the novel, this would have received a 5/5 star rating.
What dropped the initial high rating I was going to provide this new to me author? The climax. Once we reached the climax, the story took a 180 and lost its momentum as the build up and suspense was often scarier and more fun than the payoff. I was not satisfied with the rushed ending and wished the author took the time to really flesh it out even if it meant adding additional chapters.
Nonetheless, with some revisions and reworkings—“The Haunting of Alejandra” has the potential to be one of the best reads of 2023.
