Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

4 reviews

kayle39's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

I loved this book from the first page. I was really excited when i saw that we would get to a glimpse into the lives of other family members. Idk if you call it body horror, but the author did a great job describing the gore. The book is a great balance between supernatural horror and the horrors of reality. 

initially i was a bit displeased with how they said they would get rid of the creature. Because often the fake suicide route is boring and doesnt make sense. I like how this book did it. It upped the stakes
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gem114's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I actively disliked the first 30% or so and thought about DNFing, but I’ve been in a reading slump and was committed to finishing this book.

I had a hard time sympathizing with Alejandra regarding her situation, despite the fact that I know the author meant for me to feel for her. I also don’t think she’s a healthy representation of mental health struggles, as she goes from rock bottom to an empowered woman ready to battle literal demons after only a month or so of therapy. I found myself more drawn to minor characters, like Melanie, Flor, and Francine. I enjoyed the lore of La Llorona and little details about Mexican culture. 

I think I probably would have liked this book better if it had been edited down about 100 pages. The organization would have needed to be tighter, fewer loose ends regarding the ancestor characters, less repetitive descriptions of the creature, etc. 
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jessreadreceipts's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

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magalis's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey/Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I really wanted to love this one, but it just wasn't what I expected. I think the premise is great, and the horror is (for the most part) well-done, but the book itself falls flat. I do think with some editing and some polishing this could still end up being a good book, but as it currently stands (unpublished, expected out in April), it needs some work. 

The good: 
*I thought that the monster was really well done! The descriptions of it and its actions were genuinely creepy. The little segments at the end of the flashback chapters where we learned more about its origins were interesting.
*The premise itself is very interesting. The idea of a monster preying on generations of women, and the cultural aspects from Mexico that were brought in were interesting, and I wish there had been more of them.  

The less good:
*I found the dialogue really stilted and awkward throughout (no one in real life actually talks like the people in this book). There were a lot of weird monologues that very much felt out of place, and all of the therapy parts felt like they were copied straight out of a psychology textbook example conversation. Pretty much whenever the characters were having a serious conversation I got pulled straight out of the story because of how awkward the dialog felt.  
*I felt like this relied a lot on body horror, lots of descriptions of periods and childbirth and general female pain, which is fine, but not my cup of tea. (TW for rape, blood, and suicide throughout)
*The alternating chapter structure could use some work. The ancestor stories jump aren't chronological so you don't really get a good grasp on how the generational trauma is building. 
*The final flashback chapter, featuring the original La Llorona, felt tacked on at the end, kind of like an afterthought. It didn't feel necessary. 
*The pace of the book was very slow. A lot of time was spent on Alejandra's mental state, which was fine, but it really felt repetitive and boring after awhile. A book this length would normally take me about a week to finish, but this took me over a month because I just wasn't invested enough to want to pick it up and keep reading. 
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