Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

37 reviews

melreadsandrecs's review against another edition

1.0

I'm sorry, but this was subjectively, to me, a really bad book. I found out not only poorly written but problematic. This review will be fairly brief but will contain spoilers. 

Firstly, the characterization was very weak. Every character sounded and acted the exact same. The POV would change and I wouldn't even notice, since threw characters were just copied and pasted. 

More importantly, the plot was extremely weak. Alejandra faces challenges, kind of. But every obstacle is unrealistically easy to solve. She finds her birth parents with ease, despite having been in a closed adoption. She finds and can afford a therapist within a matter of minutes, and of course the therapist has no wait list or screening needs. Of course her husband magically agrees to a very easy divorce despite everything we've been told about him being competitive and callous. Of course her therapist knows a soil analyst (which didn't even really make sense) Of course she gets released from the hospital after a suicide attempt with no issue, even though in real life a hospitalization like that costs thousands and usually ruins your life. 

Which brings me to what I thought was problematic about the book: it absolutely failed at depicting the tenacity required to actually overcome post partum depression and the difficulties of motherhood. If everybody could just get into therapy within an hour, we wouldn't be losing mothers and children to suicide and infanticide the way we are. If therapists could do random house calls at the drop of a hat, we might not have police killings of people in mental health crises. And it is irresponsible to write a plot a suicide attempt be the solution to any problem. 

Yeah the more I write, the less sorry I am for the low rating. Truly what the hell did I just read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

bookiesncreme's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infidelity and Abortion

pinkie_pug23's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Gore,

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

directorpurry's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

cam_holmes's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Haunting of Alejandra was a fascinating exploration of depression, generational trauma, and finding oneself after years of being lost. However, I feel that the dialog was, at times, stiff, as if I was reading an informative website about therapy sessions. Also, without spoiling anything, I will say I did not like the final solution that the characters came up with. It felt antithetical to the themes of healing and self-love that the author had set up throughout the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy

lady_valhella's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Pregnancy

Trigger warnering: The first few paragraphs is of a mom in a shower wishing she was no longer a mom and considering ending her life to escape motherhood. The story eventually changes gears but I think then over all theme of this book is that women historically are forced into motherhood whether we want it or not. And should we decide one child is enough or motherhood is actually not for us after all we can’t simply change our minds and walk away. That when forced into motherhood or choosing motherhood it is never as simple as just being a parent to children but that your identity as a woman is no longer you being a woman who happens to be a mom. This book is a wonderful read and there are some deep dark themes but I think they are important if you can manage past the introduction of when we meet Alejandra.

rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jsims20_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

This book had profound moments and was a very emotional read for me. At times it was a little wordy but overall a great story that highlights the complex role of womanhood and motherhood, 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape and Gaslighting

vi0letskies's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, and Infertility