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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Mary Romasanta’s La Llorona: The Awakening, Ruth arrives at her partner John’s family home for Thanksgiving, stepping into a household where his mother, Mi-Ra, presses her about having a child. When a last-minute errand sends John and his brother JJ to a nearby store, a man with a concealed weapon opens fire, killing John and leaving JJ injured. Ruth remains in the house with Mi-Ra as grief takes hold. Mi-Ra begins to report seeing her dead husband, Greg, inside the home and starts moving toward water in ways she cannot explain. This leads Ruth to believe that another death is possible. Using her background in safety systems, Ruth builds a network of sensors with her colleague Paul to track Mi-Ra’s physical state and the house itself, while staying close enough to step in if something goes wrong.
Mary Romasanta’s La Llorona taps into the relatable power of grief and shows us how it affects a household and alters the daily lives of the two women closest to John. Ruth is a great lead, alongside Mi-Ra, but I also found a lot of the ancillary characters fascinating. La Llorona is the actual antagonist, a figure rooted in folklore associated with water and loss, influencing perceptions and behaviour in the house. Its presence is reinforced when Mi-Ra follows a water-covered figure she believes to be her late husband Greg, moving through the home in ways that defy physical limits. Scenes like this and the landscapes that embody them show the author's skill, breathing life into a house in disarray after the funeral, to the lakeside dripping with family history. Readers who love supernatural thrillers connected to family life and cultural beliefs will adore this book. Very highly recommended.
