[Book Tour- Review] Weep, Woman, Weep [GIVEAWAY]

 

        Weep, Woman, Weep

by Maria DeBlassie

GENRE: Fantasy, gothic, magical realism

A compelling gothic fairytale by bruja and award-winning writer Maria DeBlassie.

The women of Sueño, New Mexico don’t know how to live a life without sorrows. That’s La Llorona’s doing. She roams the waterways looking for the next generation of girls to baptize, filling them with more tears than any woman should have to hold. And there’s not much they can do about the Weeping Woman except to avoid walking along the riverbank at night and to try to keep their sadness in check. That’s what attracts her to them: the pain and heartache that gets passed down from one generation of women to the next.

Mercy knows this, probably better than anyone. She lost her best friend to La Llorona and almost found a watery grave herself. But she survived. Only she didn’t come back quite right and she knows La Llorona won’t be satisfied until she drags the one soul that got away back to the bottom of the river.

In a battle for her life, Mercy fights to break the chains of generational trauma and reclaim her soul free from ancestral hauntings by turning to the only things that she knows can save her: plant medicine, pulp books, and the promise of a love so strong not even La Llorona can stop it from happening. What unfolds is a stunning tale of one woman’s journey into magic, healing, and rebirth.

EXCERPT

One time, I was feeling mighty fine and thought I’d try something different. I saw this ad in a magazine where a woman was in an obscenely large bathtub and covered up to the neck in bubbles. This was in a room with a marble floor, and there were candles everywhere, and she had her hair up all nice and a face mask on. Well, I got to thinking a nice long soak after a hard day’s work would be nice. 

This was a few months after my run-in with Sherry, and I was trying hard to let myself enjoy things more. It occurred to me after seeing her that her fatal flaw was not believing that her future was right in front of her. Or maybe she was too afraid to take it with both hands. I began to wonder if we didn’t hold back and do half the work for La Llorona with all that we ran from life. 

So I bought some bubble bath and made more beeswax candles and set about having myself a spa night. I mean, my bathroom was nowhere near as nice as the one in the picture. My tub was only long enough for me to sit upright and was right next to the toilet, but I made do. 

It was lovely. I mean, divine! I could see why fancy women liked this. I put on the radio, and the music was soft and sweet, like the candlelight against the fading day. I was so relaxed, that I was about to fall asleep in that tub. 

That was when I felt cold hands grip the soles of my feet and pull me under. 

I should have seen it coming. Why willingly linger in a body of water? But I didn’t, and that was how I found myself drowning in bubbles and thrashing around in my tub. It’s also how I learned that evil woman could find me anywhere—and I mean anywhere—so I could never let my guard down.

 Her grip was strong. Seemed like the harder I fought, the stronger she got. I was flailing about, my arms searching for anything and everything to hold on to, when I knocked one of those beeswax candles into the tub. To this day, I have no idea why that scared her, but it did. She recoiled something quick at the hiss of the flame when the wax hit water. 

I didn’t waste a second—I hoisted myself out of the tub and collapsed on the bathroom floor, choking and sputtering and sopping wet. Took me forever to clean up the mess and cough up all those flower-scented bubbles. My feet were cold and sore for days, with claw marks where her bony fingers hooked into my skin. 

Whoever said bubble baths were relaxing was a big fat liar.

First of all, this cover is beautiful, just like the book. This novella is about Mercy, a woman that wholeheartedly believes in La Llorona and her grasp on her life. I have to admit, I wasn't sure if the main character was reliable. I've read a few books where it seems to be supernatural, and then it just ends up being a mental thing. So, I wasn't sure if the inner monologue could be trusted. But, honestly, I feel like this made the novella more interesting to me because I was constantly conflicted on the events. Did her best friend actually become "baptized" by La Llorona or was she just a girl that was just broken from a series of life events? I'm still not really sure, and I think that's okay. 

Although the novella is short, it still packs a punch. The storytelling is really nice and I enjoyed the writing style as well. I believe it was just the right amount of length. I do wish it had more of an ending with the romantic interest, but that's not was this novella was about. Mercy's character growth was exponential towards the end, and I was glad to see what kind of strong woman she matured into. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that loves fantasy, character growth through hardship or magical realism!

Dr. Maria DeBlassie is a native New Mexican mestiza and award-winning writer and educator living in the Land of Enchantment. She writes about everyday magic, ordinary gothic, and all things witchy. When she is not practicing brujeria, she's teaching classes about bodice rippers, modern mystics, and things that go bump in the night. She is forever looking for magic in her life and somehow always finding more than she thought was there. Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at www.mariadeblassie.com.

Author web links:

Weep, Woman, Weep purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Weep-Woman-Fairytale-Ancestral-Hauntings-ebook/dp/B09CV9P9SH

www.mariadeblassie.com

twitter: @enchantmentll

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instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mdeblassie.writer

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7rY-gLkSH-w8uuVyrhVALA

GIVEAWAY

Maria DeBlassie will be awarding a copy of the book (ebook for International winner/signed paperback for US Only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway