Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

26 reviews

softanimal's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This is my favorite kind of horror: heavily psychological, sparse & carefully chosen terror/gore/violence, a meandering burn, and a heart at its core that just fuckin body checks you. I also loved the characters, the settings, the distinctness of voice of each storyteller, and the uniqueness of the premise. Would highly recommend to similar horror lovers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, and Child death

Minor: Deadnaming

I added deadnaming as a trigger warning but I don't think it would be for most but the reason is

they call Monstrilio by the name of the dead child who's lung he came from which is not a name he sees as his own,

no gender component.

nadstorro's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Book about grief. Really enjoyed reading. My first dark, gothic horror book. Sad. Ending was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

thehomiemona's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Blood, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

savvy999's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

A whirlwind of emotions. Subtly dazzling and rich. The distinct and provocative voices of the characters emphasize this complicated portrait of just how human a monster can be. We see M from all perspectives, in all of the viscera and gore and introspection that he entails. Grief transforms and makes new the bodies of those involved. Loss of the son, grief at not being the son that was lost, grief from up close and afar. “The monster stands at the borders of the possible”(quote from cohens monster theory, which definitely  enhances a reading of this book) Monstrilio engages with the possibility of constructing a life and living it borrowed, that born of tradition/folklore and aided by science this being could be walking alongside others. but also stands with the pain of living amongst without feeling full,  of being an outsider in their space and body. The possibility of embracing one’s own monstrosity is daunting and dangerous, but to M is ultimately a triumph of spirit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, Death, Body horror, Animal death, Violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Child death

dezaraemd's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

I wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Minor: Ableism

mellowreading's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Oh!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Cannibalism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Suicide, Gore, Body horror, Animal death, and Murder

joensign's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Sexual violence

danimacuk's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Gore, Animal death, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Confinement

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

4.75

Oooo this was good. My horror at Magos’ attempt to grow a piece of her dead son’s lung cannot be matched. The beginning of this book was so unhinged and I was yelling at the cast to get rid of Monstrilio before he ate them all. And yet I grew to love that little monster and found him cute with his arm tail. And I was horrified at myself for thinking he was cute!! This novel explores what it means to be human and what it means to be a monster and made me want to reread Frankenstein. I really felt for M and how he tried so hard to fit in and appear less monstrous. I appreciated that this bunch of misfit/unhinged family members tried to protect M even after some of the things he did. There were strong themes about trying to change others/trying to alter what we created when it doesn’t suit us (again, it makes me want to reread Frankenstein!). The horror of this story was really in M’s origin and the story became more meaningful towards the end. Honestly, I was hoping for more horror and for there to be a tipping point at the end, but as another reviewer wrote there was an emotionlessness to the gore/sex that made it less horror-ish than it could have been. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Child death, Medical content, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Gore, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol

thegayestghost's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Violence, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Death, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma