Reviews with content warning for Blood - Monstrilio

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.

Content Warnings

isabelromero's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-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

5.0

Impeccable. One of the best pieces of fiction I’ve read; so original, so human, so creative, so dark, so funny, so captivating. If this is what you write for a debut, can’t wait to see what Córdova does next.

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rorikae's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

'Monstrilio' by Gerald Sámono Córdova is a magical realism mediation on grief.
The story switches between perspectives surrounding a family who has lost their son, Santiago. Beginning with a section from Magos, Santiago's mother, the novel follows how Magos takes a piece of Santiago's lung and what it becomes. This small piece of her son begins to grow, transforming into a creature that the family calls Monstrilio or M. Through following sections from a family friend (Lena) and from Joeseph (Santiago's father), Monstrilio's growth and his effect on the family is explored.
Gerardo Sámano Córdova weaves a deeply emotional story about the loss of a child and the effect on the child's parents. His writing is beautiful and evocative. Grief can consume, bring about violence, obsession, and more, which Gerardo Sámano Córdova deftly explores through the character of Monstrilio. All of the characters in this story are deeply flawed and extremely human. Their mistakes are easy to understand in light of their grief. I also appreciated the casual queerness of the characters and the story as a whole. I cannot wait to see what Gerardo Sámano Córdova writes next as this is a profoundly moving story that uses a fantastical aspect to explore the longstanding effects of grief.

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