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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
Dit boek stelt me teleur. Voor wat beschreven wordt als een "gothic horror" verhaal, met magical realism elementen, is de schrijfstijl plat en ongeinspireerd. Niks van de beeldspraak en kleurvolle beschrijvingen die je normaal bij dit genre terugvind. Het dialoog voelt stuntelig en onecht, en de personages komen niet echt van het papier af. Het is alsof het boek niet kan kiezen tussen moderne literatuur of horror als genre, waardoor het bij allebei eigenlijk tekort doet.
Toch is het plot wel interessant, en zijn de thema's van verdriet, familie en acceptatie wel mooi, wat het boek net naar 3/5 sterren trekt.
Toch is het plot wel interessant, en zijn de thema's van verdriet, familie en acceptatie wel mooi, wat het boek net naar 3/5 sterren trekt.
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Monstrilio was an incredible read from start to finish! There is a reason why this book has received such positive feedback. It's a strange, twisting, layered story about loss, grief, horror, and unconditional love. It reminded me of Gremlins meets Edward Scissorhands at times, but it was truly unique. It was quite disturbing from the start, which drew me in immediately. All of the characters are so well developed that by the end of the book, I felt like I knew them intimately. The story is told from four perspectives: the mother's, the friend's, the father's, and 'M.'
I don't want to say too much because I went in pretty unaware of the plot in detail, and it kind of blew my mind. It's unlike anything I've ever read before, and it made me feel a wide range of emotions. Be warned: it can be quite gory and grisly at times. It was a little bit of slow burn at first (which I did not mind) but I couldn't put it down and finished it in about a day! Thank you so much to Zando Projects and Netgalley for this ARC; after reading this and Patricia Wants to Cuddle, I'm starting to get really excited for the books Zando is putting out these days.
I don't want to say too much because I went in pretty unaware of the plot in detail, and it kind of blew my mind. It's unlike anything I've ever read before, and it made me feel a wide range of emotions. Be warned: it can be quite gory and grisly at times. It was a little bit of slow burn at first (which I did not mind) but I couldn't put it down and finished it in about a day! Thank you so much to Zando Projects and Netgalley for this ARC; after reading this and Patricia Wants to Cuddle, I'm starting to get really excited for the books Zando is putting out these days.
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
Uncle Luke is my favorite and everyone is gay
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova is a unique novel that many will find interesting. It starts with an intense scene and ends with a calmer yet more unsettling one, all while exploring themes of grief, survival, art, and lust.
The novel starts with a scene that explores one of the most intense forms of grief— the loss of a child. Then it follows the consequential actions of a grieving mother who does something that many of us (other than a grieving mother) would find unthinkable, and not just because what she does is based on a fantastical belief and hope. Right off the bat, as a reader, you are thrown into questions surrounding grief and how it connects us to our most honest and basest instincts.
Watching Monstrilio evolve through others’ eyes in the novel was interesting but would have resonated with me more as a reader over the entire course of the novel had there been more scenes with him in it in the middle (meat) of the novel (Lena’s and Joseph’s chapters), when he was growing and changing. For some reason, I didn’t ever really connect with Monstrilio or any of the other main characters all that much, especially during all their sex scenes, of which there were quite a few.
While those sex scenes did draw a complex web of sexual desire to survival and instinct to attempts at love and affection for the main characters, they were mostly devoid of genuine warmth and intimacy in a way that I found striking and, oddly enough, overly distancing. But perhaps that was their purpose? Please note that most readers will not mind this level of distancing from the main characters or might experience something different when reading these scenes. This is a novel about a quasi-monster and those who keep it alive and protect it after all, as they remain conflicted about their own desires and instincts. I, however, ultimately found myself unable to connect with some of the main characters’ perspectives while reading this novel, mainly Joseph’s and Lena’s.
I did appreciate Magos’ chapters and M's chapters the most. They gripped me and held my attention, especially when things started to spiral out of control and get dangerous for others. In fact, I would have liked to read more about their perspectives and unique relationship throughout the novel. And I would have really enjoyed reading more about Magos’ performance art and how it was connected to her relationship with Monstrilio and the other main characters in the novel. I found the underlying question regarding how art is linked to grief and honesty extremely compelling, but wish it was fleshed out more (pun intended).
I also appreciated how the novel ended, and all the conflicting feelings it left, but was left wanting more horrific scenes and or more intimate and sentimental scenes throughout the novel in the end, to better connect with each character.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy a unique plot with multiple points of view and interesting topics about human nature to explore.
Subscribe to Daily Drafts & Dialogues to receive more book reviews and posts about reading and writing in your inbox every day: dailydraftsanddialogues.substack.com
The novel starts with a scene that explores one of the most intense forms of grief— the loss of a child. Then it follows the consequential actions of a grieving mother who does something that many of us (other than a grieving mother) would find unthinkable, and not just because what she does is based on a fantastical belief and hope. Right off the bat, as a reader, you are thrown into questions surrounding grief and how it connects us to our most honest and basest instincts.
Watching Monstrilio evolve through others’ eyes in the novel was interesting but would have resonated with me more as a reader over the entire course of the novel had there been more scenes with him in it in the middle (meat) of the novel (Lena’s and Joseph’s chapters), when he was growing and changing. For some reason, I didn’t ever really connect with Monstrilio or any of the other main characters all that much, especially during all their sex scenes, of which there were quite a few.
While those sex scenes did draw a complex web of sexual desire to survival and instinct to attempts at love and affection for the main characters, they were mostly devoid of genuine warmth and intimacy in a way that I found striking and, oddly enough, overly distancing. But perhaps that was their purpose? Please note that most readers will not mind this level of distancing from the main characters or might experience something different when reading these scenes. This is a novel about a quasi-monster and those who keep it alive and protect it after all, as they remain conflicted about their own desires and instincts. I, however, ultimately found myself unable to connect with some of the main characters’ perspectives while reading this novel, mainly Joseph’s and Lena’s.
I did appreciate Magos’ chapters and M's chapters the most. They gripped me and held my attention, especially when things started to spiral out of control and get dangerous for others. In fact, I would have liked to read more about their perspectives and unique relationship throughout the novel. And I would have really enjoyed reading more about Magos’ performance art and how it was connected to her relationship with Monstrilio and the other main characters in the novel. I found the underlying question regarding how art is linked to grief and honesty extremely compelling, but wish it was fleshed out more (pun intended).
I also appreciated how the novel ended, and all the conflicting feelings it left, but was left wanting more horrific scenes and or more intimate and sentimental scenes throughout the novel in the end, to better connect with each character.
Overall, I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy a unique plot with multiple points of view and interesting topics about human nature to explore.
Subscribe to Daily Drafts & Dialogues to receive more book reviews and posts about reading and writing in your inbox every day: dailydraftsanddialogues.substack.com
Gorgeous, painful, excellent. I really think there’s gotta be a bit of surreality to books about grief, because there’s such an element of absurdity to loss, even when it’s the most natural thing in the world. I loved this book’s approach and the ending tore me up. So good.