Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

59 reviews

onlyincursive's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

Somehow devastated me and gave me hope at the same time. An interesting look at the ways people handle grief and the challenges of living in a world where you’ll never fit in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Violence, and Drug use

Minor: Toxic relationship, Excrement, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

funkyauntjules's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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

WOW ! OH WOW ! this book is gorgeously written. the prose is stunning, captivating, gripping. the plot is RICH as hell. i wanted this book to be another 100 pages. the different POV's were so clear and vivid. NO NOTES!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Cannibalism

aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Cannibalism

atippy23's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

brinnavirginia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Gore, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Blood, Torture, Chronic illness, Animal death, Child death, Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, and Death

Minor: Drug use

jkneebone's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

In Monstrilio, Magos cuts out part of her deceased son Santiago's lung and begins to feed it, hoping it will grow but not knowing into what. Eventually, she gets Monstrilio - a carnivorous, playful monster who lives on the patio of her Mexico City home - who later develops into something more human, at least on the surface. Told over four sections in four different perspectives - Magos, her best friend Lena, her husband Joseph, and M himself - Monstrilio plays with horror, family, grief, and what it means to be human, as each of the characters react to the loss of Santiago and the development of his semi-replacement.

I enjoyed Monstrilio. It wasn't as horror-forward as I anticipated it might be, which for me was a pro, although it was definitely gory. The writing style was simple and thoughtful, what I would call an economy of language. Although I don't always love that style, especially since it's become so prevalent in a certain type of novel, in this case I thought it worked well. I also thought the author's use of different perspectives for each section, and the time gaps between the various sections, was very effective.

The interpersonal dynamics of Monstrilio were quite interesting - I liked watching what each of the characters were willing to do for another character, or for Monstrilio, based on their care for him or their past love for Santiago.

Most notably, in M's section, the way Magos, Joseph, and Lena immediately jump into crime scene clean-up mode after finding out that M ate Sam.

I think there is a lot to be said here about the ways we will bend morality or put up with despicable behavior from those we love, and/or the way those actions can poison our relationships whether we want them to or not. And of course, through each characters' interactions with Monstrilio/M, we can also see the different ways people choose to deal with grief - from Magos stubbornly ignoring it, to Uncle Luke accepting M just as he is.

While I thought this was an interesting book, and I'm glad I stepped out of my normal zone to read it, I wasn't amazed or bowled over. It kept my attention, and I liked the interpersonal drama and the mythos of Monstrilio's creation etc., but it's not a book I would plan to reread. If you like books that are horror-adjacent or magical realism, or if you want to read a book about grief, this is one you'll want to pick up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Violence

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Torture

coffeebean216's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Body horror

littlelines's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Ooh this book was good. It defied my expectations in a very fun way, where I was expecting a gut wrenching, grief-driven horror that dragged me to the pits of hell, but what I got was a mysteriously uplifting family drama with a horrific edge. The language is beautiful and concise, the characters are crafted well and stay consistent throughout. I also loved how queer this book is. It’s so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical trauma, Child death, and Animal death

tifftastic87's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.25

Monstrilio is a tale of grief, told in four parts. The story starts with the death of a little boy and follows the family as they grieve. The first part follows Magos, who cuts a piece of her dead son away and uses it to grow a new boy. The next part follows Len, the best friend of the couple, then Joseph, the father, and lastly Monstrilio himself. 

Each of these characters is so unique, all dealing with their own issues outside of grief. Magos has a strained relationship with her mother, Lena suffers from severe insomnia and was abused by her own mother, Joseph has some pretty bad depression and Monstrilio, well he's just hungry. Like really hungry. 

Honestly, everyone in this book needed therapy. 

Currently I'm listening to Pet Sematary and this is kind of like, if Lewis could have brought Gage back but it all worked out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Cannibalism, Murder, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexual content