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smuds2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For a first novel, it is quite good - I'd happily read any another novels written by Córdova.
The pacing is quite good - I think it pauses where it needs to pause and speeds where it needs to speed. I think I would have liked it to sit a bit more with Joseph - it felt like his chapter was stuck mostly with narrative and rapid character development to a climax.
There were some unnecessary sexual explicit scenes for my taste (I'm not quite sure the fact that they were sexually explicit added anything valuable to the importance of the scenes). I also think that at times, the first three chapters lapsed into kind of a generic voice.
I think that, thematically, this is a great work of weird-fiction? Magical realism? depicting the grieving process. Lucia, not really understanding monstrilio, but begrudgingly living with it (I'm thinking especially post attack). Lena just being supportive to both her friend(s) and the manifestation of their grief. Magos arc of basically saying "I can fix it", while it 'dragged' on her life (although, not for the worse - I'm thinking of her turning down the Valencia gig to stay with family could easily be interpreted as a reprioritization directly as a result of the strengthened bonds formed during grief).
I don't think Josephs arc is nearly as clean - and maybe that's the point?
And I'm not quite sure how to square away uncle luke in this setting - is he the enabler? Is that good? The safe place to act your worse during grief?
I also think that a major shortcoming of the book was not sitting with lucia's death and then just kind of ignoring jackie. is that because they were not supportive? And as a result faded out of their life? I feel like there could have been thematic commentary for how to grief for a "normal" death.
The pacing is quite good - I think it pauses where it needs to pause and speeds where it needs to speed. I think I would have liked it to sit a bit more with Joseph - it felt like his chapter was stuck mostly with narrative and rapid character development to a climax.
There were some unnecessary sexual explicit scenes for my taste (I'm not quite sure the fact that they were sexually explicit added anything valuable to the importance of the scenes). I also think that at times, the first three chapters lapsed into kind of a generic voice.
I think that, thematically, this is a great work of weird-fiction? Magical realism? depicting the grieving process. Lucia, not really understanding monstrilio, but begrudgingly living with it (I'm thinking especially post attack). Lena just being supportive to both her friend(s) and the manifestation of their grief. Magos arc of basically saying "I can fix it", while it 'dragged' on her life (although, not for the worse - I'm thinking of her turning down the Valencia gig to stay with family could easily be interpreted as a reprioritization directly as a result of the strengthened bonds formed during grief).
I don't think Josephs arc is nearly as clean - and maybe that's the point?
And I'm not quite sure how to square away uncle luke in this setting - is he the enabler? Is that good? The safe place to act your worse during grief?
I also think that a major shortcoming of the book was not sitting with lucia's death and then just kind of ignoring jackie. is that because they were not supportive? And as a result faded out of their life? I feel like there could have been thematic commentary for how to grief for a "normal" death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Animal death, Drug abuse, Body horror, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Drug use, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, and Torture
americattt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
"I smiled to keep myself from telling him to forget everything I had just said and to go ahead and bite if he wanted to bite. For a second, I believed myself strong enough to take on whatever consequences came from setting him free."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
Moderate: Murder and Drug use
Minor: Gore
rmgilchrist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Gore, Drug use, Sexual content, Animal death, Murder, Death, and Medical trauma
ylimeread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Violence, Death, and Gore
verynicebook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Suicide
savvylit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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
Monstrilio is everything I never knew that I wanted from a literary horror story. To start, the characters are fully-formed, distinct, and loveable. Magos and her grief-turned-madness. Joseph and his aching sadness. Lena and her loyal practicality. Uncle Luke and his devotion. M and his empathy and wild spirit. Each character is unique and memorable.
Beyond the brilliant characterization, Monstrilio as a story is deeply compelling. Grief as a living thing... Grief as a monster! This core concept is so well executed - especially in the final chapter that follows M's perspective. I also absolutely loved the casual sexual fluidity of this book and its characters. This may have been the most bisexual story I've ever read and I am absolutely here for it.
I'm not sure what else to say except that Monstrilio is a fantastic book that I want to recommend to everyone I know.
Thank you to @netgalley @zandoprojects and @samanito for the advanced reader copy of Monstrilio in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Beyond the brilliant characterization, Monstrilio as a story is deeply compelling. Grief as a living thing... Grief as a monster! This core concept is so well executed - especially in the final chapter that follows M's perspective. I also absolutely loved the casual sexual fluidity of this book and its characters. This may have been the most bisexual story I've ever read and I am absolutely here for it.
I'm not sure what else to say except that Monstrilio is a fantastic book that I want to recommend to everyone I know.
Thank you to @netgalley @zandoprojects and @samanito for the advanced reader copy of Monstrilio in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.5
Thank you so much to Zando Projects and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.
"Her son dies in a child-sized bed, big enough for him but barely enough to hold her and her husband who cling to the edges, folding themselves small so they fit one on each side of him."
What a way to open a story ! The first 50% of this book is written in such a gorgeous and haunting way. I really felt like I was there with the characters and sharing in their grief.
This book surprised me in many ways. Firstly, it's tagged as horror, but it's really not what you'd expect at first glance. I suppose it would be called literary horror ? We follow different points-of-view throughout the book, but it isn't a back and forth; instead when we switch to a new POV we never return to the original one. Finally, there is a time skip 50% into the book that caught me completely off guard, and took me a good 6-8 pages to understand what was happening.
The first half of this story completely captivated me, and I was honestly shocked that this is the author's debut. Unfortunately, I just wasn't as into it after the time skip. I would loved to have read more about Monstrilio's transformation, how they introduced him to the world and explained his existance to others.
I really enjoyed how this book explored grief and love. Now that I think of it, every character in this book could be considered queer, but it's not something that's ever commented on. The characters are just who they are.
This author is definitely on my radar now, and I will be looking forward to reading whatever they publish in the future.
"Her son dies in a child-sized bed, big enough for him but barely enough to hold her and her husband who cling to the edges, folding themselves small so they fit one on each side of him."
What a way to open a story ! The first 50% of this book is written in such a gorgeous and haunting way. I really felt like I was there with the characters and sharing in their grief.
This book surprised me in many ways. Firstly, it's tagged as horror, but it's really not what you'd expect at first glance. I suppose it would be called literary horror ? We follow different points-of-view throughout the book, but it isn't a back and forth; instead when we switch to a new POV we never return to the original one. Finally, there is a time skip 50% into the book that caught me completely off guard, and took me a good 6-8 pages to understand what was happening.
The first half of this story completely captivated me, and I was honestly shocked that this is the author's debut. Unfortunately, I just wasn't as into it after the time skip. I would loved to have read more about Monstrilio's transformation, how they introduced him to the world and explained his existance to others.
I really enjoyed how this book explored grief and love. Now that I think of it, every character in this book could be considered queer, but it's not something that's ever commented on. The characters are just who they are.
This author is definitely on my radar now, and I will be looking forward to reading whatever they publish in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent and Excrement
zonderling's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Definitely a favorite read of 2022, and all time. At times viscerally emotive, beautifully written and so, so dark... It creeps in and makes you uncomfortable in it's moral ambiguity. Netgalley offered me an ebook ARC to read in exchange for my honest opinion, but I'll be buying a copy in March when it releases.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, and Violence
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