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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
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
This book was so good, but in the way that something that is horror was wound into people's lives in such a way that it seemed normal and mundane. I liked the expression of grief, the queer rep, and how even loving something so deeply doesn't stop it from being monstrous.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This starts with a prologue of sorts and then the main story is in four parts from the pov of four different characters. You end through the eyes of Monstrilio. There is also definitely gore, but ... It isn't that bad (maybe.. lol)
This was about grief, holding on to something no longer viable, sharpness and softness, love. So so so much love.
I felt like this story was saying the scariest thing is to love something and want it to be safe and free and happy, but existing in a world where those things cannot be at the same time. It takes that horror to an extreme and thus the gore.
One of the lines that stood out the most to me is when Jackie, the maid of the grandmother, says "I don't like hungry things." as if humans aren't always starving. Every character is voracious for *something* - Magos wants her son back, Lena wants to sleep, to be with Magos. Joseph wants someone to understand his pain and he wants to understand his son's pain, to take it away.
M hungers for softness, I think. He wants to be free and himself and to eat without holding back. I say softness because his form starts malleable, soft and warm, boneless. And that is when he was the happiest.
As the book goes on, I loved Monstrilio more and more. Each character you see the story through loves him the best they can while still saying things out of fear that sound so familiar - "he'll be better," "make yourself less," "hold yourself back," "people won't understand," "you can't do that," and they regret it the moment they say it, want to take it back.
Idk if you uh have a parent lmao or want to be a parent I really recommend this book.
This was about grief, holding on to something no longer viable, sharpness and softness, love. So so so much love.
I felt like this story was saying the scariest thing is to love something and want it to be safe and free and happy, but existing in a world where those things cannot be at the same time. It takes that horror to an extreme and thus the gore.
M hungers for softness, I think. He wants to be free and himself and to eat without holding back. I say softness because his form starts malleable, soft and warm, boneless. And that is when he was the happiest.
As the book goes on, I loved Monstrilio more and more. Each character you see the story through loves him the best they can while still saying things out of fear that sound so familiar - "he'll be better," "make yourself less," "hold yourself back," "people won't understand," "you can't do that," and they regret it the moment they say it, want to take it back.
Idk if you uh have a parent lmao or want to be a parent I really recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
dark
fast-paced
“Was I expected to find solace in these people? I felt alone, perfectly alone. So alone I felt divine. Divine like a lonely god unfathomable to anybody but herself.”
Starting off strong with the depictions of grief and how horror can be born from grief but slipping back and forth between that and tenderness. Humanity creates and then rejects. Monstrilio a monster but not of his own devices, and incredibly endearing. The empathy and love shown to M makes you want to shield him yourself.
Starting off strong with the depictions of grief and how horror can be born from grief but slipping back and forth between that and tenderness. Humanity creates and then rejects. Monstrilio a monster but not of his own devices, and incredibly endearing. The empathy and love shown to M makes you want to shield him yourself.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about Monstrilio, and while I really wanted to like it I feel like the author could have done a lot more to drive home his message about self-acceptance and loving people for who they are. After finishing the story, I felt like it should have started from the perspective of Joseph and followed his intense portrayal of grief after his son dies and then witnessing his wife desecrate his body. It seems like the characters make it clear that Magos' portrayal of grief leaves them questioning her emotions and the same can be said for the reader.
I didn't feel like Magos' perspective really answered any questions about her motivations for loving Monstrilio so much, and becomes even more confusing after the time jump where her character deviates more and more from who she is in the beginning during Joseph's POV. I think if we started with Jospeh, once we got Magos' POV the author could have really leaned into her grief and given context to why she did what she did.
I also feel like Lena's chapters did not really provide much insight to the plot and why we were supposed to love Monstrilio aside from the fact that he was born of Santiago's lung and that he became a somewhat lively creature that was jumping to and from cat trees. I figured her perspective was more to include queer storylines and an insight into queer character's traumas related to their otherness and how that bleeds into their psyche and motivations. I suppose Lena's unhealthy relationship with her mother affected her sexuality and made her challenge the character's concepts of monstrosity. I'm not against the depictions of sex and kinks in the book as other readers have mentioned because the book does fall under LGBT stories, but I just wish the kinks were better integrated to emphasize overcoming shame or somehow allowed for some catharsis of grief, but to me, it ultimately fell flat.
The fact that Monstrilio was gay still somehow surprised me, but I wasn't sure what the point of that was when he states that he felt most human when eating fruit loops, rather than when he was making love to his quite endearing Berlin-based partner.
In the end, the book shifted from being about grief to accepting Monstrilio’s carnal, inhuman desires. This ending might have been more effective if the author explained why the characters loved Monstrilio before he became human, only for him to embrace his monstrous side, making everything seem almost pointless. Despite this, I’m glad I supported a queer Mexican author and hope he grows as a writer. I’m excited to see what others think.
I didn't feel like Magos' perspective really answered any questions about her motivations for loving Monstrilio so much, and becomes even more confusing after the time jump where her character deviates more and more from who she is in the beginning during Joseph's POV. I think if we started with Jospeh, once we got Magos' POV the author could have really leaned into her grief and given context to why she did what she did.
I also feel like Lena's chapters did not really provide much insight to the plot and why we were supposed to love Monstrilio aside from the fact that he was born of Santiago's lung and that he became a somewhat lively creature that was jumping to and from cat trees. I figured her perspective was more to include queer storylines and an insight into queer character's traumas related to their otherness and how that bleeds into their psyche and motivations. I suppose Lena's unhealthy relationship with her mother affected her sexuality and made her challenge the character's concepts of monstrosity. I'm not against the depictions of sex and kinks in the book as other readers have mentioned because the book does fall under LGBT stories, but I just wish the kinks were better integrated to emphasize overcoming shame or somehow allowed for some catharsis of grief, but to me, it ultimately fell flat.
The fact that Monstrilio was gay still somehow surprised me, but I wasn't sure what the point of that was when he states that he felt most human when eating fruit loops, rather than when he was making love to his quite endearing Berlin-based partner.
In the end, the book shifted from being about grief to accepting Monstrilio’s carnal, inhuman desires. This ending might have been more effective if the author explained why the characters loved Monstrilio before he became human, only for him to embrace his monstrous side, making everything seem almost pointless. Despite this, I’m glad I supported a queer Mexican author and hope he grows as a writer. I’m excited to see what others think.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Read this audiobook super slowly because it kept getting sucked back to the library but it is my favorite kind of horror! Metaphorical monster horror! Super original, interesting characters, definitely enjoyed. I think I would have liked it more if I’d read it more quickly rather than having to remember to the characters again and again. Great ending and explorations of grief.