A review by starrysteph
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.0

Monstrilio is a piece of grotesque literary horror that’s all about grief and parent-child relationships.

When Magos and Joseph lose their 11 year old son Santiago, they don’t know how to grieve and move forward in a world without him. Instinctually, Magos cuts out a piece of his lung and puts it in a jar. And after she feeds it, it begins to grow … turning into little carnivorous Monstrilio.

“We didn’t so much exist as much as we haunted, and with no one else to haunt, we haunted each other.”

There’s a lot to dig into here: the rollercoaster of grief, autonomy of children (and allowing children to make their own choices versus shutting them into idealized boxes), masking your differences in front of others when they are sometimes seen as monstrous (queerness, disability, the ‘crime’ of being misunderstood), the journey from attempting to know what’s best & therefore suffocating those you love to learning to let go & living side by side, and so on.

The book definitely leaves you with a fair bit of melancholy. We get four very direct & very limited POVs which gradually reveal more and more about the situation. All of the narrators are truthfully a bit unlikeable, but I do think they’re sympathetic.

I think there was a strong start with Magos’ narration and then lost some clarity and energy after the distance of the second narrator to the household and then a time jump before the third narrator. Ironically, Magos may be the most unlikeable of the bunch, but her story also really gripped me and highlighted a detached side of grief that you don’t often see. 

The writing is a bit distant and direct, but kept me engaged. I also really enjoyed some of the imagery and non-human metaphors, like the deteriorating house. 

Overall, Monstrilio was a peculiar & devastating piece that might tempt you to lean into the duality of holding onto your loved ones a little closer & ensuring you’re not suffocating them by doing so.

CW: child death, grief, gore, murder, body horror, cannibalism, animal cruelty/death, chronic illness, terminal illness, sexual violence, suicidal thoughts

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