Monstrilio

This review is specifically for the audiobook narrated by Victoria Villarreal and Johnny Rey Diaz.

Narration 4.5/5
Story: 3/5

The narration was pleasant and generally free of overacting or other minor annoyances that sometimes occur in audiobooks, the narrators did a great job and it was obviously a quality production. That being said, I sometimes struggled to remember which character was speaking and it didn't help that I generally didn't care much for 3 out of 4 characters.

My main problem with reviewing this book is that it really wasn't what I expected, I came in expecting horror about grief and what I found was more along the lines of domestic fiction with horror elements and a lot of kink/sex.

The first part of the book was gripping and strong but then it sort of just lost momentum for me until the very end and while I get that “action” wasn't the point of this book I also didn't get too much about the grief and maybe it was just lost on me because of all the stuff about sex.

Ultimately, my conclusion about this book is that it's a good book that just really wasn't for me.

Many thanks to HighBridge Audio and Netgalley for the ALC.

I think the fact that a story primarily about grief can be so cosy and heartfelt speaks volumes. Yes, the ending brought me to tears.

I had never heard of this book or the praise it was getting until a friend purchased it. I was immediately intrigued at the story as these are the kinds of stories that I am drawn to, but have been let down by before. Thanks for letting me borrow this to read, Holly ❤️

Coming from a somewhat traumatised childhood myself, I felt like I connected with Lena the most, the immediate rejection from her mother brought back some not-so-nice memories. She was someone that I was rooting for throughout, but all of the characters are all easy to connect with, and easy to get attached to. “I'm not a fucking speck. I'm Lena”.

“Some people tell stories”
“Stories are not good?” I ask.
“You'd have to tell a good one”
I have a good one. But I can't tell it.

The ice cream memory brought such a big smile out of me

“She loves and hates this lung, a mystery to her, a tiny lung that carried her son way past his expected life span. She wants to thank it, and also spit on it for not having carried him further.”

I'm leaving this review at a 4-ish for now but this is very hard for me to rate. I want to say I loved it and I enjoyed it but I don't know if those are the right words. This is a disturbing and graphic story of a monster turned boy (?), grown from a mother's grief. Grief is the overwhelming theme here, and it is palpable. Normally I rate based on my enjoyment of the book, the writing, the characters, and the plot, but my overall enjoyment of reading the book usually stands tallest. I can't say that I enjoyed this book, but it is definitely a story that will stick with me. And as disturbing as some of the characters were they were also realistic somehow, in all the surrealism. I felt for Monstrilio towards the end, he's really just another victim of grief as well, whilst also its result in a way. I wonder if he became what he is because of how others viewed him? As unrealistic as this story is it somehow feels possible that immense grief could do what it did in this book, and that is a feat of Sámano Córdova. It's definitely the story that's made me reflect the most lately, so I'm putting a 4-ish for now, but I may bump it as I sit on this for a bit.

Bottom line: read it.

“They are happy to believe I forgot how they maimed me.”

This is a beautiful tale, no doubt. Grief horror is always fascinating to read because it's so interesting to watch how different people process the same grief. 
The concept is very interesting too, a woman who literally feeds her grief. 

This is very beautifully written, engaging, and fast paced.


What I didn't enjoy was probably Lena's whole character, i didn't see the point of why she was included in such detail, only to not give her a satisfying ending. 

also i don't know if this is just because it's a man writing the book, but quite a few times the author uses ‘vagina' when I think he means vulva? Quite a few fingering scenes, and the author says vagina every time. 

An interesting little tale about loss and grieving. I quite liked the premise of this book, I just didn't love the execution. With it being in the horror genre, I was expecting more horror. I enjoyed the complexities of the characters and seeing how each of them handles their grief, but I just don't think this book was for me. One important question I have: WHY DID NO ONE ASK MONSTRILIO WHAT HE WANTS? Poor guy.