Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámono Córdova

Started reading: 1/7/26

Finished reading: 1/17/26

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

One-liner: After a young child dies, his mother cuts off a piece of his lung and grows it into a monster.

Favorite quote: "When I ate him, and Minna, none of this came to mind."

Genre: Literary grief/monster horror

Thoughts: The author does a fantastic job of painting this family's loss. Told through four POVs, the reader gets to delve into the mind of all the main characters as life goes on despite their pain. Santiago is dead. Their love for him is not. Monstrilio, the monster grown from a bit of his lung, is a physical manifestation of this. I would have cried at the end of this book had I not been at work when I finished it. The monster's POV is the most interesting and is so well done. He has spent his entire life being molded and shaped by those around him who are still grieving the loss of Santiago, most of all by Santiago's mother. This book is one I will definitely return to when I feel ready to face it again.