Monstrilio -- Gerardo Sámano Córdova, Hardcover

A "genuinely scary" horror debut written in "prose so beautiful you won't want to rush" about a boy who transforms into a monster, a monster who tries to be a man, and the people who love him in every form he takes (Ana Reyes)

Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son Santiago's lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her family's decaying Mexico City estate. Eventually, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was, but his innate impulses--though curbed by his biological and chosen family's communal care--threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.

A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Sámano Córdova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigor. Told in four acts that span the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.

Author: Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Publisher: Zando
Published: 03/07/2023
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.70w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9781638930365

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2023
Publishers Weekly 01/16/2023
Booklist 01/01/2023 pg. 46
Library Journal 02/01/2023 pg. 70