This is such a surreal, beautiful novel that tells of a family's grief at the loss of their young child, and the measures his mother takes to create life from his still body. While this could easily delve into horror, this ulmately becomes a haunting, hopeful story as Monstrilio tries to handle his needs with his family's expectations.

Although readers might get stuck on the part where Santiago's mother somehow creates a creature from a piece of her son's lung, there's a lot of real world parallels here that we can recognise - the second son trying to live up to the deaceased sibling, relationships held together by a the thread of a sick child.

This is split into four POVs, with Monstrilio's at the end, and I really connected with him and his need to embrace his nature. His decision for his future at the end of the story made so much sense to me, and I felt it finished the story really well, without leaving me wishing I had more time with the book.