Monster Child | Book Review

Monster Child

Rahela Nayebzadah

4 / 5

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⚠️ 𝘛𝘞: 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮

After I finished this book, I had to take time to meditate on my thoughts. 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 covers just a few months in the lives of three Afghani siblings in the year 2000. Their family has emigrated to Canada, and their father owns a restaurant.

What makes this story unique is that there seems to be a theme running throughout it: blood. One sibling has a magical gift of crying tears of blood, blood flows as a result of sexual abuse, and the question of bloodline comes into play. The book even begins with sacrificial animal slaughter.

It took me to the very end of the story to see the link between all three of these events. It’s even more startling and heartbreaking that each sibling believes that they are the monster child within the family. 

Throughout the book, Nayebzadah includes Afghani culture, a bit of magical realism, family secrets, and the sad reality of racism to make this story truly compelling.

Thank you to @wolsakandwynn and @rahela_nayebzadah for a gifted copy.