The Book of Denial

by Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, Alejandro Magallanes (Illustrator), Lawrence Schimel (Translator)

From award-winning Mexican author Ricardo Chávez Castañeda and the visionary Mexican designer Alejandro Magallanes comes a horror story and ghost story that is both daringly and beautifully told in word and image.
There are stories so terrible that we tremble to hear even a whisper of them. Even more terrible, some of them are true.This is one such story, a story of our deepest inhumanity—one that confronts the history of violence against children, and through its young narrator attempts to find a way out. A horror story and ghost story told as much through art as through text,  The Book of Denial  is an antidote to our collective silence. By uplifting storytelling as a means of understanding the past and shaping the future, it is also—improbably—a beacon of hope.
Written by genre-defying Mexican author Ricardo Chávez Castañeda,  The Book of Denial  is a dark and powerful story within a story, illustrated with a striking graphic sensibility by Alejandro Magallanes and translated by Lawrence Schimel. This is the third book to appear under Unruly, an imprint of picture books for older readers, and will include a short note to readers about how it continues to build this experimental framework of visually complex, sophisticated picture books for teens and adults.

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, YA Horror, Picture Books, Fiction

148 pages, Hardcover

Published January 30, 2024

About the author

Ricardo Chávez Castañeda nació en la Ciudad de México en el año de 1961. Escritor, se le incluye también dentro de las filas de la Generación del Crack, junto a Jorge Volpi y Pedro Ángel Palou. A pesar de ello, él se dice un escritor “que se ha formado en solitario”, y que expone en su literatura la preocupación y búsqueda de valores primordiales, como la esperanza, la bondad y la verdad.
"Mi ambiente de crecimiento fue geográficamente la colonia Las Américas, frente a Satélite". Tal vez esa etapa de su vida es la que lo lleva al camino de la escritura, pues a lo largo de su vida dirá una y otra vez que lo más importante para escribir literatura para niños es el recordar la infancia.

A los veintidós años este amante de la niñez estudió la licenciatura en Psicología en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Al terminar su carrera se dedicó a tomar talleres de creación literaria, igualmente asistió a la SOGEM. Poco a poco, de forma anónima y solitaria, Ricardo empezó a formar una colección de premios por sus trabajos.

En 1987 obtuvo el primer lugar en el Certamen Estatal de Cuento del Estado de México, también ganó el tercer lugar en el Quinto Certamen Francisco Mota Mújica del Crea, después fue premiado en la XIII Fiesta Latinoamericana de la Literatura en homenaje a Jorge Luis Borges, en Buenos Aires Argentina.

En 1988 obtuvo el segundo lugar en el Certamen Estatal de Cuento, convocado por el ISSSTE; en 1989 logró el primer premio en el Concurso de Cuento Ecológico Universitario, en el 90 obtuvo mención honorífica en el Concurso de Cuento de la Revista Plural, en el 91 la mención fue en los concursos Gilberto Owen y Efraín Huerta. Así mismo obtuvo el primer lugar en el Concurso de Cuento Salvador Gallardo y el Premio de cuento San Luis Potosí.
Extrañamente aun ganando todos esos concursos no había publicado ningún libro.

Reviews

[inciminci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always liked horror stories because I thought they honored an agreement, the same way that all the games of the world follow rules.
The rule of games: This is not real. No game is real.
And the rule for horror stories? They are not true. No story should be true.

Beautiful graphic novel in monochrome with mostly white writing on black pages. The story about a boy who finds the book his father writes about all the children in history who were killed for the sake of nation, religion, economy, or a leader. Comes with a happy ending if you're OK to finish a little early, and a sad ending if you read until the very end.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this book is definitely horrific, but not in the way you will expect. 3.5 stars

What Worked: The Book of Denial was nowhere near my radar until I started looking for more translated teen novels to read. It's a journey. Not quite a novel, not quite a graphic novel. This book reads like a picture book for teens and adults. The content is horrific, but not in the traditional sense of ghouls, witches, demons, etc. It covers a topic that, like the characters state, is a one worth discussing. It's one that we should think about more often. The way that the story unfolds with the assistance of the artwork is ingenious and impactful. I must admit it's not for the faint of heart and I understand why some may categorize it as an uncomfortable read.

What Didn't Work: I'm not sure that this works as a teen book. If I was an educator utilizing this for a history or sociology class, then maybe it could appeal to a teen audience. However, this isn't a title that I would openly recommend to teens that visit the library.

Overall, this was an interesting read. If you're interested in checking out my full thoughts on this one, be sure to check out my vlog where I spend a week reading translated books: https://youtu.be/VMTDPjc6rmw?si=mWLrZ...

[Michael Allen Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a hard one to review. The design of this book is incredible. It's beautiful, artistic, mysterious, and innovative. I love books that experiment with different formats for telling stories. That deserves a few stars in and of itself.

The narrative however, is beyond confusing. There are a lot of heavy topics and themes here, surrounding the deaths of children and innocence, atrocities throughout history perpetrated against the young, etc. The themes are clear. The way the story is told is definitely not. I echo many of the other reviews here, because my first thought was "Huh. What did I just read?" Cool concept, and beautiful execution as far as design and style, but despite evocative and poetic language, the story itself ends up spiraling up into itself and disappearing.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think something got lost in the translation from Spanish to English with this one.

Like, I get it but I also don't get it. I understand it is about a very heavy topic but the weird, art-house aspect to the presentation does not really pass the "So, what?" test with me. The topic of why adults kill children time and time again throughout all of human history from the Bible to now is very big, heavy, and philosophical so I get why it can be a topic for literature to tackle. That being said, it just sort of ended after being like "Adults have hatched so many horrific ways to mutilate and murder the most innocent and vulnerable. It's so easy to kill children, they're like the easiest version of humanity to kill. So that is painful and it sucks. Maybe we shouldn't do that? The end."

Hard to say who the book is really for besides being a deep art project for the author and illustrator. Like as a librarian I will never be like "Oh, I have JUST the book for you!" and go grab it off the shelf for a person. It's just gonna live there in case anyone needs it.

[Brynley Packer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t often read horror stories, but this one was pretty good. I enjoyed how the story was communicated through the design and art of the book and it gave me some things to think about if you’re looking for a quick horror read this is for you some parts were a little bit confusing, but I think it was meant to be that way overall pretty good and I really enjoyed it.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea what I read, but it was interesting?

[Tamara Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Book of Denial” is a hybrid book in that it is a picture book for adults as well as a horror story, ghost story and a story within a story presented in black and white.

The graphic novel begins with a prologue novel stating that this book contains the worst story in the world. The author also tells the reader that for those who don’t like tragic stories, the book has a happy ending on a page near the end but also recommends that the reader stop reading after the happy ending.

“The Book of Denial” begins with the unnamed narrator sharing that his mother always told him that some books are not for children and the narrator didn’t understand what his mother meant until after he secretly read a book his father is writing. The book written by the narrator’s father is called “The Book of Denial…” and the narrator feels emboldened to read the book since his father hasn’t written anything for almost a year and the narrator hasn’t read anything is almost a year.

After overhearing his father saying to him mother that “the children need to know this story if terror,” the narrator assumes that “The Book of Denial…” isn’t as scary as other tales of terror he’s read before.

Upon sneaking into his father’s study and reading “The Book of Denial..” the narrator decides he no longer likes horror stories, becomes scared of adults around him and starts to question why his father would make up such a terrible story.

At school, the narrator is shocked when his teacher tells about a historical incident called the Holy Innocents which is the same name as the story his father wrote. The narrator as well as his classmates are horrified to learning of the killing of so many infants and the narrator internally is angry that this part of history was hidden until now.

While the narrator’s father stops writing “The Book of Denial..,” the narrator again sneaks into his father’s study but this time when he opens the book, he finds another story in the form of a newspaper clipping dated February 26, 1862 stating over four years 3,900 babies disappeared. Despite the narrator reading the newspaper clipping about missing babies, he can’t help but worry about the past repeating itself with children being killed in the name of religion, war, royalty, or other reasons.

As the graphic novel progresses, the narrator finds more newspaper clippings detailing more abuse of death of children. After seeing his father become increasingly more gaunt and restless, the narrator takes it upon himself to steal and destroy “The Book of Denial..” Despite destroying his father’s book, the narrator is surprised when he sees a similar book in its place. The narrator begins to feel hopeless as he continues to destroy the books in various ways only for a new filled book to appear.

The narrator finds it sad that the killings of children is crime that no one investigates and decides to write like his father. As the narrator begins to write his own “The Book of Denial,” the happy ending is that the narrator realizes that as long as him and his father keep writing the stories of scarified children even if no one else cares.

Past the happy ending is the start of the unhappy ending which has a disclaimer that those who don’t wish to suffer should not continue. In the unhappy ending portion of the book, the narrator is no longer afraid of “The Book of Denial…” but he does become afraid of his father. His father eventually confronts the narrator and leaves him with the revised “The Book of Denial.” After coming to the last page of “The Book of Denial,” the narrator’s father tells the narrator that by reading his book, the narrator has taught him grace and “The Book of Denial” is renamed.

The graphic novel ends with the narrator and his parents celebrating The Day of the Dead and a twist ending related to the narrator’s parents.

As I finished the novel, I feel this was an unconventional yet rewarding reading experience. Although I had initially planned to stop reading after the happy ending, my curiosity got the better of me and I read the book to its end. it’s human nature to do things despite being told not to which is why I read the book to its conclusion (aka past the happy ending.) Overall, this book presented an interesting story in an unconventional way.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narrator of The Book of Denial is a school-aged boy whose father writes horror stories. For reasons unknown to the boy, his father has not written anything in over a year. But one night, he overhears his parents talking in bed, his father says that, as distraught as he is, there is a story he must tell. The boy is so excited by the idea of a new story from his father, that the next day he sneaks into his father’s office and opens his notebook, where the boy finds this: "The hand of an adult is the size of a child’s face, so the executioners of children need no weapons. The children are made to face away from them, and the executioners approach from behind. All they have to do is place their hands over the children’s faces, as if covering them with a scarf, gently protecting their little mouths and faces from the cold. Then, the executioners need only press down with their hands, until the children are suffocated."

That’s as far as the boy can force himself to read before closing the book in shock. Later, in school, during History, the class is introduced to various historical events in which children—by the dozens, hundreds, and thousands, are killed by hand by adults, often their own parents. The teacher assures the class that this is History, after all, and these terrible events are far in the past.

But are they?

Richard Chávez Castañeda proposes a different way of approaching the problem of living in a world—in places such as the United States, for instance—where the matter of child murder (and other injustices) is allowed to perpetuate by an indifferent culture.

For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...

[Missy (myweereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“This story is the worst story in the world.”

Ricardo Chávez Castañeda and Alejandro Magallanes bring a story within a story telling the dark history of violence against children. Told through art and text, this is a unique approach through a young narrator who is trying to understand more about this unspoken tragedy.

The story begins with a father discussing with his wife how his child needs to know the truth behind the terror. He is writing this book “The Book of Denial” that address the awful tragedy that fell upon babies that went missing. At the same time his son who overhears his father is curious to learn more and does through his time at school. There is a full circle moment towards the end where the narrator gives the option to stop at a certain point if you wish to end this with a happy ending or to read further.

It was an unconventional way of portraying what happened in the past and though the unique black and white imagery it did feel like I was reading something from an episode of Black Mirror. The author and illustrator have created a book that will impact the reader in one way or the other. Either its uniqueness will appeal to readers or some may feel like they aren’t sure what they have read.

I liked that it was unusual and enjoyed reading this one.

[Kristine Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that leaves you questioning what the f you just read.

What the f did I just read?

It's the story of a narrator who is sneaking looks at a book his father is writing: The Book of Denial. The book is about terrible things that happen to children (mostly murders throughout history) and the boy starts seeing these everywhere. He wrestles with this knowledge and seeks to rewrite the book. The book has two endings: a more positive/happy one, where the book tells you to stop reading if you don't want to read the depressing ending of the full story.

The depressing ending is just that: depressing, but with a twist at the very end.

A lot of this was really confusing in the attempt to tell a fable-like horror tale, but I don't think it pulled the narrative together well enough at the end. I could kind of piece together all of the pieces, but I question the actual audience for this story getting what they expect out of the reading experience. The art certainly was thought-provoking and added an extra aesthetically interesting element to the story, but I don't think it was enough to help craft a cohesive narrative.

[Toriah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Design and illustration for this is beautiful. Below many comments state that this was confusing, I think that a large portion of that is how it is a translated work. There are images conjured by writing in spanish that simply cannot be translated.

That being said, the narrative has a sense of timelessness, a child finding their fathers horrifying final work--and reckoning with the legacy of it. In the narrative the ending isn't apparent, and it is not until the final page that you understand the /why/ of the journey grappling with this work or the mother's behavior.

It does not help that the content of the 'Book of Denial' being written within the book is not directly related to the narrative of the story, but somehow an additional obstacle of that narrative. I do not think I've ever seen a frame narrative where the internal story is the conflict of the external one before.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that "horror" is an accurate genre description for this one. The cover and the overall layout of the book grasped my attention, compelling me to pick it up. I couldn't really tell what I was going to experience from the blurb on the inside cover, so I dove right in.

Wow. It felt a little like a puzzle I was trying to piece together as I read. This story blends some hard truths with a little mystery. The suspense has you trying to answer questions asked and unasked within it's pages. Without revealing too much, I'll just that the book is a heart-wrenching life lesson that sometimes monsters aren't just creatures we see in movies. It was hard to read once you grasp the topic, but also hard not to continue reading.

[Izzy Malvezzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this was suggested to me as a truly horrifying picture book to teens/adults, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't prepard for what I read at all, and the recommendation was accurate.

The story centers around a boy whose father is an author that is finally writing again after a year of struggle. However, what he is writing is centers on the terror of violence against children throughout history. The boy refuses to let this stand, and works to change the story. In the end, both find peace with the story and themselves.

That's about as much as I can tell you without spoilers. Do not get me wrong: this story is horrifying, but you will not understand why until the very end. Worth the read, but go in with an open mind and be prepared for darkness.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in two days, since I had to put the book down for busy-ness. But I also welcomed the break to process some things. It's a story within a story, which is also told through the gorgeous and creative illustrations. The Book of Denial is a horror / ghost story, yes, but based in history and more of a personal haunting, rather than a general haunting. It speaks to how we as the human race live with personal and generational trauma, how we process atrocities, how to be a witness, how to hand down (or not) your life's wisdom and stories between parents and children. It gave me a lot to think about, but it's one of those books that I won't be aching to read again soon.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from THE BOOK OF DENIAL except that the translator, Mr. Lawrence Schimel, tends to be attached to fascinating projects. This may be the most fascinating and horrifying yet, a horror story where basically all the horror is true and Castañedas writing blends perfectly with Macallanes' black and white illustrations. Hand this to the next person who tells you graphic novels are silly nonsense for children and watch them discover differently between these pages, warned that there is no happy ending to be found from the start.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An illustrated horror novel from Mexico. Child death and murder through the ages, often as part of a mass, hysterical, movement. Infantcide. Feast of the Holy Innocents - which we don't think about often. And its bloody, horrific details.
Ricardo Chávez Castañeda has written quite a bit more, but this seems to be the only thing by him translated into English so far. I hope that changes soon. From the first 2 all black pages that open the book, there is a sense of foreboding and doom. While it does not deliver a "big punch" at the end, a little too subtle and unclear about it all, it is still there. Few books that promise "don't read this if horror terrifies you" deliver in the end, but this comes awfully close.
Alejandro Magallanes' illustrations are brilliant. The characters of the book are never presented, instead the illustrations compliment the sense and mood of the text. I loved it, and thought that he had done a magnificient job. Some of the illustrations are collage-like.
4 out of 5.

[Jessica Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I...don't entirely know what I just read. I was fairly certain that I had a grasp on some aspects of it from the beginning, but then it switched up a little and I'm still kinda lost. I wonder if something was lost in translation, or just lost in my own brain. I also only understood how maybe half of the illustrations related to the story itself.
I'm also a little confused as to why this is marketed to teens...it's also not going to get checked out by teens with that cover.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a curious story. I really enjoyed the illustrations and how the book was formatted but I’ve been left confused by the story itself. The book is “heavy” and has a content warning for the death of children. The story is raw and complex, but I don’t agree with the synopsis saying that this work is a beacon of hope because I didn’t feel like this story gives much hope, but who knows maybe I just didn’t get it.

[Johnathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how to feel about the whole book. The art is weird, the story is odd, and the narration is from the point of small kid. But I found myself thinking about the book after I finished it, which I think was the point of the book.

It's a book about a son reading something his father wrote and trying to come to terms with it.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anything about killing children is always scary and eerie. What I liked most about this was the interesting and innovative collage and illustration art that changed styles page to page. The book feels a little ungrounded since we only see silhouettes and not characters, but that does add to the mystery and suspense

[John Gustafson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning graphic design in black, white, and grays ornament a story in which hope and absolution are pitted against the absolute worst of human impulses. Which side wins in the end is very much an open question.

[Addey P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know how to feel about this one. This was assigned to me to assess whether I would include this in a high school library or not. The art is absolutely moving, but it seems to me like the writing wanted to be so artsy that it the themes got lost. Still digesting.

[Mariela Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very strange and poetic book. The unique child perspective mixed with the violent and confusing references to murder left me lost and eager. I loved the metaphors and how the backstory slowly unfolds.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did and didn't like this book. It's a really creative format and the illustrations are great. It's thought provoking and while the twist at the end was good, it was also very upsetting. Like "what the actual f***!" upsetting. But still a worthwhile read

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I... what? Got a star for the interesting format. But otherwise...? What...?

[Chani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm definitely going to read it in Spanish as I feel like it would be more impactful in the original language (Spanish). I feel like some of its impact was lost in the translation.

[Ashley Taglieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this simple but terrifying visual read. A quick but visceral read.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning but so so dark. Oof.

[Dawn Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one more than I did.

[Lisa Kizer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this blind - without any knowledge about what the book is about and I can tell you I still don't know what the book is about. Sort of depressing.