A Monster Calls Review

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

An extraordinary novel of love, loss and hope

Now a powerful and haunting film, Patrick Ness’s modern classic is a heartbreaking but uplifting tale of healing and, above all, the courage it takes to survive.

Rating:

Nikki from Books and Lemon Squash recommended this book, and it had taken me a long time to actually decide to read it. Part of it is because I have read his other books and didn’t like them at all. But then, I was reassured the original bit of story wasn’t his, so I finally gave it a go.

This is the story of Conor, and the monster that comes to his window. This monster promises to tell him three stories and then Conor has to tell the last one, the truth. Because once he does, the monster will help him.

We see two things happening in this story, one is the stories the “yew monster” tells Conor, which frustrate him, and confuse him. There is no clear white and black in any of the stories, and this frustrates Conor, for he wants the predictable easy good vs bad in them. The stories do not comfort him.

And we have the reality, his mum and her treatments, her bald head. We see how he slowly becomes invisible to his school, and to the world. And how he sometimes sees himself as invisible. He’s doing the best he can, and holding on to hope.

But what is this nightmare, and how is the monster going to help? And what is the truth Conor refuses to accept or acknowledge?

It was an interesting book to read, especially as I recently lost my aunt to cancer, so it hit close to home and made me tear up a little as I knew where this was going and it was just that sadness seeping into me. But it was also good to read and I liked it.

Moon recommends

Why not support a Cancer charity like Cancer Research? Also, you can go read this particular book (I can’t really recommend any of his other books, alas).