This was a hard book to find, and when I did, I was glad throughout the entire book. This is probably one of my fastest reads. The hardest part of finding this book in particular is I wanted the book not the e-book. Because someone along the lines I read a review of the e-book which explained that none of the illustrations were part of the e-book. That was a huge downside to me, I wanted the full effect of the novel and what Patrick was trying to convey.
On that note, I want to express my deepest admiration to Jim Kay for the illustrations in this book. They were dark, gritty, and very surreal. I could almost stare at the artwork forever and try to guess what Jim was trying to convey through the artwork, it was just fabulous. I don't know if Patrick Ness found this artist, or if the publisher did, either way I would be honored and humbled to have him work on anything I was part of. The monster and how Conor interacted with the monster was great, and perfectly captured in every still. I almost want to look up Jim further and see the rest of his works.
Conor is a teen or a young teen in that matter, and I never understood just what plagued his mother. Anyways, she was undergoing treatment of some type that forced Conor to grow up fast. He is independent, knows how to think and live for himself and his mother. To me that's a feat, and furthermore, when his mother's illness gets worse, he tries to make everything work. He believes that everything will be all right in the end.
What I enjoyed the most about the book, was Conor's growth and the dialogue with the tree/monster. The Monster tells these tales that each have a meaning, and almost make you think. Its not just a right or wrong choice, they all involve some type of moral dilemma and in the end it's Conor who doesn't understand the decision, or the outcome of the tale. In the dialogue with the Monster, we begin to realize just how series the situation is, and how far his mother's illness is weighing on Conor's mind.
Conor's family comes to his aid, his grandmother which we understand he hates, and wants almost nothing to do with. His father flies in from the US, and that only makes matters worse. Through the involvement of his family, we understand that he doesn't want to accept that his mother is worst than what he thought, and what's happening to her is beyond his control. Yet there's something deeper, something that plagues Conor so bad, that during a talk with the Monster, he destroys his grandmothers living room full of antiques.
Patrick Ness does a great job at capturing the guilt and emotional trauma of living with a truth we never thought we wished. That's sometimes we create a far worst Monster, than if we admit the truth to ourselves. It's this part that most of us don't see past, and Patrick captures that torture and pain so well. I love this book thoroughly, and would re-read this over and over. Its a great tale to tell your children, because sometimes something will be out of their control, and they will want to admit something life changing or just emotionally devastating, and that you will be there to help. It's just a work of art.
Furthermore, I have been a huge fan of Patrick Ness, and when I finished The Chaos Walking series, I was looking for some of his other books and I stumbled upon this from an older book club reading I never got around to reading. I was shocked that the emotion conveyed in this book beat that of the other series, and I found at the end I wanted that to be part of The Chaos Walking series as well. I missed the work Patrick is able to do and I thoroughly look forward to reading more.
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From the Publisher
"Ness brilliantly plays with contrasts: life and death, privacy and exposure, guilt and innocence." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
An enthralling and provocative novel chronicling the life — or perhaps afterlife — of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world.
A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . .
Also by Patrick Ness
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"Crack dramatic and comic timing… unforgettable… penetrating… The cliffhanger ending is as effective as a shot to the gut." — Booklist (starred review) |
“Grim and beautifully written. . . . Superb. . . . This is among the best YA science fiction novels of the year.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) |
" Ness offers incisive appraisals of violence, power, and human nature, and with the series complete, it’s clear that he has crafted one of the most important works of young adult science fiction in recent years." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) |
About the author
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Reviews with images
Subtle Masterpiece
"A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness runs along the veins of dark fairytales. In it, Conor O'Malley, whose mother battles with cancer, struggles with the universes of nightmare versus reality. Are they bleeding together? Are nightmares more real than he wants to admit? More importantly, who is this monster that claims Conor was the one who called for his help?The monster who says he is a spirit as old as Earth itself transforms from the yew tree across the road into a ghastly presence (more so if you read the illustrated edition, whose art was masterfully crafted by Jim Kay), but Conor does not fear him. He say he is not as terrible as the monster in his nightmares as plain as we say our dish needs more salt.The yew monster visits him at 12:07, afternoon or midnight, depending on when Conor needs him. He shares three stories, which seem like conventional children tales focused on teaching morals, but the yew monster proves to Conor as much as to us that the world is not as black and white as we were taught.The thing I enjoyed most about this little book was the fearlessness Mr. Ness had concerning reality through those three stories and Conor's fourth. The vain can be good contributors to society, princes can take drastic measures to further a belief that isn't true, bullies can be cruel without throwing punches. And you could also be selfish when you shouldn't be, tired when you should be holding on, and that too is alright.It is that fearlessness that encouraged me to give this book no less than four stars. In conjunction with stunning art and crisp, clear formatting, this little book becomes more than just a story...it is a reflection of reality that genre (and bestselling YA) books need again. It has an undeniable beating heart between the lines that first were penned by Siobhan Dowd. It is a story that moves all the chords of your soul, and dives into all the numb corners of your mind. Even if it does not coax tears, it is sure to pluck and scar a heartstring forever."Sometimes you read a book that you didn't know you needed to read" is a common thread placed in reviews for this novel. If anything, that is an understatement. "A Monster Calls" is a book that will rightfully become a children's literary masterpiece. It is a timeless tale for the hearts of children and adults; it will be there to help us all learn it's okay to let go.
Top reviews from other countries
Uriel Pérez
Todo perfecto
Reviewed in Mexico on September 12, 2019
Uriel Pérez
Reviewed in Mexico on September 12, 2019
El libro esta excelente en todo sentido, es una historia muy ligera, pero muy bien elaborada, mucho dialogo, eso me gustó. Las ilustraciones están muy bien echas, me gustaron mucho. No esperes una historia con demasiada trama, sino algo sencillo pero suficientemente interesante.
El encuadernado esta perfecto, me gusta mas sin el carton de la portada.
Si quieres mejorar tu lectura y ampliar tu vocabulario en inglés esta es una buena opción para comenzar.
Images in this review
VVivacious
Amazing Story Born from an Incredible Idea
Reviewed in India on September 22, 2018
VVivacious
Reviewed in India on September 22, 2018
Can I just say it has an amazing cover? Especially the inside cover which was so gorgeous and a wonderful surprise.
I don't know where I heard of this book but I feel like around the time its movie must have come out or been announced, must have been the time that this book had a resurgence and that's when I heard about it because I was truly surprised to learn that this book came out in 2011, not in 2017/16 like I would have guessed. I also feel like I might have come across these books by way of its illustrator Jim Kay who is now famous for illustrating the Harry Potter books, but yeah, though it is a nice coincidence the fact that I am continually shocked by the fact that I am actually familiar with the work of this book's illustrator keeps coming as a shock to me. Also, this book has some amazing illustrations that really fit the theme and texture of the work.
The paper is the kind that has a glint on it as you can see from the above image. It is the kind of paper that is very heavy and the reason why this book is heavier than books with three times the number of pages.
This book is very captivating and the way it has been packaged really helps set the atmosphere. I really had no idea what this book was about as I started it since while actually buying it I didn't even think to process the decision made by an earlier me, I just bought it and I found myself mildly disappointed that this was the book that ended up being delivered first because I was really excited by one of my other purchases. So with all that in mind I started reading this book.
This book starts when Conor is thirteen and his mother is dying and the monster comes walking. The monster will tell Conor three stories and when he is done Conor will tell him the fourth - his truth.
This book is like really well-written despite the fact that the words get so much help from the illustrations and the feel of the book, the words actually don't need any help because these words are particularly strong and the story they tell is a story made to be told. I loved the fact that this book is allergic to proper nouns as much as I am and has only some 6-7 named characters and the ones named are not even the very important ones and I just loved the fact because I am pretty sure this is something really rare to find, a story allergic to names.
The way this story unfolds is very revealing because as you read further the more the story moulds your understanding of it, till the point that you become the story and everything written starts feeling like it is already written on your brain. This is especially true when it comes to the third story because of the way that story is depicted, as the story starts to become one with reality there is this almost surreal feeling of you becoming one with the book. This book has quite a lot of those feelings, there is the scene where the monster manifests in Conor's Grandma's sitting room. The way that scene is described is so vivid that it felt like I was watching it instead of reading it and in that moment I really wanted to watch a movie of this book, only to later realise that my want was already reality.
All the stories that make up this story are beyond incredible they are deep at the surface, like the simplicity of the words are the ones that lend the complexity to the stories.
This book does deal with grief something that is very hard to deal with in life, let alone in a book when the one on the verge of loss is a boy about to lose the only parent he lives with because as difficult as grief is to deal with, its also different at different times, with different people and in different circumstances something that I have really learnt these past few months.
It is kind of amazing the idea that sparked this story about a monster helping a boy overcome his grief because who would have ever thought of that but I'm truly glad someone did.
Images in this review
