'A Monster Calls' by Patrick Ness is a heart-wrenching story about a 13-year-old boy named Conor who is struggling to cope with his mother's terminal cancer. Throughout the book, Conor is visited by a monster who guides him through dealing with his mother's illness and helps him confront his deepest fears and emotions. The story explores themes of grief, loss, and acceptance in a poignant and honest manner. The writing style is described as beautifully written, quick-paced, and emotionally impactful, with illustrations that complement the narrative perfectly.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of cancer, death, grief, and bullying.
From The Publisher:
The monster in Conor’s backyard is not the one he’s been expecting — the one from the nightmare he’s had every night since his mother started her treatments. This monster is ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd — whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself — Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.
Ratings (78)
Incredible (20) | |
Loved It (34) | |
Liked It (16) | |
It Was OK (7) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (186):
Read It (80) | |
Want To Read (68) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (37) |
12 comment(s)
Can I give this ten stars? No? Why not? God, this book deserves more than five stars. And I can't talk about it without spoilers.
It made me cry. Oh god, did I sob. Ugly sobs for the last, like, fifty pages.
"I didn't come here to heal her. I came to heal
you."
And now it’s time to hand the baton on to you. Stories don’t end with the writers, however many started the race. So go. Run with it.
Make trouble.
Almost asleep with the illusion of paralysis, at the ingress of dreams, when a monster calls. . . the Yew tree outside the window is walking, walking.
Written for very young readers, with ordinary and simple language, the story itself is complex, and transporting, really. Try not to get beyond halfway in one sitting, or you'll be up late into the night.
very short but powerful read
incredible illustrations that definitely would have given me nightmares as a....teenager
(i'm scared of everything ok)
i thought i knew what the ultimate lesson of this book would be
a young boy in england is watching his mother die of cancer, and an eldritch creature appears to help him on his journey
it was so much more than i imagined
so much smarter
so much better
life sucks and then you die, okay?
Why did I take so long to read this?
It was a wonderful story told in a wonderful way, also short and one to leave a mark in your heart. I read it as part of a group read and I just loved it.
“Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.”
Conor is a good child. His mother is undergoing treatment for Cancer. His father separated from him is far away. His grandmother is a wealthy lady and a bit of a snob. Conor is visited by a Monster in the form of a Yew tree which is in his backyard.
Conor has nightmares, dreadful ones and he doesn’t talk about it to anybody. He is not afraid of the monster either because he says he has seen more, in his nightmare. Yew tree monster tells Conor three tales from different times and all these tales doesn’t have a hero or a villain, everyone is in between.
“Stories are the wildest things of all, the monster rumbled. Stories chase and bite and hunt.”
And in the end Monster makes him tell the fourth tale and the tale with truth which only Conor knows. Conor always knew but he never acknowledged the truth. And monster slowly helps him to acknowledge the truth. The truth, how his life is going to change when it changes. How to let go but still cling to it through good memories.
I was holding back my tears in so many places, that I had to close it and take few moments to calm down and start again.
Wonderful story.
Happy “Monsters” !!
This book was emotionally manipulative. This book had some big eye-rolling cliches. However, I still pretty much read it one day and ended with ugly crying, so that takes some talented writing abilities.
A good book about fighting inner demons and overcoming fears. I’d recommend this for tweens facing big challenges in their lives.
I am at a loss for words when describing how stunning and heartbreaking this book is. Even though I feel completely devastated inside, I shall return again and time again to this one.
The illustrations! Perfection.
I felt moved by this novel. I struggled to finish it while crying.
We've all had some experience with the terror and agonizing waiting in this story.
This book was outstanding in every way. I was smitten. Really made me pause and think twice about everything I had done in my life up until this point
I honestly don't have anything to say than crying a lot. Although the subject is terribly distressing, the writing and artwork are stunning.
What can you read after
A Monster Calls?
About the Author:
Patrick Ness is the award-winning and best-selling author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, A Monster Calls, More Than This and The Rest Of Us Just Live Here. John Green has described him as "an insanely beautiful writer". He has won every major prize in children's fiction, including the Carnegie Medal twice
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