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A review by lexxorfern
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
5.0
Seven minutes past midnight, Connor O’Malley wakes up and finds a thirty-foot monster by his bedside window. He’s been expecting a monster but this one is different from his frequent nightmares. It wants to tell him three stories and when it’s done Connor has to tell it his own story–the truth he is afraid of facing.
Connor is thirteen years old and he many things on his shoulders. He has to take care of his mother who is undergoing chemotherapy. At school, he is isolated. His best friend distances herself and bullies come after him. Calls from his father has become less frequent after he finds a new wife in the US. He also has to deal with his grandmother with whom he doesn’t have too much affection. Surely, a monster is the last thing he needed in his life.
Patrick Ness wove a dark, cathartic and touching story of grief, love, loss and growing up. He masterfully melded reality and fantasy into a story that cuts deeply to the heart. Jim Kay’s illustrations are equally haunting and splendid complements to the prose.
A Monster Calls is inspired by the original idea by Siobhan Dowd who prematurely died of cancer. This should have been her fifth novel. A movie adaptation was released in 2016 starring Lewis (Connor), Liam Neeson (the Monster) and Felicity Jones. (Connor’s mother)
Connor is thirteen years old and he many things on his shoulders. He has to take care of his mother who is undergoing chemotherapy. At school, he is isolated. His best friend distances herself and bullies come after him. Calls from his father has become less frequent after he finds a new wife in the US. He also has to deal with his grandmother with whom he doesn’t have too much affection. Surely, a monster is the last thing he needed in his life.
Patrick Ness wove a dark, cathartic and touching story of grief, love, loss and growing up. He masterfully melded reality and fantasy into a story that cuts deeply to the heart. Jim Kay’s illustrations are equally haunting and splendid complements to the prose.
A Monster Calls is inspired by the original idea by Siobhan Dowd who prematurely died of cancer. This should have been her fifth novel. A movie adaptation was released in 2016 starring Lewis (Connor), Liam Neeson (the Monster) and Felicity Jones. (Connor’s mother)