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A review by lalawoman416
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
5.0
What is this book? Part horror, part coming of age, part YA, part drama, part self help, part fantasy and all brilliance. It is amazing. It's a story of loss and a book, that although marketed to the Y.A. crowd, really spoke to me in a way that couldn't have spoken to me until I became a mother.
Connor O'Malley is a 13 year old boy whose mother is dying of cancer. His grandma is cold, and "not a good fit," his father is an absentee father who lives in the U.S. with his new family, and his schoolmates seem to either bully or ignore him. So he turns to a monster who takes the form of a Yew tree. This Yew tree takes to teaching him lessons via fables/stories. The boy doesn't appreciate the stories and his initial interactions w/ the monster tree are laugh out loud funny - in many ways reminding me of The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride. As we progress through the story, it gets darker and darker until it reaches the climax which is ugly cry sad.
At the heart of it, this book is about the fear of loss. And that is a thing I couldn't understand until 2 years ago. I was never feared loss until I became a mother to my son. Since then, I see this fear play out in many ways and nearly every day. I get on, but I would be lying to say that I didn't alter routes, change habits, and make decisions that I wouldn't have made if it affected only me. And the only thing I can really attribute this to is that I've developed a fear of loss. Without this fear, I'm not sure I could have connected this book in the way I do now. This was one of the best books I've come across in ages. Loved. Loved. Loved.
Connor O'Malley is a 13 year old boy whose mother is dying of cancer. His grandma is cold, and "not a good fit," his father is an absentee father who lives in the U.S. with his new family, and his schoolmates seem to either bully or ignore him. So he turns to a monster who takes the form of a Yew tree. This Yew tree takes to teaching him lessons via fables/stories. The boy doesn't appreciate the stories and his initial interactions w/ the monster tree are laugh out loud funny - in many ways reminding me of The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride. As we progress through the story, it gets darker and darker until it reaches the climax which is ugly cry sad.
At the heart of it, this book is about the fear of loss. And that is a thing I couldn't understand until 2 years ago. I was never feared loss until I became a mother to my son. Since then, I see this fear play out in many ways and nearly every day. I get on, but I would be lying to say that I didn't alter routes, change habits, and make decisions that I wouldn't have made if it affected only me. And the only thing I can really attribute this to is that I've developed a fear of loss. Without this fear, I'm not sure I could have connected this book in the way I do now. This was one of the best books I've come across in ages. Loved. Loved. Loved.