A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

and months ago, Sarah told me I had to buy this book especially when we found a signed copy in Waterstones! It’s taken me ages to read it but I finally have and I’m so glad because it is probably up there with many of my favourite books.

Title: A Monster Calls

Author: Patrick Ness

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Contemporary

Publication Date: 6th September 2012

Publisher: Walker

Pages: 240

Summary: The monster showed up after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting, the one from the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…
This monster is something different, something ancient, something wild. And it wants the truth.

A Monster Calls is written by Patrick Ness but based on a story idea by Siobhan Dowd. We follow 13 year old Conor who is struggling with nightmares and sees a monster outside his bedroom window who begins to tell him stories. I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot because I don’t want to spoil it, but the stories the monster tells are so wonderful and I loved seeing how they paralleled the events happening in Conor’s life.

I read A Monster Calls within two sittings. It was such an easy book to read and the story just begs you to continue reading. Honestly, I really recommend buying this book in its physical form if you can because Jim Kay’s illustrations are so beautiful and really enhance the story. I am obsessed with how pretty the book is, it’s so intricate and wonderful, and I’m not usually a huge fan of illustrations in books.

Conor is such a brilliant protagonist to follow: he is flawed and confused about his feelings. He is struggling so much and you just want to tell him everything will be okay and look after him. I found it so easy to empathise with him from the very beginning, as well as the other characters too. His mother and grandmother specifically are two characters which we view through Conor’s eyes at first but begin to understand them in our own way as the book goes on.

The family relationships in it feel very real and genuine and they were definitely one of the strongest aspects of the story. The best aspect in my opinion, however, is the way Ness handles the emotions of Conor. He struggles so much with his conflicting and confusing emotions in a horrible situation (completely understandable.) The way he deals with his feelings is so heartbreaking and raw but important to see.

I have been recommending this book to everyone since I finished it because I am so obsessed with it and honestly think it’s so brilliantly written. I have no negatives to say about A Monsters Calls.