A Monster Calls: Patrick Ness

Product Information

Although this book did make me cry at it’s conclusion, I think in this case it was partly out of relief. The ideas expressed in this book, and very words uttered by the monster, allowed a weight to come sliding off my shoulders. I felt as if a personal truth had just been recognised and validated, in a very tender, respectful manner. Permission to accept that the thoughts I had pushed down as shameful and selfish, were just that: thoughts. Just one or two thoughts out of the millions I have had, but ones that I chose to hold on to and punish myself with for years. The yew monster tells stories to Conor, trying to teach him something until he gets to the last story and has to leave. I can't say any more, I don't want to give out any more major spoilers. I just know this book is so very good and it will break your little heart. The novel begins when a monster, formed from a yew tree, visits thirteen-year-old Conor O'Malley at seven minutes past midnight. Conor has just woken from a recurring nightmare in which his terminally ill mother's hands slip from his grasp. Despite the monster's imposing figure, Conor isn't afraid because it isn't the monster he truly fears—the one that visits him every night in the shape of his recurring nightmare. In the morning Conor believes the monster's visit was another dream, but his bedroom floor is covered in yew leaves. I enjoyed this tale, though I have to admit I wasn’t as blown away as the masses of other reviewers seemed to be.

Conor is called out of school to see his mother in the hospital. She admits that the yew tree treatment isn't working. He says she lied about believing it would work. She apologizes and says she did want to believe the medicine would work, but she suspects he has always known she wasn't going to get better. At home, Conor confronts the yew tree in the graveyard and demands to know why it didn't heal her. The tree says it is there to heal Conor, not his mother. The tree makes Conor enter the space of his nightmare and admit the truth of how he could have held onto his mother's hands longer but needed to let her go so as to bring about an end, not just to her suffering but to his. The grief burns inside Conor. Bruder, Jessica (14 October 2011). "It takes A Monster to Learn How To Grieve". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 November 2012. At the end of the story, Conor participates as the monster destroys the parson's house, to waken and discover that he has vandalized his grandmother's sitting room, shattering many valuable and beloved items beyond repair. Lily is loyal to Conor and stands up for him, but is confused and hurt by his behaviour. She still reaches out to him though and tries to support Conor by letting him know that she sees him and misses him.Ness and Kay respectively won the Carnegie Medal and the Greenaway Medal in 2012, the "year's best" children's literary awards by the British librarians ( CILIP). A Monster Calls is the only book to have won both awards. [4] [5] [6] [7] i will say this: it is a beautiful book. and i mean that both in the book-as-object sense and in its contents. don't ever read this book on a device - you are missing half its power - a unicorn without its horn is just a horse, after all.

An old king who has lost his entire family, except a young grandson, remarries a beautiful young woman many claim to be a witch. He dies before the young prince has come of age, leaving the step-grandmother as regent. She rules well and fairly, but—not wanting to hand over the kingdom—plots to marry the prince and remain queen. All I know is that this story moved me. It moved me on a level books rarely do and it’s one of those books you wish you never read, but at the same time you’re so glad that you actually did. This book has the story of a boy who is struggling through a rough time of a family member with a terminal illness. It's half past midnight, I'm an ugly sobbing mess and I think that noise I just heard was either my soul ascending to another dimension or my heart -or what's left of it-For readers who are looking for stories where there aren't good people or bad people but just people, this is your book. Ness keeps the syrup on the table but tells this somber fantasy straight and it works. The characterization is real and the dialogue is what you expect in real life. The drawing of the monster was also excellent, casting from ancient myth, legend and from psychological elements to create a fantastic but believable relationship between Conor and the monster who always shows up at the same time. I’m sorry, son,” his mum said, tears sneaking out of her eyes now, even though she kept up her smile. “I’ve never been more sorry about anything in my life.”

Jones, Charlotte (18 February 2012). "Children vote A Monster Calls best book of 2012". Charlotte Jones. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012. The Monster is an ancient, wise and powerful force. It tells stories that reflect Conor's anger and teach him to see and react differently to his circumstances. At school the next day, Harry tells Conor that he knows the worst thing he can do to Conor is to no longer see him. Instead of hitting him, Harry turns and walks away, pretending not to hear Conor's voice calling out to him. The monster appears and tells Conor the story of a man who felt invisible and so lashed out in violence to get people's attention. Meanwhile, the monster guides Conor to grab Harry's shirt and punch him repeatedly in the face. Harry is hospitalized and Conor goes to the headmistress's office. Hoping to be punished, Conor is dismayed when the headmistress decides she couldn't punish him given what he is going through with his mother's illness. In class, people notice Conor now but do not interact with him, and he feels further from them than when he was invisible. Thirteen-year-old Conor O'Malley awakens from the same nightmare he has been experiencing for the past few months, "the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming."I’ve read a lot of books on tough topics, including illness and while I believe this one was done very well it didn’t stand out from among many others. Maybe it’s the entire book, maybe it’s the monsters painful wisdom, maybe it’s just the bitter truth? Conor’s mother becomes seriously ill. Conor stops working at school and stops talking to people. He thinks that no one notices him. Conor’s mother, Lizzie, is very unwell. She becomes increasingly ill during the book and has to go into hospital.

it only missed out on that fifth star because i was sure, after hearing other people's commentary, that is would make me cry. why do i have to be such a damn robot? I hope that it others are able to connect and love this book, to feel it leave an indelible print on them once the covers are closed. Can I just say that I absolutely loved the monster, because I did. He, or it, or whatever, was just such an amazing character. His cryptic answers, interesting stories, the ability to discern what is true and what isn't, and was there for Connor when he needed him to be really made him feel like a god, or; at least, how a god should be. At first, in the beginning of the book, when he started declaring about his "many names" and how awesome, powerful, and ageless he was, I thought, oh, here we go again, another mightier-than-thou, idiotic deity, but Ness's monster talks the talk, and walks the walk superbly and graciously. I will never forget about the monster made of an ancient Yew tree. I really liked the graphics in this book, they are not not oh and ah, they are just graphics that tell a tale! In the U.S., the American Library Association magazine Booklist named it the "Top of the List" for 2011 youth fiction.

Follow us

I can distinctly recall watching a film recently and walking out completely dry-eyed and practically spitting with rage at the distinct feeling that grief was being commercialised on. That such an incredibly personal experience and the accompanying emotions could be held to ransom by an overwrought, histrionic movie.