Title: A Monster Calls
(Amazon, Goodreads)
Author: Patrick Ness
(Amazon, Goodreads, Website)
Series: None
Publisher: Candlewick
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult
Format: Kindle eBook
Source: Amazon
(Amazon, Goodreads)
Author: Patrick Ness
(Amazon, Goodreads, Website)
Series: None
Publisher: Candlewick
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult
Format: Kindle eBook
Source: Amazon
Synopsis:
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting— he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.
Review:
I heard about this book shortly after finishing the Chaos Walking series and looked forward to another great book by a great author. I was not disappointed. As I read the story, I realized that I really didn’t know what the story was actually about and so I went in without any preconceptions. I think this book is truly wonderful and having no learned the story behind this book, I know I may not have come away with the same opinion if I’d started it with any notions of the story.
Conor is a boy struggling to keep his routine despite all the forces working against him. He’s also the man of the house since his father left to be with his new wife and child. With his mother sick and going to treatments, later revealed to be cancer, Conor attempts to maintain his somewhat normal life. But as with all things that are pushed down and not acknowledged, Conor suffers from nightmares and eventually the fears manifest into the yew tree on the hill.
The yew tree tells three tales and insists that the price is a story from Conor. While reading, it sometimes feels like there is something underlying the motive of the yew tree, but as the story unfolds, you learn the deeper secret not held by the yew, but by Conor.
A truly wonderful story about the difficulties faced when a parent has cancer and the child must face the inevitable death of a parent. For children who are dealing with the loss of a loved one, this story will not frighten them, but make them stronger and help them to understand the disjointed feelings that a death brings with it.