A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

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Title: A Monster Calls

Author: Patrick Ness
Illustrator: Jim Kay

Genre: Children's Science Fiction

Length: 215 pages

Published: 2011

Publisher: Walker Books

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one 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, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

I read this book last summer, but it's still stuck with me. As a pre-teen I watched my mother go through radiation to battle a brain tumor, so I felt that this book struck a chord within me. It brought back all of those fears and emotions that I had when I was twelve. 

The story follows Conor as he begins having these horrifying nightmares. His father has a new family in the United States and his mother is dying of cancer. She ends up in the hospital and Conor has to go stay with his grandmother. He goes through the typical teenage emotions (because cancer is something horrible that no teenager or child is truly equipped to cope with) and acts out, both at school and at home. In his dreams, a monster comes to life and starts telling him stories. The stories all seem to end horribly for the people involved, but Conor learns a lesson with each one. And then he learns that there is a way to save his mother. But he has to be worthy of this cure. 

I cried at various points throughout the book, especially at the end. It resonated so deeply and brought up so many of the feelings that I had buried from my mother's illness. I feel like the author did an amazing job conveying the emotions that a young teen would feel at the news that he may lose his parent to such an awful, debilitating disease. 

I definitely recommend that you read this book. It's short, and even if it was a thousand pages long, it would be worth the time.

You can purchase A Monster Calls through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format (although I suggest sticking with the hard copy edition as the illustrations were amazing and terrifying at the same time). 

Have you read A Monster Calls? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.