A Monster Calls No Spoiler Book Review
Hey lovelies!
Today I am going to be chatting about a book for which a movie is soon to be released! A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness has been a book that has been on my TBR for a while after hearing such fantastic things about it from everyone!
It has won so many awards over the years, has so many editions such as an illustrated edition (illustrations done by Jim Kay who has also illustrated Harry Potter) and, of course, a movie for it is due to come in a week or two.
I was also eager to read this book after reading Patrick Ness's other book, More Than This.
This book also has a lot of history. Siobhan Dowd, who originally began this book died at the age of 47 from cancer and Patrick Ness was asked to complete the book on her behalf. I loved how respectfully he took over it - acknowledging her several times and ensuring the book stuck with what Dowd originally started and made it into something she would have wanted.
About the book.
Author: Patrick Ness
Pages: 216
Publisher: Walker Books
Synopsis: 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. (source)
Synopsis: 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. (source)
Genre: Young Adult
Recommended for: Anyone 13+.
Thank you to Walker Books Australia for sending me a review copy of this title however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
Thank you to Walker Books Australia for sending me a review copy of this title however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
My thoughts.
{ WRITING }
I really loved how simple the writing was. I loved how Ness kept the book short and sweet - I managed to read it within two to three hours and it was such a captivating book from start to finish. There was a lot of simplicity in the writing, and I thought it worked so well for this style of book.
Ness kept the readers on their toes the entire time and it was honestly a little difficult (at least for me) to know what would happen finally! It was brilliant.
I also liked how the book appealed to both children and adults, which is always rare to find, however Ness made it work really well.
{ IDEA + PLOT }
The idea of this was so unique and beautiful and I ADORED IT! It was so simplistic but so different and absolutely surreal. It had hints of magic realism and the stories that the monster tells taught me so much.
I love the exploration of grief and how a young child has to learn to process it. It is utterly beautiful and there were many a time I teared up and by the end, I was crying.
This book was pretty short, however, it managed to develop the plot and ensure it was suspenseful enough that I kept reading. I can't say too much more about it without giving it up so I'll just leave the rest up to you to read!
{ CHARACTERS }
Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with Conor, the main character, however, it was more because I have never been in a similar situation and he is three years younger than me and in a completely different place and environment in his life.
However, I felt for him. BOY DID I FEEL FOR HIM. I wished I could reach through the book and give him a big hug because he deserved it.
{ FINALLY... }
I know this review wasn't as long and rambly as my other ones and that is because a) this book is very short and b) it's so hard to talk about books you love. I could literally give you a five page essay on books I didn't enjoy but it's hard to even write a paragraph on a book you love.
So I'll just let the rating do the talking for me.
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★★
(PS. READ THIS BOOK! IT'S AMAZING!)
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think? And if not, are you planing to?
4 happy thoughts
hey! just found your blog, and i love it! i'll definitely be following!
ReplyDeleteI need to read this book so bad! (and add it to the ever-growing TBR of doom!) sounds amazing :)
xoxo, madeline
http://achicbookworm/blogspot.com
Hi Madeline! Thank you so much for commenting and following and yes you must add it to your TBR because it is brilliant!
DeleteI gave the book 5 stars too. It was so perfect and I need to see the movie soon. Hopefully this weekend!
ReplyDeleteI had the gorgeous collector's edition movie tie-in version of this book, which was soo so gorgous. And there's tons of extra stuff at the end of the story that shows behind-the-scenes stuff from the movie.
OMG SO LUCKY NAZ! DON'T MAKE ME CRY!
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