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Patrick Ness: A Monster Calls

 This is once again a book that I teach with my seniors, and it is one of my all-time favorite books. There is also a film version of this book that is every bit as good as the novel; in fact, Patrick Ness had a significant hand in creating that film.

Conor O'Malley is 13. His life is not normal. His mom is horribly sick with what we assume is cancer, and this fact has completely altered every aspect of his life. Conor is determined that his mom is getting better. He is determined that the treatments are helping her. It isn't long before at 12:07 AM, Conor is woken from an awful recurring nightmare by a monster. Conor finds that he is not afraid of the monster, much to its surprise and annoyance. The monster tells Conor that he will tell him three tales, and once he is finished, Conor must tell his own tale, and that tale will be the truth. Can Conor face the reality that faces him?

This book is amazing. There are no other words to describe it. The illustrations in this book are beautiful, the author's writing style is beautiful. I have very little criticism of this book.

The first thing that I love is that the author never tells us what disease Conor's mother has. We assume that she has cancer based on the treatments that she gets and that she's lost all of her hair. I think that it's significant that he skirts what exactly the illness is, and I think that it's a reflection of how Conor himself perceives everything going on.

I love the characters in this novel. I love the depth and motivations that each character has.

  • Conor's grandmother, while not the fluffy grandma we all have at least one of, still cares greatly about Conor. I think she struggles to show those tender emotions, especially with her grandson. Eventually, though, I think she has a realization that they have to get along, and that she has to show him that she cares.
  • Conor's father is stuck between two families. On one hand, he is divorced from Conor's mom and still cares about Conor. On the other hand, he has a new family in L.A. where he now lives. His new wife doesn't want Liam to acknowledge his "other family" and finds every excuse to sabotage his relationship with Conor.
  • Lily was once Conor's best friend. However, when Conor's mom first got sick, Lily told a few of her friends what was happening with Conor. I think she did it as a means to help Conor, but those friends told a few more friends, and soon the news was around the school. It was then that Conor began to be bullied by Harry, it was then that everyone started treating him differently. Conor resents what Lily did, and to some degree, I can't blame him. Eventually, Conor reconciles with Lily.
  • The monster is a fascinating character. Conor is never sure of his motivations or why he's there, to begin with. As the monster helps Conor deal with his denial and his grief, it is revealed that this was ultimately the monster's entire goal. He came to help Conor heal.
The monster's tales feel like fairy tales, but they break all of the tropes. I enjoy that they don't have a clear protagonist and antagonist, as much as Conor desperately wishes they did. I think the stories force Conor to step out of the normal and accept that stories don't always have happy endings. They also help him realize what truly matters are the actions we take.

In all, this book is heartbreaking but beautiful at the same time. I would recommend this book to everyone. Grief is such a universal thing. We all lose people and will lose those closest to us. How we cope with that grief is important. Coming to terms with that loss is not simple, and this novel highlights all of that vulnerable difficulty.

I rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐




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