The Book Club| A Monster Calls



A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - 5/5

I'm going to start out by saying this book made me cry on a full bus, and there was nothing I could do to stop that happening. I didn't cry because of the concept in general but I cried because of what the book did to me in that one sitting that I sat on the bus and read it in. It drags out some of your worst moments, some of you darkest moments and asks you to tell the truth to yourself, the same way the monster asks Conor to tell the truth about his nightmare and the other monster he is so afraid of. This book makes you see the way that your thoughts can lie to you to make your world seem brighter but really if you admit the truth you leave behind a heavy burden on the floor that you no longer seem to carry.

Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?

From other people's comments and the cover I kinda expected it to be more of a dark fantasy novel than a contemprary one. However Ness has blended the two seemlessly, with the monster who visits Conor at 12:07 in his nightmares, but when he wakes up there is evidence of the monsters presence. Ness inserts the elements into the narration that touches one, tears others apart and perfectly shows what we call life. The book deals with how those who live with family members who are ill perceive things, how they believe things even when they have been told there is nothing to believe in, and how they hide behind shadows and lose themselves in their thoughts.

I don't know how I will ever be able to review this book properly, or recommend it to anyone because it breaks your heart to read the words. But here we are, read it but remember:

“You do not write your life with words...You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”

XO, Miriam

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