A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
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.

I went into A Monster Calls not really knowing what to expect, I knew it was going to be good because of all the positive feedback it has had, but every review I read all said the same thing "just read it". I now understand why so many people struggled to sum this book up, it’s so hard to put down into words as it is so many different things but I'm going to give it a go.

This book was beautiful yet utterly heart-breaking, and I'll admit I did cry. The story follows a young boy, Conor, whose learning to deal with his mums battle with cancer. Conor’s compelling story is interspersed with the old stories that the monster tells, each of these stories have a lesson which definitely made me think differently about things.

This book is full of imagination and wonder but at the same time still very realistic. Each of the characters are well crafted and they all have a part to play in the story, they react just as people would do to the situation they are in making them very real which allows you to become involved in the story.

This book is everything at once and I loved how truthful it was. A Monster Calls is a beautifully written and illustrated novel and even though it is classed as a YA book I highly recommend it to all ages. All that’s left to say now is, just read it.