A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
5 out of 5 stars.
“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.”
Goodreads Description: 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 am not sure how well this post will come out, because it’s kind of hard to explain how I felt about A Monster Calls. I could give the generic response of “I loved this book so much”, but I think this book deserves a lot more than. I’m not sure I can put my thoughts into proper words, but I’ll try.
A Monster Calls was so hard to read. It was one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. I found myself tearing up and crying quite a bit. It tore my heart into a million pieces. I felt connected to Conor instantly and you can’t read this book without feeling all of the things that he felt. Or being so protective of him and getting angry and mad at the world and his reality. He had to deal with a lot and he’s only just a kid.
I had the hardcover copy of the book that has the illustrations and I really enjoyed them. It was cool to get to see the story come to life in another way. I like to visualize things in my head, but I don’t know if I would have captured the monster and other scenes in the book as well as those illustrations did. I thought they were perfect for the story.
I had a love/hate for the monster. I wanted him to fix the world for Conor and when Conor got angry at him, I found myself getting angry at him too. I liked the stories that he told Conor and I found myself sticking tabs on almost everything that came out of the monster’s mouth, lol.
Overall, I loved this book. I loved Conor, I loved the monster. I loved the message behind it all. Even though it was such a sad story, it was an amazing one. It is one that I know I will remember for years and years. I know that this post does not do justice to how great this book is, so I highly recommend reading it. I would also recommend reading the illustrated version, because it makes it even better.
“Stories are important. They can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.”
Have you read A Monster Calls? If so, what did you think?
I hope you have a great Monday!
socially awkward bookworm. 
I have heard so much about this book!I might as well read it this month🙈
Yes, you should definitely read it! 😀
https://mattdwells1994.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/a-monster-calls-patrick-ness/
Good review Ash. I also blogged this today lol.
Thank you! 😀
It is such a beautiful story. I’d love to get one or two of the prints framed for my house. I keep looking for some place that sells them. They’re gorgeous.
It would be awesome to get some prints from the book to frame for your house! I agree, the illustrations are gorgeous!
Keep hearing about this and with it being adapted for film I need to read it soon before I see it! Great review 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 I am glad I finally read it. I can’t wait to see the movie!
So glad you loved this book so much, Ashley! I really want to read it before seeing the movie 🙂
I hope you get to read it soon! I watched the movie trailer after I read the book and it was so good! I can’t wait to see the movie. 🙂
So glad you loved this book Ashley! it’s one of my very favorites & I didn’t expect to have loved it so much at all. I also cried a bit which also took me by surprise because that is no easy feat. I cannot wait to see the movie, I’ve heard only positive feedback from early screening & just know that I’m going to love it 🙂
P.S. since you seem to have loved the illustrations (like I did lol), do you plan on getting the collector’s edition that is being released this month? it is stunning! 😉
Thanks! 🙂 I am glad I loved it too.This story had me tearing up quite a bit. I watched the movie trailer after I read the book and it gave me goosebumps and had me tearing up all over again, lol! I can’t wait to see the movie. I was looking into getting the collector’s edition. I definitely plan to get it when I get some extra money! 🙂
I’ve stayed away from the movie trailer just because I really wanna go in there not knowing what to expect lol. Hope they do the book justice, I’m really looking forward to watching this one. Hope you enjoy it 😃💕
Glad you loved it. I’m just started reading it today. Great review!
I hope you enjoy it as well! 🙂
Exactly! I started tearing up almost from page one as soon as I guessed why he was making his own breakfast (again). Such a terrific book. I hope the film does it justice!
I knooooow! 😦 I was totally tearing up from the beginning. I watched the movie trailer after I read the book and it gave me goosebumps and had me tearing up all over again! Especially when lines from the actual book were said.
I’m hoping to read this book in October. I’m glad you loved it so much 😊 have you read other Patrick Ness books?
This is a great review and only makes me want to get to it faster! Are you planning on seeing the movie?
I hope you get to read A Monster Calls this month! I am so glad that I loved it so much. I’ve read the first two books in the Chaos Walking trilogy by Ness. I loved the first book (The Knife of Never Letting Go) so much!! That book had me in tears right from the beginning. The second book wasn’t as good as the first, but I still plan to see how the series ends. YES! I can’t wait to see the movie! I watched the movie trailer after I read the book and it had me with goosebumps and tearing up right from the start of the trailer, lol. 🙂
That makes me even more excited to read it! I can’t wait 😊. The Chaos Walking series is also on my TBR.
I’m so glad you loved this book! It definitely made me an emotional mess but it was so worth it! The story is just wonderful and even though I didn’t know where it was going until about halfway through the book, I really really enjoyed it! I can’t wait to see the movie because the trailer looks amazing!
Yes!! I watched the movie trailer and it gave me goosebumps and had me tearing up all over again lol! I’m glad I finally read this!
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