A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
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Description
Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill--an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Ciruelo Each book features a young adult facing a crisis and helped through this time by a supernatural being.
20
nsblumenfeld One's a novel, the other a comic, but both are excellent and devastating stories of grief.
keremix I don't wanna give spoilers, but for me it was hard to miss the things these two books have in common.
elenchus A Monster Calls and Jellaby share a similar premise, as well as thematic concerns with isolation and childhood depression. They're each illustrated, but the words are as important as the images (and vice versa), and though they treat of sobering concerns, are ultimately good-hearted and optimistic.
DODO by Felipe Nunes
elenchus Ness's A Monster Calls and Nunes's Dodo share a broadly similar premise, and a serious consideration of the world as seen by hurt children. Dodo is perhaps suitable for younger readers, but both books are not cartoon-y nor simplistic. The aesthetics styles are distinct, too, though the use of dreamscapes and analogues are similar.
by Nickelini
Member Reviews
This novel was an excellent story, but I'm so glad that I accidentally got the illustrated version from the library. Jim Kay's wonderfully chaotic ink drawings fit the mood and tone of the story so well that this should just be the copy of the book available everywhere. Unlike the illustrations Kay created for the Harry Potter series, those which accompany A Monster Calls are much darker, reflecting the anger and confusion felt by our protagonist, the themes about death, and ultimately accurately depicts the yew tree which inspires the monster which comes to question and test the young boy. The story reminds me quite a bit of David Almond's The Savage (also illustrated by avant garde artist Dave McKean), which treads roughshod over the show more adult themes underlying the story about childhood. These types of stories may not be for eveyrthing (or everyone's children, even though they are ostensibly being marketed as such), but the harsh and true stories that they tell are very much needed in the world. Children deal with tragedies and hardships as much as adults and having stories which mirror their experiences are crucial in continuing development. show less
“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”
When we were growing up, I think we all thought about monsters. The ones in the shadows and the ones under our bed. Conor is thirteen and no exception. One night, he spots one outside his bedroom window. This is no ordinary monster. It has a special purpose. Conor is having a very difficult time in his life. His mother, the light of his life, is suffering from a serious illness.
This is a deeply heartfelt story, dealing with grief and loss. How a boy, already dealing with adolescence, bullies at school and divorced parents, has to come to terms with even bigger issues. It’s a beautiful tale, with a refreshing lack of goopy sentimentality. I can not recommend it higher but show more please keep a tissue box nearby. Yes, you will need it. show less
When we were growing up, I think we all thought about monsters. The ones in the shadows and the ones under our bed. Conor is thirteen and no exception. One night, he spots one outside his bedroom window. This is no ordinary monster. It has a special purpose. Conor is having a very difficult time in his life. His mother, the light of his life, is suffering from a serious illness.
This is a deeply heartfelt story, dealing with grief and loss. How a boy, already dealing with adolescence, bullies at school and divorced parents, has to come to terms with even bigger issues. It’s a beautiful tale, with a refreshing lack of goopy sentimentality. I can not recommend it higher but show more please keep a tissue box nearby. Yes, you will need it. show less
There are two ways of dying which must be most terrifying and angst-inducing for mothers: Having to see your child die before you leave this earth yourself, or dying in front of your little child's eyes ... the eyes of a kid, a young human being who should have been led on his way to adolescence by his mother.
Both of these ways are portrayed in this book. And it's done by Patrick Ness in what may be the best way it could be done in. It's nearly impossible to review "A Monster Calls" because it feels so unique, so heart-breaking, so terrifying. Combining strong subjects like bullying, death-struggle, childhood fears and coming of age, Patrick Ness is able to carry his reader off on a tumultuous ride through the darkness of childhood.
show more “Don't think you haven't lived long enough to have a story to tell.”
The writing might perhaps be the best thing about "A Monster Calls". Patrick Ness is a master when it comes to combining words and wringing emotions out of them. It's easy to compare his style to [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg]'s - gripping and abducting you into the realms of his story. In the beginning, there might have been passages which felt ridiculous to me, and while I always connected to the story and to what was happening to the characters, the characters themselves felt sometimes alienating to me. But that's nothing to criticize this book for. It might be considered to be heart-breaking, to be a page-turner, but first of all, it is a book you definitely should not miss reading. show less
Both of these ways are portrayed in this book. And it's done by Patrick Ness in what may be the best way it could be done in. It's nearly impossible to review "A Monster Calls" because it feels so unique, so heart-breaking, so terrifying. Combining strong subjects like bullying, death-struggle, childhood fears and coming of age, Patrick Ness is able to carry his reader off on a tumultuous ride through the darkness of childhood.
show more “Don't think you haven't lived long enough to have a story to tell.”
The writing might perhaps be the best thing about "A Monster Calls". Patrick Ness is a master when it comes to combining words and wringing emotions out of them. It's easy to compare his style to [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg]'s - gripping and abducting you into the realms of his story. In the beginning, there might have been passages which felt ridiculous to me, and while I always connected to the story and to what was happening to the characters, the characters themselves felt sometimes alienating to me. But that's nothing to criticize this book for. It might be considered to be heart-breaking, to be a page-turner, but first of all, it is a book you definitely should not miss reading. show less
based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd
{stand alone; fantasy, magical realism, young adult, grief, dealing with illness, family}
Siobhan Dowd was an award winning children's author who died from breast cancer in 2007. She had the idea for this book, of a young boy with a mother very ill with cancer but did not get to write it before she died. Ness was asked to write the book, based on her idea. Reading it felt especially poignant knowing this background.
This book was heart-wrenching and so well written, but I don't know if I could read it again. It is told (in the third person) from the point of view of thirteen year old Connor O'Malley - an ordinary, decent boy, easy to identify with - whose mother is very sick. She has been through a few show more rounds of treatment, obviously for cancer, but the current round doesn't seem to be helping as well as it should. Connor's dad is out of the picture, having remarried and moved to America and his mum's mum is a no-nonsense sort of person whom Connor doesn't get on with at all (though we can see she does care about him). Meanwhile, Connor feels ostracised at school because everyone found out that his mum is sick and they walk on eggshells around him - except for Harry and his followers who constantly bully Connor.
But that's not the worst of it. Connor has a recurring nightmare, of darkness and hands slipping from his grasp which has him waking screaming in terror. So when the yew tree at the top of the hill that his mother always gazes at turns into a monster and breaks into his room, Connor isn't scared (which bewilders the monster a bit).
The monster will tell Connor three stories and the fourth, well the fourth one will have to come from Connor and will be the story of his nightmare. And so we live Connor's life with him, at home, with his mum, at school, at night with the yew tree monster and even at the hospital.
Short and bitter-sweet. Beautifully written. I'm still dabbing at tears as I write this (and I never cry, I'll have you know).
Wikipedia tells me this was turned into a film in 2016 and later adapted into an award winning play. I see from other reviewers here that their versions had illustrations but, sadly, my e-book did not.
Recommended. When you're ready.
(May 2024)
5 stars show less
{stand alone; fantasy, magical realism, young adult, grief, dealing with illness, family}
Siobhan Dowd was an award winning children's author who died from breast cancer in 2007. She had the idea for this book, of a young boy with a mother very ill with cancer but did not get to write it before she died. Ness was asked to write the book, based on her idea. Reading it felt especially poignant knowing this background.
This book was heart-wrenching and so well written, but I don't know if I could read it again. It is told (in the third person) from the point of view of thirteen year old Connor O'Malley - an ordinary, decent boy, easy to identify with - whose mother is very sick. She has been through a few show more rounds of treatment, obviously for cancer, but the current round doesn't seem to be helping as well as it should. Connor's dad is out of the picture, having remarried and moved to America and his mum's mum is a no-nonsense sort of person whom Connor doesn't get on with at all (though we can see she does care about him). Meanwhile, Connor feels ostracised at school because everyone found out that his mum is sick and they walk on eggshells around him - except for Harry and his followers who constantly bully Connor.
But that's not the worst of it. Connor has a recurring nightmare, of darkness and hands slipping from his grasp which has him waking screaming in terror. So when the yew tree at the top of the hill that his mother always gazes at turns into a monster and breaks into his room, Connor isn't scared (which bewilders the monster a bit).
The monster's eyes widened. Who am I? it said, its voice getting louder. Who am I?When is a monster not a monster?
The monster seemed to grow before Conor's eyes, getting taller and broader. A sudden, hard wind swirled up around them, and the monster spread its arms out wide, so wide they seemed to reach to opposite horizons, so wide they seemed big enough to encompass the world.
I have had as many names as there are years to time itself! roared the monster. I am Herne the Hunter! I am Cernunnos! I am the eternal Green Man!
A great arm swung down and snatched Conor up in it, lifting him high in the air, the wind whirling around them, making the monster's leafy skin wave angrily.
Who am I? the monster repeated, still roaring. I am the spine that the mountains hang upon! I am the tears that the rivers cry! I am the lungs that breathe the wind! I am the wolf that kills the stag, the hawk that kills the mouse, the spider that kills the fly! I am the stag, the mouse and the fly that are eaten! I am the snake of the world devouring its tail! I am everything untamed and untameable! It brought Conor up close to its eye. I am this wild earth, come for you, Conor O'Malley.
"You look like a tree," Conor said.
The monster squeezed him until he cried out.
I do not often come walking, boy, the monster said, only for matters of life and death. I expect to be listened to.
The monster loosened its grip and Conor could breathe again. "So what do you want with me?" Conor asked.
The monster gave an evil grin. The wind died down and a quiet fell. At last , said the monster. To the matter at hand. The reason I have come walking.
The monster will tell Connor three stories and the fourth, well the fourth one will have to come from Connor and will be the story of his nightmare. And so we live Connor's life with him, at home, with his mum, at school, at night with the yew tree monster and even at the hospital.
Short and bitter-sweet. Beautifully written. I'm still dabbing at tears as I write this (and I never cry, I'll have you know).
Wikipedia tells me this was turned into a film in 2016 and later adapted into an award winning play. I see from other reviewers here that their versions had illustrations but, sadly, my e-book did not.
Recommended. When you're ready.
(May 2024)
5 stars show less
From the cover and title, I expected this book to be a horror story. It is, in a way, since the protagonist's mother is dying of cancer, but it's primarily about dealing with fear and loss. In the process of grieving in advance, Conor also becomes invisible at school and with his two remaining relatives, an extra layer of sadness.
This book is a very imaginative look at how teenaged Conor experiences life with his mother's cancer. The monster who visits Conor is a yew tree, which can both poison and heal; the monster's tales are also unpredictable.
This was gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, intense, but also comforting. I'll be thinking about this for a long time.
This book is a very imaginative look at how teenaged Conor experiences life with his mother's cancer. The monster who visits Conor is a yew tree, which can both poison and heal; the monster's tales are also unpredictable.
This was gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, intense, but also comforting. I'll be thinking about this for a long time.
This is considered a young adult title, and usually that's not a genre that interests me. However, it came to me highly recommended so I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did.
I was expecting a monster story, and this was so much more than that. A boy on the verge of manhood tries to care for his very ill mother, while missing his father and trying to survive the attentions of his grandmother. On top of all that, a yew tree is stalking him wanting to tell him stories.
If you have ever lost someone to a lingering, wasting disease, this book will resonate with you, regardless of your age. Highly recommended!
I was expecting a monster story, and this was so much more than that. A boy on the verge of manhood tries to care for his very ill mother, while missing his father and trying to survive the attentions of his grandmother. On top of all that, a yew tree is stalking him wanting to tell him stories.
If you have ever lost someone to a lingering, wasting disease, this book will resonate with you, regardless of your age. Highly recommended!
Originally posted here
I was not prepared for the emotional fallout after reading A Monster Calls. Profuse and silent tears poured from my eyeballs. The places this book transported me to were bleak, depressing and cold. I could practically hear wood creaking and the rain howling as I was reading.
The illustrations by Jim Kay were just phenomenal; the black and white artwork complimented the tone of the story perfectly. The monster's visitations to Conor were really creepy, and the strange fables it tells really surreal. Like Conor, I wasn't ready for this monster to take me to the places it did and the emotion just flowed unexpectedly.
A Monster Calls is a very dark and poignant book, it explores themes of grief, anger and loss. It would show more deeply resonate with anyone who has been to dark places during childhood and adolescence. An amazing book. show less
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ThingScore 100
"... it’s powerful medicine: a story that lodges in your bones and stays there." “A Monster Calls” is a gift from a generous storyteller and a potent piece of art.
added by RBeffa
The power of this beautiful and achingly sad story for readers over the age of 12 derives not only from Mr. Ness's capacity to write heart-stopping prose but also from Jim Kay's stunning black-ink illustrations. There are images in these pages so wild and ragged that they feel dragged by their roots from the deepest realms of myth.
added by RBeffa
It's also an extraordinarily beautiful book. Kay's menacing, energetic illustrations and the way they interact with the text, together with the lavish production values, make it a joy just to hold in your hand. If I have one quibble, it is with a line in the introduction where Ness says the point of a story is to "make trouble". It seems to me he has done the opposite here. He's produced show more something deeply comforting and glowing with – to use a Siobhan Dowd word – solace. The point of art and love is to try to shortchange that grim tax collector, death. Ness, Dowd, Kay and Walker have rifled death's pockets and pulled out a treasure. Death, it seems, is no disqualification. show less
added by souloftherose
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Author Information
44+ Works 29,537 Members
Patrick Ness was born on October 17, 1971 near Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He studied English Literature and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. He was a corporate writer before moving to London in 1999. He taught creative writing at Oxford University and is a literary critic and reviewer for the Guardian and other major show more newspapers. He is the author of eight novels including The Rest of Us Just Live Here and a short story collection entitled Topics About Which I Know Nothing. His young adult novels include the Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This, and Monsters of Men, which won the Carnegie Medal. A Monster Calls won the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration, the Carnegie Medal, and was made into a movie and released in October 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Monster Calls
- Original title
- A Monster Calls; A Monster Calls [Movie publishing]
- Original publication date
- 2011-05-05
- People/Characters
- Conor O'Malley; The Monster (a/k/a Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, and the Green Man); Mum (mother of Conor O'Malley, former wife of Liam O'Malley); Grandma (grandmother of Conor O'Malley); Liam O’Malley; Lily Andrews (Lillian Andrews) (show all 15); Harry; Anton; Sully; Miss Kwan; Herne the Hunter (a/k/a The Monster, Cernunnos, and the Green Man); Cernunnos (a/k/a The Monster, Herne the Hunter, and the Green Man); Green Man (a/k/a The Monster, Herne the Hunter, and Cernunnos); The Green Man; Mrs. Marl
- Important places
- England, UK
- Related movies
- A Monster Calls (2016 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- You're only young once, they say, but doesn't it go on
for a long time? More years than you can bear.
Hilary Mantel, An Experiment in Love - Dedication
- For Siobhan (Dowd)
- First words
- The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.
I never got to meet Siobhan Dowd. (Author's Note) - Quotations
- You do not write your life with words, the monster said. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And by doing so, he could finally let her go.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Make trouble. (Author's Note) - Blurbers
- Rosoff, Meg; Pullman, Philip; Boyce, Frank Cottrell; Bray, Libba; Hoffman, Mary
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PZ7.N43843
Classifications
- Genres
- Tween, Fiction and Literature, Teen, Fantasy, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 813.6 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 2000-
- LCC
- PZ7 .N43843 — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
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- ISBNs
- 133
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- 26