A Monster Calls: Patrick Ness

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My mother died of breast cancer two years ago at the age of 44. I lived the day when the doctors told my mom that she had breast cancer. I lived the day when I'd spend my 19th birthday visiting her on her hospital bed in the ICU while she was in a coma. I lived the day when I would see her take her last breath. I lived the day I let her go even if it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Two years later, I wish I could tell you that it gets easier. I don't cry everyday anymore if that counts as getting easier. I'm not sure why I'm even saying all this, but I guess reading this book has made me feel a bit vulnerable at the moment. It's made me confront all kinds of emotions I've been trying to avoid since the day my mother passed.

I enjoyed this tale, though I have to admit I wasn’t as blown away as the masses of other reviewers seemed to be.

As C.S. Lewis said (and I am quoting not necessarily with the exact words) "that any children's story that it can't be enjoy by adults, it's a bad children's story". Conor is angry at his best friend Lily for telling people at school that his mother is ill because this makes people treat him differently. People at school find it hard to talk to him because they don’t know what to say. This makes Conor feel alone. The line between fiction and reality is blurred in this book. Sometimes it's not clear what's real and what is imagined. Accepting what we can't change is not easy, but over time the monster teaches Conor how to let go. The monster's magical tales reveal truths to Conor and show the power of facing our fears. At school, Conor is being bullied by Harry and falls out with Lily, his best friend. Conor’s grandmother arrives to help look after him.

Have you ever had a nightmare that seemed so real it was hard to know where it ended and reality began? A Monster Calls by If I’m being really, really, REALLY honest, some of this felt emotionally manipulative. Like this was obviously supposed to be wrenching and sad and make you cry. The fact that this kid is terrorized by a monster and has a mean grandmother and is getting bullied and his mom is dying? Like, come on. That’s not for richness of narrative or reality of experience. That’s just purely to be sad.The monster tells Conor the first story. This story teaches Conor that most people aren’t just ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but somewhere in between. Harry leaned forward, his eyes flashing. “I see nothing,” he said. Without turning around, Conor asked the monster a question. “What did you do to help the invisible man?”