Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

114 reviews

becsd93's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, and Death of parent

karwc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Bullying, Grief, Death, and Terminal illness

Minor: Medical content

emerentina's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Bullying, and Cancer

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

charityc's review against another edition

challenging emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Bullying

charityc's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Abandonment

hamna's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The writing is almost poetic with how well it is written. The actual storytelling is so well thought-out so it manages to encapsulate a lot (in terms of plot and atmosphere) in such a short book. It does a good job of portraying the character's overwhelming experience with grief, anger, etc., so it can be a bit difficult to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Grief

i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely incredible book. Very heavy and heartfelt, but really beautiful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying

maeverose's review against another edition

3.0

Conor’s grief presents in the form of anger, and leads to him having some very unhealthy and harmful coping mechanisms. While I completely understand that is how some people react to grief, and part of the point of the story was Conor having to learn to heal, I felt that the book focused almost solely on Conor’s feelings and I don’t feel like there was enough emphasis on him changing how he treated others. He kind of just got away with all the bad things he did to other people. Also, all the female characters in the book are framed as mean, or end up getting killed or dying. Lily being the only real exception. This annoyed me a bit.

Another mild thing that annoyed me, even though it was pointed out in the book, was how Conor’s parents wouldn’t be honest with him about what was happening. Yes Conor knew, but I think in a situation like that it’s much more helpful to be honest so your child can mentally prepare. Again, while the book did sort of acknowledge this it was still frustrating.

I do think this book has important messages about how everybody is complicated and our emotions are complicated and that’s okay, but I can’t say I enjoyed the overall reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Bullying, Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content

A note on the cancer: Conor’s mother’s diagnosis is never named, but it definitely seems to be coded as cancer. A note on the schizophrenia: Conor doesn’t have schizophrenia in the book, the monster is just a magical realism representation of his grief, but there are definitely scenes where it could appear similar to a psychosis episode

maggieoc_x's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this hurt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Grief, Bullying, Cancer, and Death

Moderate: Medical content

annaz08's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Cancer