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bekahb00ks 's review for:
A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
For a while now I’ve been hearing how good this book is supposed to be so I finally picked up a copy and I was not disappointed. Patrick Ness has taken the ideas of Siobhan Dowd and created something truly beautiful. The story tackles such an awful, sensitive topic with care and consideration whilst still letting the harsh reality of the situation come through in the text through the character of Conor. It explores the grief of a child who just wants, more than anything, for his mum to get better.
Ness uses language in such a way that, as the reader, you can’t help but feel the pain that Conor is experiencing regardless of whether you have been in the same situation or not. Yet at the same time it’s almost like we can’t feel it enough, whatever we feel towards it is nothing compared to what Conor is feeling because we aren't the ones actually living it. The words on the page are so beautifully crafted in a way that I can’t really explain. For example, the interaction between Conor and the monster during the telling of the fourth tale makes me feel like I’m there with them, like I’m a bystander looking onwards. Every verb, every adjective, every word chosen to make us feel the same things, to make us understand.
I read the illustrated version but I didn’t realise it was Jim Kay until I started reading. I love the work he’s done in the illustrated Harry Potter books but this is very different; black and white, contrasting, and almost eerie. His drawings add an extra dimension to Ness’ writing, it’s as though you’re allowed to see the emotion and pain as well as feel it which I think is a very powerful thing because often you can’t see the hurt people experience.
When you finish the book, your instant reaction is to think it wasn’t a happy story at all. However, the more I think about it the more I realise it could be. A boy going through the worst time imaginable is finally able to acknowledge his pain and the truth of what is to come so that he can begin to heal, it’s like that weight ever so slightly lifts from off his shoulders. Being able to do that takes a different kind of strength and even though Conor should never have to be that strong, he is and that is the light that can be taken from what first appears to be a story that can’t possibly be happy.
I think regardless of the age you are when you read this book, you can take something from it and that in itself is the reason everyone should read this book at some point in their life.
Ness uses language in such a way that, as the reader, you can’t help but feel the pain that Conor is experiencing regardless of whether you have been in the same situation or not. Yet at the same time it’s almost like we can’t feel it enough, whatever we feel towards it is nothing compared to what Conor is feeling because we aren't the ones actually living it. The words on the page are so beautifully crafted in a way that I can’t really explain. For example, the interaction between Conor and the monster during the telling of the fourth tale makes me feel like I’m there with them, like I’m a bystander looking onwards. Every verb, every adjective, every word chosen to make us feel the same things, to make us understand.
I read the illustrated version but I didn’t realise it was Jim Kay until I started reading. I love the work he’s done in the illustrated Harry Potter books but this is very different; black and white, contrasting, and almost eerie. His drawings add an extra dimension to Ness’ writing, it’s as though you’re allowed to see the emotion and pain as well as feel it which I think is a very powerful thing because often you can’t see the hurt people experience.
When you finish the book, your instant reaction is to think it wasn’t a happy story at all. However, the more I think about it the more I realise it could be. A boy going through the worst time imaginable is finally able to acknowledge his pain and the truth of what is to come so that he can begin to heal, it’s like that weight ever so slightly lifts from off his shoulders. Being able to do that takes a different kind of strength and even though Conor should never have to be that strong, he is and that is the light that can be taken from what first appears to be a story that can’t possibly be happy.
I think regardless of the age you are when you read this book, you can take something from it and that in itself is the reason everyone should read this book at some point in their life.