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A review by lumreads
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
2.0
okay, i'm sticking to my guns and declaring loud and clear that this book is a 2/5 for me. its not a bad rating so i don't want anyone coming for me!!!
i feel like this book is geared towards people that have experienced a specific type of grief.
this book, through powerful control of words and vivid descriptions opens up old wounds, resurfaces emotions long felt. so i can't understand why individuals that have gone through a similar sort of grief connor goes through seems to enjoy this so much. (guess its got something with being able to relate and to relate is to belong and its in our biology to crave n' want to belong).
truth.
this book kept harping on about the truth.
truth is important but i'm a person that practices and believes that there are some things better left unsaid.
did connor need to speak his truth? no, but he's 13 and i understand why /he/ needed to in this instance. the way he was shown that it was okay to speak his truth was abstract. which i didn't mind but got to a point where it was bordering abuse. the kid really didn't need that and it wasn't really necessary.
the whole harry thing??? i didn't understand. like the whole demeanor that pertained to "i know that you have those nightmares, i know that the yew tree visits you"... etc. or was i the only one that felt like that was harry's demeanor??? either way, it was weird when harry decided that he couldn't see him anymore and connor thought that it was the perfect time to break harry's arm. how does a kid just break someone's arm?
also, how are we okay with a kid destroying an entire living room? it doesn't make sense to me and i know not all things have to make sense but if you're writing a book that's grounded in reality mostly and presents everything other than the talking yew tree as reality, how are you going to explain the destruction of an entire living room space by a 13 year old kid?
also (2), am i the only one that thinks connor should have gone to see a therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist? i don't think its particularly healthy for a child to:
1. be talking to a monster/tree and believe that they're truly real (tells his dad about it and his dad being the very responsible dad he is ignores it!! in what world????)
2. do things that they don't remember
3. be so full of anger + be so deluded to the point where he doesn't even remember breaking a kid's arm
and it's sad because nobody seems to give a shit. everyone just continues to let him and his delusions fester.
to me, this book was an exploration of adults failing conner in every sphere of his life, either intentionally or unintentionally. from his dad prioritising his new family over connor during such a difficult period in his life to his teachers that fail to reprimand him for breaking more than just the school rules.
also (3), what the heck was lilly's (?) character? a childhood friend that doesn't really do much aside from try to stick up for him at the beginning before ignoring him before telling him hey i still wanna be friends before-???? her character isn't fleshed out one bit and i get that its a short book yaddah yaddah but if you're going to give a character a name, they might as well do something significant (i guess she did tell everyone about connor's mum having cancer but was that really all to her character?)
i feel like this book is geared towards people that have experienced a specific type of grief.
this book, through powerful control of words and vivid descriptions opens up old wounds, resurfaces emotions long felt. so i can't understand why individuals that have gone through a similar sort of grief connor goes through seems to enjoy this so much. (guess its got something with being able to relate and to relate is to belong and its in our biology to crave n' want to belong).
truth.
this book kept harping on about the truth.
truth is important but i'm a person that practices and believes that there are some things better left unsaid.
did connor need to speak his truth? no, but he's 13 and i understand why /he/ needed to in this instance. the way he was shown that it was okay to speak his truth was abstract. which i didn't mind but got to a point where it was bordering abuse. the kid really didn't need that and it wasn't really necessary.
the whole harry thing??? i didn't understand. like the whole demeanor that pertained to "i know that you have those nightmares, i know that the yew tree visits you"... etc. or was i the only one that felt like that was harry's demeanor??? either way, it was weird when harry decided that he couldn't see him anymore and connor thought that it was the perfect time to break harry's arm. how does a kid just break someone's arm?
also, how are we okay with a kid destroying an entire living room? it doesn't make sense to me and i know not all things have to make sense but if you're writing a book that's grounded in reality mostly and presents everything other than the talking yew tree as reality, how are you going to explain the destruction of an entire living room space by a 13 year old kid?
also (2), am i the only one that thinks connor should have gone to see a therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist? i don't think its particularly healthy for a child to:
1. be talking to a monster/tree and believe that they're truly real (tells his dad about it and his dad being the very responsible dad he is ignores it!! in what world????)
2. do things that they don't remember
3. be so full of anger + be so deluded to the point where he doesn't even remember breaking a kid's arm
and it's sad because nobody seems to give a shit. everyone just continues to let him and his delusions fester.
to me, this book was an exploration of adults failing conner in every sphere of his life, either intentionally or unintentionally. from his dad prioritising his new family over connor during such a difficult period in his life to his teachers that fail to reprimand him for breaking more than just the school rules.
also (3), what the heck was lilly's (?) character? a childhood friend that doesn't really do much aside from try to stick up for him at the beginning before ignoring him before telling him hey i still wanna be friends before-???? her character isn't fleshed out one bit and i get that its a short book yaddah yaddah but if you're going to give a character a name, they might as well do something significant (i guess she did tell everyone about connor's mum having cancer but was that really all to her character?)