A review by vermidian
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

3.0

More of a 3.5 star read for me, really, but I rounded down to bring the average a tick closer to my ideal. This is a story about cancer and about loss, and it's something you see coming from the very beginning of the book. It's inevitable. The whole book is about a child who knows his mother is dying and develops a coping mechanism of dramatic proportions, the Monster. I don't want to spoil it, but it's a strong message for a child dealing with similar thing. I can see why it did well and why it received awards.

However, I also know the panic of having a parent with cancer. It was a panic Siobhan Dowd knew intimately, as it claimed her life. I didn't get that same sense from Patrick Ness. I felt he understood inevitable loss, but there was no real sense of the up and down of the hope and loss of hope that come with people who are dealing with cancer treatments that are and are not working. Of course I wish Siobhan Dowd could have written it, but obviously that simply was not an option. I think Patrick Ness did his best and that it does have power, but I feel like there was almost no emotion for the first two thirds of the book.

All in all, I can recommend this, but know that the subject material is heavy and that it might be more emotionally charged for some.