A Monster Calls in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Mar 24, 2016 Heather - hturningpages rated it it was amazing

Shelves: loved-it

How to review this book...haha. I've been putting it off, telling myself I'm mulling, but the bottom line is this book really nagged me to look inside myself to figure out how I feel about it. On the page, it's a beautiful story about a boy and the lies he tells himself to get through the isolation of grief. The appearance of the "Monster", his role in the MC's realizations and development was very intriguing and had me "turning pages" (I read the ebook ;) ) until the wee hours. Although I thoug How to review this book...haha. I've been putting it off, telling myself I'm mulling, but the bottom line is this book really nagged me to look inside myself to figure out how I feel about it. On the page, it's a beautiful story about a boy and the lies he tells himself to get through the isolation of grief. The appearance of the "Monster", his role in the MC's realizations and development was very intriguing and had me "turning pages" (I read the ebook ;) ) until the wee hours. Although I thought of all sorts of interesting twists and turns that the Monster might trigger or represent in the story, ultimately I think my imagination was to wild for this particular book haha. The Monster turned out to represent something much more straightforward, which may have been a tiny bit disappointing (I think reading sandman recently has put my fantasy expectations into overdrive lol) but it was still very nicely revealed in a heartbreaking way.

(Spoiler's ahead!)
I've always thought that everyone has an internal reserve of perseverance and strength that helps them get through horrible things if they know how to tap into it and trust in themselves. This story touches on that, but I have to say, a small part of me was strangely jealous of the MC because for him, his Monster is so real, so tangible. It's a hand on his shoulder, a fist to his enemies. I think what stirred up the most emotionally for me in this book wasn't necessarily how I can relate to the feelings of loss, of feeling singled out, alone and tip-toed around and hating it, it was some residual anger that I had to do all of it alone, without an imaginary friend or Monster to guide me. I get that the author was using the Monster has a metaphor obviously, but the child in me just wanted to slap the kid and tell him how lucky he is that he has a friend through all this, even if that friend is just inside his head.

Definitely a 5* book just for the fact that it made me reflect so much about my life and myself haha and I think anyone who reads it will do the same. So do yourself a favor and read it ;) ...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Devon rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013

"Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak." the monster of the book tells us. And he is right.

An imaginative and interesting book about a boy grappling with his mother's illness. It is sad and tender and strange like the relationship between the "monster" and the boy. Like many dangerous things we experience, the things that scare us sometimes protect us and challenge us and this is partly the lesson the main character learns h ...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Alexis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: teen, teen-book-club

Another amazing book by Patrick Ness. It had me sobbing something fierce at the end. Nothing like a book about a child losing his mother to cancer to make you put your life in perspective. Sigh. I can't wait to see what Patrick Ness publishes next. Also, I need to check out some Siobhan Dowd books since many authors have raved about her books and Ness actually wrote A Monster Calls after getting the inspiration for it from Dowd, posthumously, I believe. ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Courtney rated it it was amazing

Break my freaking heart already. I think that the fact that this story was conceptualized by an author who passed away of cancer before she could write this book made it that much more poignant for me. And of course, being a child myself when my own mother died of breast cancer. Yup, this book was a straight up ugly cry book. I loved it.

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Jun 18, 2011 Lydia Presley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, fiction, young-adult, coming-of-age, 2013

It's not often a book moves me to tears. Not the kind of tears that I sometimes shed because I believe that the book is calling for tears and it's okay to push a few out - but aching, heart-break-showing tears that involve looking away from the page because I just cannot bear to continue to read until the weight has left my chest. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness woke something in me, a memory of a feeling, that overwhelmed me and felt as if it was choking me and in spite of ... no, because of th ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Christina, Join Me on Storygraph! rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2011

A very fast YA read, this coming of age novel was a great read. We face many monsters, but we can learn and grow from some of them. The writing is wonderful, the concept innovative, and the sketches within really made the story pop.

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Jul 25, 2016 Hannah added it

Shelves: 2016, middle-grade-and-chapter-books, magic-realism-spec-fic

It's not like you can't see what truth is coming, but still, this will just wreck you. Also, I honestly and truly cannot figure out whether this is more accurately placed under MG or YA, and that's going to make me CRAZY because the tradition it wants to be a part of somewhat changes the reading, though not the emotional impact. It feels middle grade.

Would also pair very well with "Pan's Labyrinth." ...more

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