Josiah's Reviews > A Monster Calls

To my memory, there have only been three books up until this point that have brought me to tears. One was Eldest (I was only in 4th grade; don't judge), the second was The Divine Comedy, and the last was The Iliad.

This book marks the fourth work that has had that effect on me.

What is there to say about this book? There is a painful rawness to its characters, an atmospheric vividness to its fantastical elements, a beautiful simplicity to its prose, and a quiet ingenuity in its plot. And that's not even getting into all the wonderful illustrations interspersed throughout the book.

Combine all of that with the ending, and... wow. The book is best quoted verbatim to display the power of its thematic conclusions. And that's best appreciated when read in the context of the entire story, so I'll avoid saying anything here about that apart from the fact that it's really good.

It's a story that's best read slowly and savored. I'm glad I read it.

Rating: 4.5-5 Stars (Extremely Good).