Author: Patrick Ness (Original Idea By: Siobhan Dowd)
Illustrator: Jim KayPublisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 215 (Hardcover)
Published: April 2, 2012
Days to Read: 1 Night
Rating: 4.5/5 !!!
Description: Goodreads
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At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting — he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments.
The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.
From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd — whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself — Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.
The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.
From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd — whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself — Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.
My Review:
When a Monster Calls is a very unique book that I found in my school’s library a couple of days ago. I’d already heard of the book through goodreads and had read a few reviews on how unique and intriguing the book was. So when I saw this book sitting all by itself on the shelf, I couldn’t help but pick it up and check it out. For a while it sat in my locker, I’d already had to finish a few other books I was working on, and finally on Monday I put it in my bag and took it home, ready to ready it. I started at 9:30 and when I turned the last page it was 12:30.
It captivated me, had me interested all the way through and though I kept telling myself that I should probably go to bed, I couldn’t help but keep going. Conor has had a reoccurring nightmare for some time now, and within this nightmare lays a truth of some sort. The ‘monster’ that comes to Conor’s window, seven minutes after twelve may not be the monster from his dream, but he’s there for a reason, and Conor is the only one who can give it to him.
What I liked about this book:
I really liked how Conor was written. He was only thirteen in the book but already he’s faced some very serious things. He really is a strong character and that makes me happy to see.
The illustrations in this book were breathtaking. Some of the time, pictures in a book can make the book have a more childish feature to it, but this one was different. It added to the story and really helped the reader visualize what Conor was going through.
In the story, the Monster that visits Conor tells him three tales, after the third Conor has to give the monster the ‘truth’. I really enjoyed those segments. The stories were very well thought out and they had…a twist to each of them. Each time I was thinking the way Conor was about the lesson of the story and then the monster would make me look at it a completely different way.
What I didn’t enjoy:
Though it was very well written, I did start to get a tad confused in places. I maybe would have liked certain things to be a tad clearer.
It’s marked as horror, and has the pictures for it, but I was hoping for a little more fear. I wanted to be afraid of the monster but instead I was laughing with it and smiling.
Overall, I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. It’s a very quick read, but a very enjoyable one. I recommend for sure!
