Book Bouncer Review: 'A Monster Calls' by Patrick Ness

'A Monster Calls' by Patrick Ness

"The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth."

- Goodreads summary

Plagued by the same nightmare every night after hearing the news about his mother's health, Conor is taken by surprise when a new nightmare materializes. This one, however, only comes at 12:07. Why? What could it possibly want with Conor, when this monster claims to be the very Earth itself? Doesn't it have anything better to do? But it's not just any monster... It's Conor's very own painful truth given form. Can he escape his new nightmare without succumbing to the first one - the truth he simply cannot bring himself to acknowledge without hating himself.

A Monster Calls was originally Siobhan Dowd's idea. Unfortunately, Dowd fell victim to cancer, and her idea remained an idea, until Patrick Ness was offered an opportunity to put Dowd's idea to paper,. He certainly did a phenomenal job, and Dowd would have probably been satisfied with the outcome of her idea and Ness's touches to it. Jim Kay was also involved in the process of making A Monster Calls a book, as the novel made use of his illustrations (for more of Kay's work, check out the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone).

A Monster Calls was a quick read - one that I fled through within 2 hours! The issues the novel discussed made it insightful. There were many comparisons, and many life lessons that were both displayed in plain sight and in between the lines. Being the first novel of his that I've read, I was impressed by Patrick Ness's writing style. It was simple and descriptive, making it very easy to visualize the novel's setting; yet the lines were compacted with emotions that helped the reader feel and understand what the main character was going through.

Basically, A Monster Calls tells of a boy whose mother has been suffering from cancer for a long while. Slowly, her presence in his daily life lessens, and unknowingly, Conor tries to find ways to escape his pain, but every night the same nightmare forces Conor to face his worst fear. He cannot say the words that his nightmare is trying to tell him, afraid that these words will make every struggle he's facing in life that much more real and torturous. So he doesn't accept that his mother's health isn't improving, and that his behavior is being affected.

Until one night, a new monster arrives at 12:07 (which becomes quite a symbolic detail toward the end of the story) every morning, and forces Conor to listen to the stories he has to tell. Three stories, in exchange for Conor's one unbearable truth. Supposedly, this monster has come to heal Conor, but the little boy doesn't believe so. The monster is bad in Conor's eyes, even though the monster says otherwise.

Nevertheless, the monster tells his three tales to Conor, who grows angrier with each one, because they are so similar to his miserable reality and result in solutions that are cruel and - according to Conor - unfair. Each story is forcing Conor to embrace the truth, until he is left to face the last truth that he visits every night in the form of a nightmare. Once he accepts what can't be avoided, Conor can finally be free. This is his fear to face... To tell... To overcome.

Ultimately, this novel was beautifully written, describing a boy's journey from being ignorant to coming to terms with his mother's illness by accepting the inevitable.

A Monster Calls made me realize that not every situation has a happy resolution, and that the truth is much better to accept than a lie. The novel conveyed the message that some problems have a cruel but justified solution; and that every human is neither entirely good nor evil, but harbors a monster that should be accepted, even if not brought to the surface.

I recommend this to any and everyone, because I found this story touching and incredibly true in all its metaphors and comparisons. We might as well read about the monster we all turn to when we are faced with a life-changing dilemma, and try so hard to neglect once said dilemma is overcome.

In October 2016, the film adaptation is scheduled to be released. As for other books written by Patrick, be sure to check out his 'Chaos Walking' trilogy. I sure will!