Book Review: A Monster Calls

My first introduction to Patrick Ness was when the cover of his first book in the Chaos Walking trilogy caught my eye with the enticing title, The Knife of Never Letting Go.  It was the title that did it for me.  I had to see what this was about.  Thus, I was sucked into a roller-coaster ride of an adventure in reading that series.  If you've never tried them, I can promise the first chapter will hook you and "never let you go."

So, when I noticed this book, A Monster Calls, I decided to give it a whirl, as well.  This is a book Patrick Ness was asked to write on behalf of author Siobhan Dowd, who died of cancer before she was able to write the book herself.  Patrick skillfully took her idea and created a story I am sure she would praise.

When a monster shows up at midnight, Conor is surprised that it isn't the monster he has been expecting, the monster from his recurring nightmares, the nightmares which started when his mother began treatment for breast cancer.  But the monster has come.  Even though Conor isn't frightened by it, the monster demands the truth in exchange for three stories.  The stories leave Conor perplexed, but in the end, he does indeed give forth the truth.

All I can say is that I wept huge tears at the end of this story.  It tugged at my heart so strongly, that I felt I had crawled right inside a teenager who is facing the inevitable death of a beloved parent. I have a friend who, when she was only fourteen, lost her mother.  Part of me wants to ask her to read this book to see if it resonates with her (how could it not?) and part of me is too afraid to suggest it because if it were me, I might not be willing or eager to go there again.

Siobhan Dowd died in 2009 at age forty-seven.  I have never read any of her books, but Patrick Ness recommends them highly.  I will have to keep an eye out for one some day.

For another review of this book, read Jessica Bruder's review for "The New York Times."