REVIEW: A Monster Calls
“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.” This ominous line opens Patrick Ness’ awarding-winning fantasy novel, “A Monster Calls,” and perfectly sets the stage.
The novel follows Conor O’Malley, a thirteen-year-old boy whose single mother is dying of cancer. He is at the age when one begins to understand the reality of life and leave the innocence of childhood. Luckily, he is not alone.
As children, people are often convinced of imaginary creatures who lurk in the dust under beds and in the shadows of closets. Well, one fateful night, Conor meets his monster — as seen in the opening line.
To his surprise, the monster is an intelligent, although dismal, creature who wants to help him. Through a series of short stories, the monster teaches him the concept of justice and mercy as well as the grim reality of life.
Loss of innocence, as well as coming of age, are among the predominant themes discussed.
“A Monster Calls” can be enjoyed by all majors, not just English. At just 205 pages, the book is not a daunting undertaking. The third person, present tense narration and straightforward writing style makes the reading almost effortless, as well as enjoyable. The work’s fast pace allows for similarly quick reading time.
Along with this, detailed drawings of the monster and his stories are scattered within the chapters to further bring the audience into the fictional world.
These drawings are done by Jim Kay, who is known best for his detailed art for a special edition of the “Harry Potter” series. His artistic style, as well as chosen medium, wonderfully represents the monster who is described as being made from the branches of an ancient yew tree.
An interesting fact about “A Monster Calls” is that the original idea does not belong to author Patrick Ness. Siobhan Dowd, a British fiction writer, was in the beginning stages of brainstorming the story when she passed away from cancer in 2007 at the age of 47.
Following her death, Ness was approached by their shared editor and asked to pick up where she left off, so the unique idea would not be abandoned. Although at first reluctant, he soon accepted and, taking the notes Dowd had left behind, published the fantasy fiction novel in 2011.
The novel was named one of the top books of 2011 by a number of newspapers and won several awards such as the Carnegie Medal, the Kate Greenaway Medals and British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year.
“A Monster Calls” can be found as an ebook in the Utah State University Universities Libraries’ OverDrive database.
*Graphic by Ean Donehey.
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