Novel Review: A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd, by Patrick Ness and Illustrated by Jim Kay

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy, grief

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Release Date: 2013

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

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 Cover:

The cover is dark and haunting, using the same artwork as throughout the book, which I think is actually very fitting. Thinking back on the book, it doesn't particularly feel like those adjectives, and yet the artwork feels very fitting to the story anyway.

Review:

Conor's mother has cancer, again, and she's doing worse than she used to. At the same time, Conor's being bullied at school, and now his grandmother is visiting again, and they don't really get along, either. During all of this, Conor suddenly starts seeing this giant monster at night, causing destruction and conflicts, and telling him these twisted stories.

I really liked the way that Conor meets the monster, how he's absolutely not afraid of him; he's facing much scarier things, and I love the meaning behind that. The stories that the monster tells him, too; they're unique and with a surprise ending each time, which Conor hates, and I love them. They're dark sometimes, and thoughtful, and very important to what Conor needs to learn. It's similar to the meaning behind his bullying, and how he kind of needed Harry to do these things. Their fight was very satisfying, honestly, and it needed to happen. I understood Conor's need, too, for things to go back to normal, for him to feel normal and be treated fairly, not pitied.

This story was really heartbreaking, honestly. Conor's struggle was hard and honest and rough, and no one around him was truly seeing it. The ending, too... It's heartbreaking, and his final confrontation with the monster was honest and brutal, and it made me cry.

These kinds of stories are just brutal, and sad, and necessary. This was a beautiful story, honestly, so thoughtful and well-written and meaningful. I'm glad I finally read it, and I think it's a very important story for a lot of people; that some people might need this exact story.

Novel Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA/NA Contemporary Romance/Grief

Publisher: Viking (Penguin)

Release Date: January 27, 2015

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

The Cover:

I really like the cover. It's not a girls face, I like the pose and meaning. I think the feeling of the girl and the background and the colors work really well together. I like the font. I think this was a good job done.

Quotes:

•  "'She could do anything. Solve anything for anyone.’
  Alice pauses, digesting that. ‘Except for herself.’” (ARC, pg. 52)
• "Is this how it is with lies? The first one comes hard, the second one easier, until they slip off your tongue easier than truths—maybe because they are easier than truths.” (Pg. 94)
• "Life seems to be about endurance, not enjoyment, not fulfillment.” (Pg. 147)
• "...reading some story about a bunny that keeps telling its mother all the ways it’s going to run away, even though, obviously, if the rabbit meant business, it would not be telling its mother. When you’re serious, you keep quiet.” (Pg. 162)

Review:

I wasn’t too sure what to think when I started this—I barely even read the synopsis. I mean, it was Gayle Forman, so I knew I was going to get it. And now I’m really glad that I requested it.

Cody and Meg are best friends, and then Meg commits suicide, and Cody doesn’t understand. Now she’s dealing with her loss, trying to see what she missed, and finding out a lot more than she expected along the way.

The writing here was fantastic, as well as Cody’s voice. I was glued to the pages, anticipating getting back to it when occupied elsewhere.

The talk of suicide went in surprising places here, much more than I expected it to. And I really liked that. As well as the hit the family takes, the dynamic changes, how everyone is hit in some way. I liked the way that Cody was close to Meg’s family, especially her younger brother, because of her own mother.

Cody ends up going to Meg’s college house, meeting her roommates, and a lot of other people who knew Meg, who Cody never would have otherwise met. Alice was really nice, and a great help to Cody. Harry was a surprisingly nice, helpful guy, as well as Richard, none of whom Cody thought much of at the beginning.

And then there was Ben. At the beginning I wasn’t sure I was going to like him, but I did by the end. His relationship with Cody worked. I did like the way Cody kept convincing herself she was different, and thus was very difficult for Ben.

I didn’t know what to expect with this book, and was pleasantly surprised by all of it. I could not put it down. And I can’t wait for Forman’s next book, whatever it is. Also, she seems to be writing more new adult then young adult at this point, which is totally fine with me. I like that age range more.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, Penguin. Thank you!