maggiefan
Written on Jan 6, 2021
One of the best and most emotional books I've ever read.
The monster showed up just 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.
In a unique pairing of Carnegie Medal winners, Patrick Ness spins an extraordinarily moving tale of love, loss and hope from the final idea of Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. This moving novel is brought to life with extraordinary award-winning illustrations from Jim Kay, which add an extra dimension to the story.
What are the key themes? The key themes running through the book are family, death, truth, suffering, isolation and coming to terms with loss.
Book Review 'Pearson's New Windmills collection brings together an incredible range of titles that teachers can trust, ideal for KS3, GCSE and beyond. From October 2014, Patrick Ness' extraordinarily powerful novel about a teenager struggling to deal with his mother's terminal illness will be added to the list; along with teacher support materials underpinned by the University of Exeter's Grammar for Writing pedagogy, and back of book comprehension activities.
Based on an original idea by the author Siobhan Dowd, who died before she could write the story, A Monster Calls is bleakly beautiful, unflinchingly honest and utterly compelling. A tumbling, ragged storm of intense, chaotic emotions is masterfully contained within Ness' unflinching prose, and Jim Kay's illustration are hauntingly atmospheric. Short chapters and contemporary language help to ensure the text is accessible as possible, despite touching on themes with the potential to stretch the creative and critical thinking skills of your most able students.' www.teachsecondary.com
- ISBN10 0435161520
- ISBN13 9780435161521
- Publish Date 26 September 2014 (first published 2 May 2011)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 15 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pearson Education Limited
- Imprint Heinemann
- Edition School Edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 216
- Language English
Reviews
One of the best and most emotional books I've ever read.
Mercy
Written on Mar 1, 2018
This book broke me, I knew that it was going to happen, I knew how it would end but still, I wasn't prepared. I'm not giving it 5 stars rating because it got a bit boring in the middle but I loved it, Ness is great at describing characters and although the story is sad, it is told in a very beautiful way.
--------
Español:
Este libro me destrozó, sabía que iba a suceder, sabía cómo iba a terminar pero aún así, no estaba preparada para ello. No le doy una puntuación perfecta porque hay una parte en el medio donde la historia es más lenta y aburrida pero me ha encantado, Ness es muy bueno para describir personajes y aunque la historia es triste, está contada de una forma muy bella.
Por cierto, el audiolibro es genial, no me gustan los audiolibros en español porque he tratado con algunos y los narradores son muy aburridos pero el que narra éste es muy bueno y me pude meter de lleno en la historia desde el principio.
Laurie
Written on Jul 16, 2017
lauriesbookshelf
Written on Jul 16, 2017
Nicole Lynn
Written on Jun 19, 2017
Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews
Written on Apr 2, 2017
Unlike The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Patrick Ness does not pussyfoot around the topic of death. It may not be center stage in the plot but it is always looming in the corner and never let's you forget its presence. However, it does so on a child-like level but still makes the dire situation clear. Despite being child-like it was not dumbed down and puts a higher respect towards a child's comprehension.
This book was a story within a story when "the monster" comes calling. The stories told by the yew tree were interesting, although the presentation was reminiscent of the grandpa reading The Princess Bride to his sick grandson. Unfortunately, it didn't work as well and prefered reading of Conor's reality. The plot was held together better than Conor's dreamland and didn't see a cohesive pattern to the tales told by the old yew tree. Conor's waking world was raw and did need the distraction but I didn't find the flow to be a smooth one.
Overall, this is a beautifully told story, and while tragic had a satisfying ending that will break one's heart.
This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews
Joséphine
Written on Oct 3, 2016
In some ways, A Monster Calls was predictable — a pre-determined skeleton of a story. Patrick Ness chose a narration style with few frills too and yet its complexity ran deep. It held small surprises that quickly added up. And though I knew right from the start how things would ultimately end, that didn't stop me from dissolving into tears for a good part of the book.
A teacher once told me that short stories are more difficult to write than long ones. If you can convince (or touch) with few words, that's when you have mastered the craft. This observation most definitely applies here. At 216 pages, less even as some spreads were illustrations sans words, this book is a short one. Clearly written for a younger reader, it still transcends age as it manages to speak to those of us who have left our childhood days behind.
ross91
Written on May 17, 2016
The story really touched me, probably because I'm living a similar situation and so I related with Connor a lot.
The audiobook was really well done but I think I'm going to buy the physical edition 'cause the artworks seem amazing!
Bianca
Written on Feb 23, 2016
You do not write your life with words. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.
— I AM NOT CRYING.
Chelsea
Written on Oct 5, 2015
1. This one hits you hard in the feels.
2. It's middle grade but very adult feeling.
3. Loved the monster. He was really well done.
4. There were funny bits and sad bits all mixed up.
5. Pretty short but gets to the point.