Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd (Conception), Jim Kay (Illustrator)
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pub Date: May 5, 2011
Format: Paperback
Pages: 206
Source: Purchased
Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Horror
Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads || Buy on Amazon

---

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

---

My review:

“Don’t think you haven’t lived long enough to have a story to tell.”

Who needs rain when your tears are literally a torrential downpour? Patrick Ness just wrecked me. I had chills from the moment I read the author’s note in the beginning, and that feeling of anticipation (and devastation) stayed with me until the very end. I’m honestly a little terrified by the sounds I was making while I was sobbing. Wow. I’m just a mess.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5) All the stars. All the stories. I see you.

I’ll be honest. I’m going through a bit of a hard time right now and needless to say, my emotions are a bit heightened. But this book just picked me up, threw me over its shoulder, and carried me away. And then it slammed my face into the concrete floor a few times. And then I lost all sense of self until I was in that weird in-between state of wondering whether I was living in a dream or a nightmare or not living at all. And then at the end of it all, whatever this is, it took my hand, held it, and let me go.

So yeah, that happened. I can’t make actual sentences right now. Sorry.

Go read this book. You might want to book some time off for post-read recovery though.