A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

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When I came across a copy of A Monster Calls I was hesitant about getting it. I had heard great things about the book but I also heard that it packs a real emotional punch and I wasn't sure if I was up to being punched, but I decided to chance it anyways.

When a monster appears in Conor O'Malley's yard one night, Conor is not afraid. He has other things in his life that are scarier, such as the cancer that's slowly killing his mother and the terrifying, reoccurring nightmare of falling. So when the yew tree in the backyard turns into a gigantic, wide mouthed monster, Conor stands his ground.

Conor O'Malley, it said, a huge gust of warm compost-smelling breath rushing through Conor's window, blowing his hair back. Its voice rumbled lowed and low and loud with a vibration so deep Conor could feel it in his chest. 

I have come to get you Conor O'Malley, the monster said, pushing against the house, shaking the pictures off Conor's walls, sending books and electronic gadgets and an old stuffed toy rhino tumbling to the floor. 

A monster, Conor thought. A real, honest-to-goodness monster. In real, waking life. Not in a dream, but here, at his window. Come to get him. But Conor didn't run. In fact, he found he wasn't even frightened. All he could feel, all he had felt since the monster reveled itself, was a growing disappointment. Because this wasn't the monster he was expecting. 

“So come and get me then,” he said.

To his surprise, the monster announces that he is going to tell Connor three stories, after which Connor will have to share his own story with the monster. Conor has no intention of telling his story but is willing to listen to the stories the monster has for him. Except that these stories are strange and confusing, never ending the way that Conor expects. 

A Monster Calls is a short but powerful story that fairly vibrates with the emotions of its protagonist, Conor O'Malley. Connor is full of anger and fear, which the monster begins to help him express, sometimes with frightening results. But even with the monster at his side Conor's fears continue to close in on him as his mother's condition worsens and the adults in his life fail to provide the support that he needs. It's only Harry, with his daily bullying, that satisfies Conor's need for recognition, and eventually even that comes to an end.

I will admit that the ending left me a bit choked up and if I were the type to cry over a book this one would have had me grabbing for the tissues. There were none of the punches that I was braced for but Conor's feelings of sadness, loneliness and anger are so vivid and easy to relate to that I felt emotionally rung out when I turned the last page. Though at the end it was the unexpected relationship between Conor and his monster that touched me the most. 

The book is also peppered with fantastically dramatic black and white drawings which really intensified the atmosphere of the story.

Highly recommended for readers of all ages.