This post may contain affiliate links. Please check out my privacy policy and disclosure policy.
Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
Summary
“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.”
-From Amazon.com
Review
Holy…moses. This book was….wow. First off, you have to read this book in one sitting. It isn’t terribly long and isn’t a hard read at all, but you really can’t put it down because of what the book is about. It is not a book you can start and continue reading later because you always have questions and need to know what comes next and then the book just loses the power it has over you if you stop reading it half way. It HAS to be read at once and it will only take two hours of your life, so do it! Trust me.
The book honestly was nothing like I thought it was going to be. It was amazing, and powerful, and beautiful and holy shit did I need a box of tissues at the end. Just a warning. It’s not a happy book like many books are with a neat ending that makes you go ‘wow, that was such a good book’. This is the type of book that has you sitting there crying and questioning everything you know going ‘wow….that was…..SUCH a good book’. Just trust me when I say that you need a box of tissues handy and an empty room to cry in after.
The story was amazing! LIKE WHAT?! It is YA but I would classify this as older YA and honestly almost put it into the adult category because of the story and the kind of emotional levels it was operating on. Someone 16 may not understand everything going on emotionally but they would get the story while a 50 year old would completely be able to connect with the little boy in the book.
I thought The Monster was the coolest character as well. Think of like the BFG but instead of it being in a fantastical world, it was based in the real world and The Monster was…well it is just too hard to explain. Read it and it will all make sense to you.
I probably would have never read a book like this, or really noticed it because of the simple cover, but because the movie is coming out soon, I had to give it a read and I am so glad I did.
The cover of the book is beautiful and simple and that is one thing I really like about the book. There are illustrations within the book but instead of them being all colored and fancy, they are very simple and black and white. It just adds this kind of dream quality to the book!
It was just something I had never experienced before and has me sitting there in awe of what was done with the book. The idea was created by Siobhan Dowd, who is a very impressive woman. She spent 20 years as a human rights campaigner for PEN as well as Amnesty International but she passed away at 47 years of age. Patrick Ness was then asked to write this book which was her idea and he did such an amazing job.
There is so much character development and you connect with Conor so well and are able to feel his pain.
Would I read this book again? Not for a few years probably as this is the kind of book you cannot read over and over again. Maybe you get a different message from it every time or find something new in it but it isn’t like a book you can pick up and just read. Besides the emotions which this book brings up, you just need time between readings.
I absolutely loved this book and cannot rave highly enough about it and you MUST check it out, especially before the movies comes out. The movie looks amazing and looks like it will stick extremely close to the book, which I am very happy of, but you have to read the book first.
The trailer is below, but keep in mind there are a few differences and you may think that the movie trailer looks a little Hollywood-ized, like they made it bigger and such. But in all honesty, it looks pretty damn close to the book and I’m very impressed.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Purchase the book here.
Happy Reading!!!!
Don’t forget the tissues.
