A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
You can read my review of this book here, but I thought I’d share what our book group thought of it too this month.
A brief note on the editions, (more about that here): most of the group read the newer adult crossover covered version (left) which is unillustrated. The Kindle one though has some of the illustrations at the end of the chapters. Those who hadn’t seen the pictures, were impressed by them, and thought the monster as drawn was very close to that they’d imagined.
The group were roughly split on how the book affected them – some not really at all, and others like me cried like a baby. Some, me included, really appreciated the fantastical elements of the novel, and the tales that the monster told Conor; some found the reality parts too predictable.
There was also some debate over whether the aim of selling the book specifically to adults was as a self-help book for suffering families – I don’t think we came to a conclusion on that one. The remaining part of our discussion was reserved for the fact that the outline and first words were written by Siobhan Dowd, Ness finishing the book after her death. Could you see the joins?
While none of the group present who had finished the book loved it as unreservedly as I did, but it was an interesting choice for discussion, and I’d recommend it for any book group that would like to read a book initially aimed at older children.
P.S. I just noticed it’s snowing again on my blog – I didn’t turn the feature off from last year. If you all complain I’ll turn it off, but it’ll take a lot of you!
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A Monster Calls
I wish we could read this for our Book Group but then again I’m not sure if many of the group share my partiality for YA/crossover reads. Still, perhaps it would be a good springboard for discussion. Keep the snow, I love it…it doesn’t go all slushy like the real stuff! 🙂
Variety is the byword for our book group, so we do read a YA/crossover book every so often. It can be difficult to get adults to try them, but this would be a good one for discussion – and about crossover books in general.