This book was heart-rending in all the right ways. A Monster Calls is from the perspective of Conor, a young boy whose mother is sick. This book was tragic, but we knew what we were getting into from page one, or so we thought.
The fantasy-like stories are juxtaposed against the hard realities until we start to realize that the fantasy stories are just as dark as the issues that Conor confronts daily. Although he’s still a young child, he must learn to deal with very hard things at a young age and the monster is a wonderful personification of his terrifying, and sometimes violent, emotions.
Although it’s dark, it feels similar to Bridge to Terabithia in the way fantasies come crashing down around the main characters.
C.W. Spalding 