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A Monster Calls / More Than This
A MONSTER CALLS
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.
MORE THAN THIS
From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life—or perhaps afterlife—of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world. A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this…
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.
MORE THAN THIS
From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life—or perhaps afterlife—of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world. A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this…
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Published August 2, 2016
97 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Ness
58 books18.7k followersPatrick Ness, an award-winning novelist, has written for Radio 4 and The Sunday Telegraph and is a literary critic for The Guardian. He has written many books, including the Chaos Walking Trilogy, The Crash of Hennington, Topics About Which I Know Nothing, and A Monster Calls.
He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Born in Virginia, he currently lives in London.
He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Born in Virginia, he currently lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 25, 2018
Through reading all the Patrick Ness books to date (excluding And the Ocean Was Our Sky, which I shall grab once the library has it), I’ve found my feelings towards his work are rather mixed. There are the cases of The Crane Wife and Release, where I gave two-star ratings, where I was not won over by the story. There is the case of The Rest of Us Just Live Here, where I gave a three-star rating, where I wasn’t quite won over, but I appreciated the story. There are the cases of the Chaos Walking trilogy, A Monster Calls, and More Than This, where I gave four-star ratings, where I really enjoyed the story I was given. Despite my mixed bag of emotions, Patrick Ness continually offers something different, continues to grab my attention.
As you can see, More Than This and A Monster Calls are a couple of my favourite Patrick Ness books. They both grip you hard, sucking you in deep and leaving you wanting more. More Than This has you hooked through the unknown, the questions of what is to come. A Monster Calls has you hooked through the emotions, the experience you will go through whilst reading. They’re two very different books, but both reflect how great a writer Patrick Ness is.
Without a doubt, More Than This and A Monster Calls are more than worth the read.
As you can see, More Than This and A Monster Calls are a couple of my favourite Patrick Ness books. They both grip you hard, sucking you in deep and leaving you wanting more. More Than This has you hooked through the unknown, the questions of what is to come. A Monster Calls has you hooked through the emotions, the experience you will go through whilst reading. They’re two very different books, but both reflect how great a writer Patrick Ness is.
Without a doubt, More Than This and A Monster Calls are more than worth the read.
April 29, 2019
The book has been crafted well. It's so complex & emotional, simple & profound, painful & insightful, brilliant & elegant, thrills & ambition - that it reaches out people in a very powerful poignant way - lingers for a long time. It's filled with anger & illuminating sense of a thoughtful story accompanied with loss. It's compelling, impressive, deeply satisfying & shattering. The sensitivity reflected between the relationship of a mother & a child is exceptionally moving. It's further incorporated with the dark sense of humour which makes it an authentic masterpiece. The amount of pain makes it an extraordinarily memorable read. The wisdom, strength, style, grace, insightful, heart-breaking, heart-wrenching, sad, achingly heart-stopping, haunting, magical, realistic, lyrical & truth to be told - makes us acquainted with loss. Brave, beautiful, full of compassion makes it profoundly masterful story.
What is a dream? Who is to say that it's not everything else that is the dream?
Stories are the wildest things of all. Stories chase & bite & hunt. Stories are wild creatures. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak? They go off in directions you couldn't expect.
You know that is not true, you know that your truth, the one that you hide, is the thing you're most afraid of.
Stories are important, they can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.
And if no-one sees you, are you really there at all? There're harder things than being invisible. There're worse things than being invisible.
Sometimes people need to lie to themselves most of all. The justifications of men those who kill should always be heard with scepticism.
There's not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between. Many things that are true feel like a cheat.
Who am I?
I've had as many names as there're years to time itself! I'm eternal. I'm the spine that the mountains hang upon! I'm the tears that the rivers cry! I'm the lungs that breathe the wind! I'm the snake of the world devouring it's tail! I'm everything untamed & untameable!
You were merely wishing for the end of pain, your own pain. An end to how it isolated you. It's the most human wish of all. Humans are complicated beasts, it doesn't matter what you think, because your mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day. Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.
You don't write your life with words, you write it with actions. What you think isn't important. It is only important what you do.
Stories don't always have happpy endings.
As destruction goes, this is all remarkably pitiful.
Belief is half of all healing.
Destruction is very satisfying.
The green things of this world are just wondrous, aren't they? We work so hard, to get rid of them when sometimes, they're the very thing that saves us.
What is a dream? Who is to say that it's not everything else that is the dream?
Stories are the wildest things of all. Stories chase & bite & hunt. Stories are wild creatures. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak? They go off in directions you couldn't expect.
You know that is not true, you know that your truth, the one that you hide, is the thing you're most afraid of.
Stories are important, they can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.
And if no-one sees you, are you really there at all? There're harder things than being invisible. There're worse things than being invisible.
Sometimes people need to lie to themselves most of all. The justifications of men those who kill should always be heard with scepticism.
There's not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between. Many things that are true feel like a cheat.
Who am I?
I've had as many names as there're years to time itself! I'm eternal. I'm the spine that the mountains hang upon! I'm the tears that the rivers cry! I'm the lungs that breathe the wind! I'm the snake of the world devouring it's tail! I'm everything untamed & untameable!
You were merely wishing for the end of pain, your own pain. An end to how it isolated you. It's the most human wish of all. Humans are complicated beasts, it doesn't matter what you think, because your mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day. Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.
You don't write your life with words, you write it with actions. What you think isn't important. It is only important what you do.
Stories don't always have happpy endings.
As destruction goes, this is all remarkably pitiful.
Belief is half of all healing.
Destruction is very satisfying.
The green things of this world are just wondrous, aren't they? We work so hard, to get rid of them when sometimes, they're the very thing that saves us.
February 5, 2021
I read the paperback version, and I only read "A Monster Calls." 13-year-old Conor is visited by a monster when the clock turns 12:07. Conor lives with his mother who has a terminal illness. Conor struggles to deal with his emotions. The monster tells Conor 3 tales and tells Conor that he must tell him his tale after. Conor is forced to deal with his emotions and learn his truths.
Personally, I loved this novel. I loved how it can relate to readers who are struggling mentally. I loved how the thing that helps Conor find his truth is portrayed as a monster because sometimes our truths are the scariest thing we have to face. I loved how the monster's tales showed the depths that come to human beings. Things are not black and white. There are more layers to life and to human beings than people think.
Content Warnings
-only a few swear words
-bullying
-death
-punching
Personally, I loved this novel. I loved how it can relate to readers who are struggling mentally. I loved how the thing that helps Conor find his truth is portrayed as a monster because sometimes our truths are the scariest thing we have to face. I loved how the monster's tales showed the depths that come to human beings. Things are not black and white. There are more layers to life and to human beings than people think.
Content Warnings
-only a few swear words
-bullying
-death
-punching
June 22, 2018
absolutely loved this book. so beautifully written. books or films never normally make me cry but this had me sobbing into my pillow. physically felt this boys pain. a monster you may come to love by the end of the book.
May 17, 2025
It’s a short book, but I love the way it handles the grief, numbness, and anger associated with loss and illness. Also the monster? What a fun visual connection. Also a great way to help older kids understand their complex emotions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews