Book Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Rating:

Genre: Young Adult > Fantasy | Horror

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.

Literary Awards: Galaxy British Book Awards for Children’s Book of the Year (2011),Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Young Adult Literature (2011), Red House Children’s Book Award (2012), ALA Teens’ Top Ten Nominee (2012)

*****

I read A Monster Calls late at night, while my (almost) two-year-old son was sleeping in my arms. Somehow i held my son a little closer, a little tighter to me. Often times, Patrick Ness can really scare the living sh*t out of me.

I can emphatize with Conor. Whatever he went through, and his reactions for such, it was understandable. i enjoyed his banters with the monster. It was unexpected to encounter humor in those scenes, but it worked! Even the monster couldn’t stifle his laugh.

The twist is simple yet it left a scorching mark in my heart. Maybe I, too, am guilty of the same truth that Conor is terrified of (if I were in his shoes).

A Monster Calls challenges you to face the truth. But what’s more challenging for me is letting go. and moving on.

Book Review: Oppression by Jessica Therrien

Rating:

Genre: Young Adult > Mythology

Challenge: Pinoy Book Tours ARC Tour

(Children of the Gods #1)

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She’s been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she’s closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don’t make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she’s been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable–except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning–and she’s not entirely willing to play by their rules.

*****

Oppression started okay, but then it started downhill when William came into the scene. When he’s around, all Elyse could do is make a fool out of herself: daydreaming, fantasizing, lusting over William. Ugh.

I like Kara better than Elyse; Nics and whats-his-name over Elyse and William. I felt the story was going nowhere. The plot was being pulled into two different directions: focus on romance or mythology? I was confused on the we-are-descendants-from-the-gods-but-they-are-not-really-gods-in-the-first-placeidea. I was like, huh?

Can we move on to the next book, please? You can cross out Oppression in your list of YA mythology books to read. You’re not missing anything, really.

Publisher:  ZOVA Books

Imprint: —

Pub Date: 02/28/2012

Thank you Kai and Precious for lending me their ARC.

Book Review: Chaos Walking #2: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

RATING:

Genre: Young Adult > Dystopia

(Chaos Walking #2)

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss.

Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor’s new order.

But what secrets are hiding just outside of town?
And where is Viola? Is she even still alive?
And who are the mysterious Answer?

And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode…

Literary Awards: Costa Book Award for Children’s Book (2009), Booklist Top Ten Science Fiction/Fantasy Novels for Youth (2010)

Book 1: The Knife of Never Letting Go review

*****

DEVIOUS.

Okay. So I should know by now that reading this awesome series will take a looooot of patience on my side. Because The Ask and the Answer simply won’t stop pestering me with its mystery, intrigue, and otherworld-liness (is that a word?). But what a blast it was when I reach the final chapter! Mr. Ness? you are one mischievious and twisted author. Oh yes, you are. =) 

Reaching the first half of the book, I didn’t like where the story was heading. It was like Todd and Viola are being separated by circumstances (if not fate). It has that “star-crossed lovers” effect i that i could do without (minus the romance part). The push and pull whether to trust each other or not is annoying but it is necessary to build the climax in the end.

And what a wickedly brilliant ending! Stupefying, to say the least. I love Todd and Viola even more. and surprisingly, my heart broke for Davy Prentiss. Yes, you read that right. Davy. *almost in tears*

I will try to recover first before plunging into the final book, Monsters of Men. and I am so anticipating what Patrick Ness has in store for me. *squeals*