'Go on and make a move now...'

Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

In the midst of my attempts to read both Donna Tartt's The Little Friend and numerous Game of Thrones tomes, I picked up Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls, looking for a lighter, more escapist read. Escapist it was, but lighter? No chance- and I loved it. 

A Monster Calls is the story of troubled young boy Conor, whose myriad of problems manifest in a hell of a lot of nightmares- oh, and a monster who comes to visit him in the middle of the night for heart to heart discussions. Conor's mother is going through chemotherapy for cancer, his father lives on the other side of the Atlantic with his new wife and baby, and Conor is relentlessly bullied at school. Life is not easy for him, and the monster appears at a time when he needs to work through this. The whole concept of this novel is great, I think, with hardly any flaws; props to Siobhan Dowd, whose idea the story originally was. By the end- and I won't give it away, but it is a pretty obvious one, I was in tears. The character of Conor is perfectly drawn, and his anger and frustrations fit well to his age and situation. He wants to be seen and heard, and is afraid to lose his mother, who is the only person who ever has seen him for who he truly is. 

The inclusion of the monster and his tales were beautiful and fitted perfectly to the novel, adding a resonance and further context to the story. Sometimes when a secondary narrative is introduced to a novel it can seem like the author is just trying to show off or add some kind of fancy metaphor, whereas here it seemed like a natural fit. Ness's writing is great and so easy to read, just on the right side of beautiful for what is probably a middle grade novel. 

Overall, I wouldn't say I enjoyed this novel because it's slightly impossible to when it tugs on your heartstrings as it does, but it's a book I put down and couldn't stop thinking about. It's a book that moved me, and a book that brought out emotions in me I didn't even know I had. 

What's it about? Loss, and not losing ourselves when dealing with that loss. 
Would I recommend? Yes, it's a great and moving book that you'll want to devour in one sitting. 

'You say I'm crazy...'

Review: The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

This was an odd book; I liked it, but it was odd. It follows George, an American in London (with uncanny similarities to Ness himself) who is has pretty much checked out of life. It hasn't gone well for him; he runs a small printing shop, is divorced and is all too often told that he is too nice for women and let go. In the opening chapter (which is beautifully written and provides an instant hook, which unfortunately is not replicated again in the novel), George wakes up in the middle of the night to find a crane in his back garden, a crane which has an unusual arrow through its wing. George goes outside and proceeds to remove the arrow, saving the life of the bird. The bird flies away, and George goes back to bed. 

He then meets a beautiful woman named Kumiko, who walks into his shop asking for some printing help. George and Kumiko inevitably fall in love, and over the course of the novel it is increasingly implied that Kumiko is the crane in human form. It is implied that George saved Kumiko and thus she is now here to do the same for him, yet emotionally rather than physically. George and Kumiko work together on artwork and have a remarkably quick romance yet George feels that Kumiko holds something back, which he is throughout the novel trying to figure out, before the dramatic ending. 

Interweaved in this narrative is the story of George's daughter, Amanda, who again needs to be emotionally saved. Amanda is also divorced, a single mother and finds it hard to connect to people and thus has no friends. Kumiko provides a connection that she finds it hard to understand, but proves to Amanda that she is not inherently damaged. 

I felt some aspects didn't quite work; I was confused by the entire storyline with Rachel. Why was she affected so strongly by Kumiko- just because everyone else was? I don't understand why her character needed a resolution; for me, her only purpose was her failed liason with George.  I also couldn't quite understand the relationship of George and Kumiko; I think they needed more standalone scenes together, just conversations, to show their real chemistry, and just getting to know each other. Although their relationship is supposed to be a whirlwind romance, one based on fate and sheer happiness, so maybe that is not actually needed. I also felt like the inclusion of the myths weren't needed; they halted the narrative and didn't always make much sense, so it felt like Ness was trying to hard to include a sophisticated metaphor. I like the idea of the parallel tale and the source material, however I think it would have been better to summarise this at the beginning or weave it in in a more subtle, less chunky way. 

The opening was definitely the strongest part of the novel, as was the relationship between George, Amanda and Jean-Pierre, which I found so endearing. JP was hands down the best character; I found myself laughing out loud at some of his lines, surprising for a small child. He's the kind of kid who cheers up every page he's on, and I'd like to know him in real life. George was also likeable, which I think helped with the story; it would have been hard to read this novel if its protagonist was a grumpy old man. His inherent cheerfulness and strive for happiness makes him a good character who you in turn want to achieve his goals, and feel sorry for when he makes a mistake. Overall I think Ness did a good job with his source material and created an intriguing and endearing novel. It wasn't 100% perfect or clear, however I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. 

What was it about?
Would I recommend? Yes, I think so.