A Monster Calls

There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere inbetween.Conor shook his head. ???That???s a terrible story. And a cheat.??? It is a true story, the monster said. Many things that are true feel like a cheat. Kingdoms get the princes they deserve, farmers??? daughters die for no reason, and sometimes witches merit saving. Quite often, actually. You???d be surprised.

One of my greatest challenges in life is to stop being surprised when unfair things happen. I expect for good people to have good things happen to them, and for bad people to fail, but – in the words of John Green – the world is not a wish-granting factory.

This makes me very sympathetic to Conor, who doesn't want to believe there is a chance his very ill mother won't recover. He is a child, and his mother is a good woman, and in a fair world he would have her in his life for many decades to come. He tells the monster early on that he's seen scarier things, worse monsters, and to a little boy facing the loss of a parent, this is undoubtedly true. The monster, however, has lessons to share, and a confession to hear.I can't imagine reading this book, having lost loved ones, and not being moved by this child dealing with gigantic fears and extreme feelings of isolation.

Moving read about fear, loss, and dealing with undeserved pain.