A Monster CallsThis is a most beautifully written book. I finally started crying on page 177 and I couldn’t stop even after I had turned the final page. I probably knew where this was going from the very first chapter, but was always hoping for some horrible revelation as to why the poor little boy is so tormented by guilt and pain and anguish as to stoically endure cruelty that he seems to perceive as just and well-deserved punishment for some evil deeds, evil thoughts. This revelation never comes, of course, because the hurt and pain are consequences of his being unable to accept the horrible truth of the impending loss of what is most dear to him and the toll the drawn-out suffering takes on him. I’ve read the book a couple of weeks ago, but I’m still unable to put my thoughts and feelings into an orderly form. If I were to go on, all you’d get would be incoherent rambling … and probably more tears.
