8L English - Life Analogy

     Have you ever played a sport? A videogame? A board game? You have to have done at least one. These games can put you through different stages. Sports will make you competitive, happy when you win and sad when you lose. A videogame can get you emotionally attached to characters. But, what if these games were games were endless? You can’t succeed or fail. It’s just like life. Whether you win or you lose, you live or you die, life keeps going. And it never stops.

      “Life is like an endless game, you can’t win or lose during its emotional adventure.”

"A Monster Calls" Book Review

--I know this is very out-of-the-ordinary considering the name of my blog, but I'll be saying this any way.--

He had to make the decision. Either let her go, or hold on as they both suffer.

I read a book called A Monster Calls. Written by Patrick Ness. I'll be doing a review now.

      I thought this book was great. Just fantastic. I probably liked it most because it was in the horror genre, which is where I am most intrigued when it comes to reading. Now, the main character's name was Conor, a middle school boy who no one respects and just bullies him 24/7. It's not as if he does anything about it, he just tells people it never happened.
     The general story has a lot of details to it. If you are trying to avoid spoilers, stop reading now, as this will summarize a GOOD AMOUNT of the story. To avoid the summary, scroll down to where it says "Summary is now over."
   
     Conor woke up one night to the sound of his name. The sound was a deep voice that was wild and untamed. That way, Conor knew it wasn't his mother (The only who lives with him). He went up to his bedroom window to find that the old yew tree that is outside his house started to grow and reform, creating arms and legs of twisted branches and twigs.

   
      It walked up to his house and rested its gigantic, wooden arms next to his window. But, Conor was not scared. Because this wasn't the monster he expected. Not the one dark one he had nightmares about. He told it he wasn't scared and it put an arm in his window. It picked Conor up and pulled him outside, high above his backyard. It told he'll be scared before the end and then ate him.

     However, that wasn't the end of Conor, as he awoke the next morning in his bedroom, with nothing damaged, but there were leaves and small twigs in his bedroom. He left for school where he always gets physically bullied by three boys named Anton, Sully, and Harry. They already tripped him and cut his lip by the time he arrived.
     This was when a girl named Lily saved him and told a teacher they were bullying him and making fun of his mom (Who is very seriously ill). When asked if this was true, Conor said it wasn't. Lily got in trouble and was no longer his friend.
     When he went home, he remembered that his grandmother is staying over for a few days. He really hated the way his grandmother treated him, like he can't take care of himself. However, there was a trait they both shared. They both thought that Conor's mother was the most important person in their lives. Throughout the story, Conor debates whether he wishes to keep his mother alive, or if he should let her go.

Summary is now over.

     Honestly, this book was pretty well written. It didn't feel like a long story, likely because it took place over a couple weeks. Though, I could tell a lot of work was put into the yew trees wise words and the story's foreshadowing.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It was good for character development plot's prethinking, but I didn't like that there was no action.

Thanks for reading.

-Alec