A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

In February I only managed to read one book because I have been so busy. However what I did read I completely fell in love with and that was A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. This was a beautiful yet heartbreaking story and I just couldn't put it down.

So in this story we meet Conor who has been having nightmares and one night a monster turns up outside his window. However this isn't what Conor is afraid of at all. Actually, Conor isn't afraid of the monster one bit. But he can't quite understand whether he is still in one of his nightmares or whether there really is a monster standing outside his window and if there is...why.

I really don't want to say any more as it is really difficult to describe this story without completely spoiling it and it's a story I think everyone should read without knowing much about it.

I adored this story and the impact it had on me and my emotions. I don't cry at books very often but this one turned me into a complete mess! Again that's not something I want to explain though as it will give the story away.

I loved Conor and felt very emotionally attached to him and if you've been reading my posts for a while you'll know I love to get attached to characters. I loved how Conor grew as the story developed and we got to learn more and more about him and not only his nightmares but his difficult times in school as well. Although these were all really difficult to read about it made the story intense and gripping and like I said earlier, I just couldn't put this book down.

I also loved the messages this story brought across. As well as it being heartbreaking yet enjoyable, it's also quite educational as well and could help a lot of people if they have been through or are going through traumatic experiences.

The monster was such a clever element to the story and such an interesting character. He is definitely not one I'll forget any time soon that's for sure!

Overall I'd highly recommend this but possibly not to younger readers as its very heart-wrenching so could be too upsetting to some readers. However if you can cope with books that deal with trauma and hard hitting subjects and enjoy reading those kind of stories then I definitely think this book is for you. I'd also recommend the film as that was incredible as well.

Rating /5

5

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Today I'm bringing you a very overdue review of Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild. This was a reread for me as I already read this quite a few years back and really enjoyed it so decided to give it another read.

This is about 3 sisters, Pauline, Petrova and Posy. Pauline wants to be an actress, Petrova loves to play with cars and Posy loves nothing more than to dance. The three are forced to start dance lessons as money is an issue at home due to their Great Uncle Matthew's money running out and him not have returned from his travels yet, and this is a way that the girls can earn a little bit of money to help at home.

They are all put forward for a number of auditions and even Petrova who has no interest in dancing or acting bags herself a part in one of the productions. Naturally Pauline is cast in a few different productions and because she is older, she can earn more money. Posy however is too young to earn money to start with but wants to be in all of the performances anyway because she has such a love for dance.

So we follow the three sisters and their journey into the performance world and how they each cope with the issues they face throughout this process.

I don't want to say much more as I don't want to spoil anything but it is a lovely story that I think anyone of any age can read.

What I really loved about this story was the characterisation. There was such a difference in personalities between the sisters that you felt you knew each of them very well very quickly which helped when keeping up with which character was doing what.

I also loved the dance and performance aspect to the story as I'm a dancer and dance teacher myself and have done a number of different shows over the years so found that element to the story really interesting.

As well as all of the above points, I think the writing style is something that could suit anyone as it's easy to understand yet really interesting as you can see it is an older story that was written a while back.

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone but especially those of you who are from a performance background or are interested in that sector as I found all of that really interesting to read about.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx