Audiobook Review: A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness & Read by Jason Isaacs

Source: Received a sample copy through my work, Thomas Allen & Son, the Canadian Distributor for Brilliance Audio. All opinions are my own.
Publisher: Candlewick on Brilliance Audio
Release Date: September 27, 2016


Description from Goodreads:

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming....

This monster, though, is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.

Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final story idea of Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel about coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults.

“Compelling...powerful and impressive.” —Philip Pullman, author of the award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy

“Exceptional...this is storytelling as it should be—harrowing, lyrical, and transcendent.” —Meg Rosoff, author of the Printz Award–winning novel How I Live Now

“Brilliant and elegant, with all the thrills and ambition you would expect from the author of the Chaos Walking trilogy.” —Frank Cottrell Boyce, award-winning author of Millions and Cosmic

“Haunting, lyrical, powerful, and true. Patrick Ness has crafted a masterful story about grief and loss, love and hope that lingers in the heart like a ghost.” —Libba Bray, author of the Printz Award-winning novel Going Bovine

I have to preface this by saying that I've already read A MONSTER CALLS, and absolutely adored it. It's an extremely emotion read, and while it absolutely guts you, it's also breathtakingly beautiful and real. I consider A MONSTER CALLS to be one of the most profound stories I've ever read, and I know that it's one that I'll return to year after year, and no matter how many times I read it, it'll never ever get old.

Now that you know I already love this story, I have to let you know that I like to go back and listen to audio versions of books that I love so that I can get to experience them in a whole new way. When it comes to listening to an audiobook of a book you've already enjoyed, there's always the risk that the reader won't manage to convey the story as effectively as it comes across on paper, but that definitely wasn't an issue here at all. Jason Isaacs did an absolutely AMAZING job reading A MONSTER CALLS! He managed to flawlessly capture each and every one of the characters. His intonation was amazing, and I thought that this recording was perfection. Absolute perfection!

For new readers to A MONSTER CALLS who enjoy audiobooks, I wholeheartedly recommend this recording, and for readers who've already read and loved the book, you should definitely give this audiobook a shot the next time you decide to do a reread. You really won't regret it!

Not only is A MONSTER CALLS an amazing story (seriously, even if you don't listen to the audio...go read the book!), but this audio is a fantastic adaptation of the story, and it's made me love it all over again!

Who else loves A MONSTER CALLS?
 
And is anyone else a fan of going back and listening to an audiobook version of their favourite stories? If you are, which one has been your favourite to do that with?

I think A MONSTER CALLS or THE SCORPIO RACES are currently tied as my favourites to do this with...both are AMAZING!!!