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!!!

All About Audiobooks!

I have to admit that before I started listening to audiobooks, I was reluctant. I'd listened to one audiobook in the past, and it was a horrible experience. I didn't like the story and I didn't like the reader at all, but I was asked if I wanted to review an audiobook of one of my favourite author's books, so I listened to a sample, I liked what I heard, and I decided to go for it! And I'm so glad that I did! That was months ago now, and I've been hooked ever since!

I plan to start reviewing the audiobooks I listen to, but today I just wanted to let you know how easy it is to listen to them! :D There are several sites that require memberships, where you purchase credits, like Audible. But there are also a lot of other options that allow you access to audiobooks through your library, or even give you free access if they're out of the public domain.

Here are some of my favourite options for audiobooks:

• AUDIBLE

  • I've found other websites where you purchase audibooks, but so far Audible is my favourite!!! Each credit costs you $14.95, and you can use one credit to purchase most audiobooks, but if the audiobook costs less than that, you can also select to just purchase it, instead of using your credits. There are daily deals, and sales every once in a while, too. But, the best part for me for Audible is that it uses whispersync with Amazon.com, so if you already own an ebook from Amazon, and there is an audiobook, you can purchase the audiobook at a discounted rate, too.

• LIBRIVOX

  • Librivox is a completely free site where volunteers record audiobooks that can be downloaded or listened to online. These recordings aren't always as good of quality as the ones you purchase, but they're still really great.

• OVERDRIVE

  • This is by far my favourite resource for listening to audiobooks! Your library has to have a membership with overdrive to use the service, but if they have one, you can borrow audiobooks and ebooks, and you can load them onto your devices. I've been using my iPhone and I love it! :D

• HOOPLA

  • Just like Overdrive requires your library's membership, so does Hoopla. Hoopla has movies and even more, too, so that's pretty great. Their selection isn't quite as big as Overdrive's, but they still have some awesome titles! :D

• SCRIBD

  • Scribd used to be more of a place to share excerpts and PDFs, but over the last year or so they started to become a service where you can read ebooks, and listen to audibooks, too. I haven't started using it yet, but my mom has, and she's hooked!

What do you think?

Are you a fan of audiobooks, or are you reluctant to try them like I was?

For audio fans, what's your favourite way to listen to them?

And, do you have any favourite books or audio readers?