What Happens When You Answer a Monster’s Call

Spoiler warning: This post discusses major plot points from the book.

Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd’s A Monster Calls isn’t marketed as a mental health book, but I find myself returning to it often in my work as a therapist. While it’s technically a young adult novel with elements of fantasy and magical realism, the emotional depth it captures is striking—especially around grief, guilt, and emotional honesty.

The story follows Conor, a boy coping with his mother’s terminal illness. As he struggles with the daily emotional toll, he begins to act out and withdraw from others. Each night, a monster visits him, offering cryptic stories and promising to reveal a deeper truth. Eventually, the monster demands a truth from Conor in return: his most painful, hidden truth.

The emotional core of the book unfolds when Conor finally says what he’s been too ashamed to admit:

“I want it to be over,” he confesses. “I can’t stand knowing she’ll go, but I want it to be over. I want the pain to stop.”

This moment feels incredibly honest. It’s a painful thought, but it also makes sense. And that’s exactly why this book lingers with me. In therapy, I often sit with clients as they work their way toward admitting something they’ve long buried—something they feel makes them a bad person. But when they finally say it, I get to say, “That makes so much sense.” That moment, where someone dares to share their private emotional world and is met with compassion instead of shame, is transformative.

A Monster Calls captures this process beautifully. It reminds us that healing often begins when we allow ourselves to tell the truth, even when it’s messy or uncomfortable. Conor’s confession isn’t cruel. It’s human. He wants relief—for himself and for his mother. He wants the pain to end, not the love.

Emotional vulnerability is at the heart of the therapeutic work I do. This book is a haunting, beautiful reminder that we can say the hard things and still be worthy of care. A Monster Calls reminds me that healing starts when we stop punishing ourselves for our very human emotions. Sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is name the thought we’ve been trying to bury.