MY HEART!!!! Let it be known, that I'm still wiping tears off my cheeks as I type this review. I didn't have many expectations out of this book. To be honest, I was kind of wavering on if I really wanted to read it. Really the only reason I did was because I know it's getting made into a movie, and the movie cover was gorgeous. I want to just get this out of the way right now: This is the best book I've ever read in my life 
 I was struggling to understand Conor sometimes. He was so quick to chalk the monster up to be a dream, and he had a good sense of reality in that respect. But when it came to his mother, he was so far away from reality that it really confused me. 
 I also struggled to understand the purpose served by the Monster's stories. Don't get me wrong, I loved them and I could see the lessens that could be learned from them, but they just weren't clicking with me in regards to Conor and how they were supposed to help them. 
 Then I got the the last couple of chapters. And my heart shattered. (view spoiler)[ Turns out, Conor really knew his mother was going to die all along, and the stories were what he needed to make sense of his feelings with those thoughts, and ultimately helped him come to terms with it so he could finally let his mother go. (hide spoiler)] 
 Patrick Ness really has a way with writing. This story was written beautifully, and had me sucked in from the very first sentence. Even though I literally just finished reading this book, I want to read it again. And again. And again. And again.