I was completely bowled over by this story. It was not what I was expecting at all and this made it all the more brilliant. The writing is so emotive, without being over the top, and is a perfect voice for children, beautifully capturing how it would feel to be in the main character's situation as a child. I would recommend this to everyone and anyone, particularly those that have lost somebody to cancer. It's a perfect representation of how one feels, and wants to act.

What a novel! This incredible story communicates with young adults and their emotions without being patronising, and digs deeper into the psyche of the main character. This tale goes beyond the normal ideas surrounding coming-of-age by expressing the tragedy of illness and abandonment, and the feeling of helplessness surrounding family trauma. A thoroughly enjoyable read that incorporates a broad spectrum of emotion and perspectives, that teaches that there is good in the bad and vice versa. Could not recommend highly enough, particularly to the young adult category and those who crave a touch of drama and real life tragedy.

In this fantastically moving tale written by Patrick Ness from an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, we follow in the footsteps of 13 year old Connor whose life is filled with pain, loneliness and monsters. We stand with him as he faces life and death alone - or so he thinks - and waits and wishes for the nightmare to end. But what happens when it seems that his wish will come true? This is one of the finest stories I have read and one that evokes Connor's visceral reactions and conflicting emotions in the reader; his pain is almost unbearable and the catharsis bitter-sweet. This is a story forged in sorrow and, tragically, one that is probably being played out somewhere in the life of a child as you read. I was indeed fortunate to be allowed to review this remarkable and moving tale; ably illustrated by Jim Kay, it is a thought and emotion - provoking journey - and one I am very glad that I made.

I laughed. I cried. I experienced such an overwhelming wealth of emotions reading this, it is a book that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I don't really want to give too much about the plot away for fear of spoiling the book. This sort of story needs an open mind and an open heart, with no expectations. It's about a boy and his mother, his gran and his estranged father; it's about a tree and a monster; it's about a nightmare and a story. It's about something that I have never heard spoken or seen written in words, yet which is a universal truth for all of us. The ending shocked me, moved me, made me cry and consoled me at the same time. Ness' power is immense as he hauls the reader to brink of each and every emotion and back, accompanied by the most darkly beautiful illustrations by Jim Kay. I read it in two hours straight, but in that time I felt as if I had been on an emotional marathon. I suppose if I were to compare it to other books, it's something like "Follow Me Down," "The Lovely Bones," and "Skellig" rolled into one, but with an extra honesty that makes this all the more special. A book whose beauty lies in it's brutality, and whose brutality lies in it's beauty. Go and read it.

There is a quote at the beginning of this book from Hilary Mantel's An Experiment in Love. The actual quote is true enough, but it is the 'experiment in love' that rings true with this story. Conor the thirteen year old boy who is living with the nightmare of his mother's cancer learns, by facing his own terrifying emotions, how to start to come to terms with losing his mother. It is not an easy journey he takes and the reader travels with him and understands his pain and the frightening way he deals with it. He is visited by the yew tree in his garden, who through telling him tales of emotions which reflect his own feelings, he learns the hardest lesson of all. He learns that it is okay to wish for someone to die when really it is the last thing that you want. I can see this book being a useful but heartbreaking read for any teenager or adult who is going through or has been through the pain of coping with losing a loved one to cancer. It is written with an understanding of illness, divorce, bullying and the difficulties of different generations being forced to live side by side. There will be many who can relate to this story and will find it an engaging read.