The Spew Monster vs The Magicians

         

            A Monster Calls is a book about how a boy named Conor deals with his mother dying from cancer. A spew monster comes to visit him in the night at 12:07 to tell him three stories from the past. The first story was of a prince who wanted to save his kingdom from a witch. The story illuminates how people can be both good and bad at the same time. The second story was about an apothecary and a parson. The apothecary wanted to use the yew tree for medicinal purposes but the parson refused to give it to him. At the end of the story Conor realized that not everything in life is fair.  By the third story of the invisible man, Conor becomes a retelling of the story as he gets ignored by others. After the experience it seems like life can sometimes feel similar to a cheat. After the third story, Conor has to tell his own story and truth about the monster that haunts his dreams.

            The spew monsters’ visits seem to be like a dream but when things happen afterword. Spew needles appear in Conor’s room after the first visit. Then a spew tree starts to grow from one of the knots in the floor boards and he also destroyed his grandmother’s parlor after instigation from the spew monster to release Conor’s frustration. This is very similar to how the night circus and its magic blur the lines between what is a dream and what is reality.  

             The flaws of the characters in the stories that the spew monster told also is exemplified by the antiheros of The Night Circus. The Prince in the monster’s first story was flawed in how he killed his wife to save his country. Cecilia and Marco were flawed in how their actions and competition affected those who performed in the circus as well as the patrons who visited.

            These two themes of what is real and what is a dream and the flawed characters are universal in both stories. One story emphasis how to deal with loss of a loved one while the other focuses on how your future is not written in stone and can be a result of your dreams. Both books are a great read not only young adults but readers of all ages.