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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
The monster is frightening; some physical confrontations
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
One of the most psychologically powerful YA novels ever written — grief, guilt, and the impossible weight of loving someone who is dying
What this book is about
Thirteen-year-old Conor O'Malley is visited at night by a monster in the shape of a yew tree, who says it will tell him three stories and then demands the fourth story — the truth — in return. Conor's mother is dying of cancer, and the truth he cannot admit is destroying him from within. Patrick Ness's devastating novel about grief, guilt, and love.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Parental death from cancer as central theme
A child's crushing guilt and grief
Intensely emotionally devastating ending
Reader Verification
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