The Call by Peadar O'GuilinPublication date: September 2016
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Format: Hardback
Buy it here: Amazon, The Book Depository
Goodreads Description
3 minutes and 4 seconds. The length of time every teenager is 'Called', from the moment they vanish to the moment they reappear. 9 out of 10 children return dead. Even the survivors are changed. The nation must survive. Nessa, Megan and Anto are at a training school - to give them some chance to fight back. Their enemy is brutal and unforgiving. But Nessa is determined to come back alive. Determined to prove that her polio-twisted legs won't get her killed. But her enemies don't just live in the
Imagine a country that has been isolated away from the world; no one can get in, and no one can get out. Imagine teenagers and children disappearing into thin air, leaving only their clothes behind, then returning 3 minutes later (which is a whole 24 hours for them) - mangled, stretched, decapitated and tortured - because the fairies want to punish Ireland for taking their country and banishing them to the Grey Land. They want Ireland back, and now they're going to torture and kill 9 out of 10 children, one by one. No child/teen knows when their time is up, and so they have to train all of their lives in hope of surviving their 24hrs/3 minutes in the Grey Land to have any hope of becoming an adult.
Yeah, this book is pretty dark and fucked-up. But in a good way.
When I first looked at the book's description, I was intrigued. I had never read anything quite like this before. I've heard this book being compared to The Hunger Games a few times, and although the similarities are there, this book is way darker and A LOT more violent. The Irish mythology element was also intriguing because I never knew much about these fascinating creatures before, but I'm so happy to say that this book has ignited in me a new love for these Irish stories. In the past my primary impressions about fairies came from the Peter Pan movies and the books written by Julie Kagawa, among others. It was an interesting and terrifying experience reading a book casting fairies in such a psychopathic, murderous light. O'Guilin's characters are so, incredibly bloodthirsty, and I'm not just talking about the Fae. Humans are also portrayed in a dark light - though the Fae are awful creatures, I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for them for being banished from their land.
‘Listen,’ he says, ‘we don’t need the Sidhe to teach us evil. We were the ones who put them in the Grey Land, remember? And not just for a day or however long it is the Call lasts. We Irish… we trapped an entire race of people in hell for all eternity, just so we could take their homes for ourselves.’
The only gripe I had with this book was the ending because it felt very anticlimactic and abrupt after being so fast-paced. However, O'Guilin has hinted at a possible sequel! If this is written, all will be forgiven ;)
This book is perfect for people who love shortish fast-paced books, combined with mythology and a little (okay, A LOT) of gore and horror. If you're usually not into gore though, don't let that put you off. O'Guilin's imagination is dark and fascinating, so this element of the book is well-done - I say this as a person who is squeamish at even the mildest of horror movies!
Everyone should read this book :)
P.S. I couldn't write mini character reviews this time because of spoilers.
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