What do you think?
Rate this book
Grey Land #1
The Call
You have three minutes to save your life.
Nessa and her friends attend Boyle College to train for the most dangerous time of their lives – THE CALL.
Without warning, each one of them will wake in a terrifying land, alone and hunted, with a one-in-ten chance of returning alive.
No one believes Nessa can make it, but she’s determined to prove them all wrong. And she will need every ounce of spirit and courage in order to survive . . .
Nessa and her friends attend Boyle College to train for the most dangerous time of their lives – THE CALL.
Without warning, each one of them will wake in a terrifying land, alone and hunted, with a one-in-ten chance of returning alive.
No one believes Nessa can make it, but she’s determined to prove them all wrong. And she will need every ounce of spirit and courage in order to survive . . .
336 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2016
445 people are currently reading
33254 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,882 reviews
October 26, 2016
This book was so much better than I was expecting it to be! Mind you, I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, but it didn't really affect my overall enjoyment of the story. This book is gruesome & horrific. At times I had to set the book down, because of how twisted it was getting, but then I'd pick it right back up, because I had to know what was going to happen! This is the perfect read if you're looking for a unique horror story!
FULL VIDEO REVIEW CAN BE FOUND HERE: https://youtu.be/drt0qcJxmGE
FULL VIDEO REVIEW CAN BE FOUND HERE: https://youtu.be/drt0qcJxmGE
February 3, 2018
A fairy tale. One where the Fae play with people like Sid Phillips plays with toys. Well, as harmful and destructive, but they seem more alien. (Sid is Andy's sociopath neighbor in Toy Story if you're not up to speed on children's movies.) Along the lines of:
As flies to wanton boys are we to the' gods,
They kill us for their sport.
—King Lear Act 4, scene 1, 32–37, William Shakespeare
It's a genre blend of fantasy, horror, and folklore. A contemporary setting with Ireland as a cursed land cut-off from the rest of the world. Every teen is transported to the fairy world of the Grey Land for three minutes. Children train aggressively in preparation for the ordeal, but most return dead, grotesquely rearranged, or appear intact, but... Nessa is a decidedly odd and oddly likable heroine. A warrior stuck with the frail flesh of a 14-year old girl, who was permanently disabled by polio. The kindest people regard her as hopelessly doomed. But, she faces the inevitable challenge, which not even the strongest survive.
I realize fantasy horror with the grotesque parallel world of the Sidhe fairy race isn't for everyone. And, post-apocalyptic dystopian novels are easy to come by. But, there is some nice world-building, an unlikely protagonist, and an interesting blend of horror and folklore.
It is sold as fantasy for ages 12-16. School Library Journal cautions: "The language, sex, violence, and world of the Grey Land are more appropriate for mature fantasy fans."
May 10, 2017
Wow!! I flew through this book. It was unputdownable!
Imagine the Hunger Games, but instead of only one group of kids a year having to go, every single teen has to go at one point. And, instead of fighting each other to the death, there are ugly, twisted, vicious monsters chasing you down to torture and kill you. You only have to survive the day, but only 1 in 10 makes it out alive. And, even then they are not without emotional and physical scars.
It was brutal. Dark, bloody, sadistic... yeah, really good. The back cover says that this book is a "must read for anyone who's been sleeping too well at night". I have to agree. Unless you are a bloodthirsty reader with a heart of stone, like me. I'll be sleeping fine. But, I loved this book.
Imagine the Hunger Games, but instead of only one group of kids a year having to go, every single teen has to go at one point. And, instead of fighting each other to the death, there are ugly, twisted, vicious monsters chasing you down to torture and kill you. You only have to survive the day, but only 1 in 10 makes it out alive. And, even then they are not without emotional and physical scars.
It was brutal. Dark, bloody, sadistic... yeah, really good. The back cover says that this book is a "must read for anyone who's been sleeping too well at night". I have to agree. Unless you are a bloodthirsty reader with a heart of stone, like me. I'll be sleeping fine. But, I loved this book.
January 23, 2024
Nessa was celebrating her 10th birthday when her childhood abruptly ended. Instead of giving gifts and baking a cake, her parents explain The Call.
The little girl that built an emotional armor against people’s perceptions; both the pitying looks as well as the ones filled with contempt and disbelief, is intelligent enough to understand the uselessness of her efforts. Her legs, twisted by polio into more of a hindrance than a help, have gone from a focal point to a genuine liability.
Held hostage and wholly isolated these Irish folks have but one focus: teaching the children to survive The Call. From the age of ten through the teenage years, training is vigorous and relentless. Just shy of cruel, the grueling paces are unquestionably a necessary evil. Almost one in ten survive today, an exponential improvement over the one in one hundred from decades ago. An amazing accomplishment, as fairies have an undeniable advantage when they pull a human child into their world.
Irish fairies may be my very favorite folklore creatures, and Mr. O’Guilin portrays them perfectly in The Call. The one universal fact seems to be that fairies cannot lie and they possess a perverse pride in always keeping their word. Bad to the core, but bound by these rules, Sidhe are as clever and cunning as they are cruel.
The hideous game of fairy versus human, produces a plot that is exciting, fast-paced and adventurous, accented with awesome action scenes. Of course, nothing is so simple and definite in reality and Mr. O’Guilin does not settle for solely myth against man. Most humans are considerate, committed to the greater good; but a few are slimy and self-serving. Mystique makes the tale even more compelling and builds suspense creating compulsory page-turning. Coupled with colorful, captivating characters and sharp and witty dialogue, The Call is a brilliant book that I enjoyed immensely.
This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore.
The little girl that built an emotional armor against people’s perceptions; both the pitying looks as well as the ones filled with contempt and disbelief, is intelligent enough to understand the uselessness of her efforts. Her legs, twisted by polio into more of a hindrance than a help, have gone from a focal point to a genuine liability.
Held hostage and wholly isolated these Irish folks have but one focus: teaching the children to survive The Call. From the age of ten through the teenage years, training is vigorous and relentless. Just shy of cruel, the grueling paces are unquestionably a necessary evil. Almost one in ten survive today, an exponential improvement over the one in one hundred from decades ago. An amazing accomplishment, as fairies have an undeniable advantage when they pull a human child into their world.
Irish fairies may be my very favorite folklore creatures, and Mr. O’Guilin portrays them perfectly in The Call. The one universal fact seems to be that fairies cannot lie and they possess a perverse pride in always keeping their word. Bad to the core, but bound by these rules, Sidhe are as clever and cunning as they are cruel.
The hideous game of fairy versus human, produces a plot that is exciting, fast-paced and adventurous, accented with awesome action scenes. Of course, nothing is so simple and definite in reality and Mr. O’Guilin does not settle for solely myth against man. Most humans are considerate, committed to the greater good; but a few are slimy and self-serving. Mystique makes the tale even more compelling and builds suspense creating compulsory page-turning. Coupled with colorful, captivating characters and sharp and witty dialogue, The Call is a brilliant book that I enjoyed immensely.
This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore.
April 2, 2018
Deliciously brutal and loads of fun, The Call is a bloody heart-racing delight. It's going to be a painful wait for the sequel!
The man who is speaking pokes his head in, reaching blindly with his deadly hands. But [she] has hands too and, before he knows what has hit him, she has taken his eyeballs...
Every child will be Called, it's only a matter of when. Between ages 10 - 17 every child in Ireland, male or female, healthy or not, will disappear for 3 minutes and 4 seconds (a full 24 hours to them), thrown into "The Grey Land" where the Sídhe were banished eons ago. There will be no warning, no time to say goodbyes. It's a colorless place, where the grass will slice your feet, the trees will rip your flesh, and the Sídhe who live there want nothing more than to hunt, gruesomely disfigure, and kill whoever is unlucky enough to be Called next. Even if you survive, (current chances are about 1 in 10), you'll likely be deformed, physically and mentally scarred.
Fun, right!?
Nessa, short for Vanessa, is one of a shrinking pool of students at a survival academy. No one expects her to survive when she's Called. She doesn't have full use of one of her legs due to having polio as a child, earning her the cruel nickname Clip-Clop. Most people think her parents should have been kind enough to poision her, or smother her in her sleep maybe. Others pity her.
Nessa is having none of that shit. She knows she's likely to die, but that just means she trains harder to be better, faster, stronger, and more agile. If she dies, well she dies, but she sure as hell isn't going to take it lying down.
Instead, it’s to be acid if she can’t hold on, fire if she can. There won’t be enough of her left to fill a teacup and everyone will say how they knew she’d never make it, but wasn’t it sweet the way she kept trying anyway? Really, very touching.
She has friends, enemies (dick-brain bullies, in addition to the Sídhe), and even a crush at the academy, but it's hard for Nessa to really connect with anyone. Training and surviving has to be her number one priority, and that doesn't leave much time for teenage hormones, or chances to be young and wild.
A higher proportion than ever before will be dead by Christmas. It’s going to be a bloodbath.
And, man, this gets gruesome! The Sídhe really love to think of creative ways to make the human form less human and more...disorganized? And I feel kind of bad for loving it as much as I do, but I really do! It's a book that's totally unafraid to permanently maim or kill it's characters. And these kids run, fight, kill, and maim right back. It's awesome and I love it.
The Sídhe has his hands on elbows, and just like that he begins to squeeze. The pain is the most intense the boy has ever known. So bad that it drives him to his knees, his eyes roll in his skull, and he dislocates his own jaw in his efforts to scream. And the Sídhe pinches off the arms like lengths of putty, before grabbing by the knees and working the same horrible miracle.
And I freaking LOVED the ending! It wrapped up so much of the story, but there's still more to tell. Honestly that thing. You know, that thing Nessa did? That was badass x 40 and I never saw it coming. I will almost always love unpredictable.
This whole book was such a fantastic delight, and I couldn't be more excited to read the sequel, whenever it comes out. Or before. I'll happily read it before.
Or tomorrow, I'm free tomorrow?
The man who is speaking pokes his head in, reaching blindly with his deadly hands. But [she] has hands too and, before he knows what has hit him, she has taken his eyeballs...
Every child will be Called, it's only a matter of when. Between ages 10 - 17 every child in Ireland, male or female, healthy or not, will disappear for 3 minutes and 4 seconds (a full 24 hours to them), thrown into "The Grey Land" where the Sídhe were banished eons ago. There will be no warning, no time to say goodbyes. It's a colorless place, where the grass will slice your feet, the trees will rip your flesh, and the Sídhe who live there want nothing more than to hunt, gruesomely disfigure, and kill whoever is unlucky enough to be Called next. Even if you survive, (current chances are about 1 in 10), you'll likely be deformed, physically and mentally scarred.
Fun, right!?
Nessa, short for Vanessa, is one of a shrinking pool of students at a survival academy. No one expects her to survive when she's Called. She doesn't have full use of one of her legs due to having polio as a child, earning her the cruel nickname Clip-Clop. Most people think her parents should have been kind enough to poision her, or smother her in her sleep maybe. Others pity her.
Nessa is having none of that shit. She knows she's likely to die, but that just means she trains harder to be better, faster, stronger, and more agile. If she dies, well she dies, but she sure as hell isn't going to take it lying down.
Instead, it’s to be acid if she can’t hold on, fire if she can. There won’t be enough of her left to fill a teacup and everyone will say how they knew she’d never make it, but wasn’t it sweet the way she kept trying anyway? Really, very touching.
She has friends, enemies (dick-brain bullies, in addition to the Sídhe), and even a crush at the academy, but it's hard for Nessa to really connect with anyone. Training and surviving has to be her number one priority, and that doesn't leave much time for teenage hormones, or chances to be young and wild.
A higher proportion than ever before will be dead by Christmas. It’s going to be a bloodbath.
And, man, this gets gruesome! The Sídhe really love to think of creative ways to make the human form less human and more...disorganized? And I feel kind of bad for loving it as much as I do, but I really do! It's a book that's totally unafraid to permanently maim or kill it's characters. And these kids run, fight, kill, and maim right back. It's awesome and I love it.
The Sídhe has his hands on elbows, and just like that he begins to squeeze. The pain is the most intense the boy has ever known. So bad that it drives him to his knees, his eyes roll in his skull, and he dislocates his own jaw in his efforts to scream. And the Sídhe pinches off the arms like lengths of putty, before grabbing by the knees and working the same horrible miracle.
And I freaking LOVED the ending! It wrapped up so much of the story, but there's still more to tell. Honestly that thing. You know, that thing Nessa did? That was badass x 40 and I never saw it coming. I will almost always love unpredictable.
This whole book was such a fantastic delight, and I couldn't be more excited to read the sequel, whenever it comes out. Or before. I'll happily read it before.
Or tomorrow, I'm free tomorrow?
February 3, 2018
A fairy tale. One where the Fae play with people like Sid Phillips plays with toys. Well, as harmful and destructive, but they seem more alien. (Sid is Andy's sociopath neighbor in Toy Story if you're not up to speed on children's movies.) Along the lines of:
It's a genre blend of fantasy, horror, and folklore. A contemporary setting with Ireland as a cursed land cut-off from the rest of the world. Every teen is transported to the fairy world of the Grey Land for three minutes. Children train aggressively in preparation for the ordeal, but most return dead, grotesquely rearranged, or appear intact, but... Nessa is a decidedly odd and oddly likable heroine. A warrior stuck with the frail flesh of a 14-year old girl, who was permanently disabled by polio. The kindest people regard her as hopelessly doomed. But, she faces the inevitable challenge, which not even the strongest survive.
I realize fantasy horror with the grotesque parallel world of the Sidhe fairy race isn't for everyone. And, post-apocalyptic dystopian novels are easy to come by. But, there is some nice world-building, an unlikely protagonist, and an interesting blend of horror and folklore.
It is sold as fantasy for ages 12-16. School Library Journal cautions: "The language, sex, violence, and world of the Grey Land are more appropriate for mature fantasy fans."
As flies to wanton boys are we to the' gods,
They kill us for their sport.
—King Lear Act 4, scene 1, 32–37, William Shakespeare
It's a genre blend of fantasy, horror, and folklore. A contemporary setting with Ireland as a cursed land cut-off from the rest of the world. Every teen is transported to the fairy world of the Grey Land for three minutes. Children train aggressively in preparation for the ordeal, but most return dead, grotesquely rearranged, or appear intact, but... Nessa is a decidedly odd and oddly likable heroine. A warrior stuck with the frail flesh of a 14-year old girl, who was permanently disabled by polio. The kindest people regard her as hopelessly doomed. But, she faces the inevitable challenge, which not even the strongest survive.
I realize fantasy horror with the grotesque parallel world of the Sidhe fairy race isn't for everyone. And, post-apocalyptic dystopian novels are easy to come by. But, there is some nice world-building, an unlikely protagonist, and an interesting blend of horror and folklore.
It is sold as fantasy for ages 12-16. School Library Journal cautions: "The language, sex, violence, and world of the Grey Land are more appropriate for mature fantasy fans."
September 13, 2023
Could You Survive the Call?
NOTE: Read it for a second time and still give it four stars. I really had fun with this one and just love the amount of gore and disturbing images. MORE!
I haven't read anything quite like this book, then again I've only more recently gotten really into dystopian books. This book was quite a ride!
The Call is centered a group of kids that are training for when it's their turn to be Called. At the age of ten they are taken from those they know and love and put into a very strict and harsh school where they are trained to try and survive the horrors that are inevitably coming their way. The Sidhe are a race of fae that are hellbent on killing anyone they can from Ireland because the Irish took their land many years ago and forced them into a type of hell. The Sidhe only live to seek vengeance for the wrongs that have been done to them.
The Call is kind of a mix of The Hunger Games and a more adult horror book. The violence is all too real in this book and fairly disturbing. I actually would've liked them to go a little further with some of the descriptions and what happened to some of the kids. Maybe that makes me a sicko, it likely does! What can you do! I loved that a YA book was actually disturbing me though with some of the ideas it was throwing out. I won't give anything away because it's fun reading about it.
I don't understand why this book didn't get more hype. It deserves more. I saw a few large Booktubers mention it but it kind of disappeared from any discussion in YA books just as fast as it came. Shame.
I found the book fairly fast-paced but I know others have said differently. The book kept my interest though-out it all and I would've likely read it in one sitting if I didn't have five books on the go at the time. The main protagonist worked for me. I found her intelligent and I loved her drive. I also loved that the main character had a physical disability, I wish we would see more about disabilities in these types of books. So many of us can relate and identify with these types of characters and other people can learn a lot from just the normalization of disabilities in general. So bravo to the author of making his lead with a big challenge like that to overcome.
So, what didn't work for me? Why did I hold back on five stars? The characters were a little thin. There were some that when they got Called I had no clue who they were. That didn't mean I wasn't interested though. No, I didn't have any investment in those characters but I did have an investment in the world they entered. I wanted to know what was going on and what awful things they going to have to endure, so that didn't ruin it for me. I think the world building on both sides needed to be fleshed out more - I wasn't confused about anything, I just wanted more. I could've easily read another 100 pages on the world alone. I have no idea if that is a good or bad thing. I also had issues with the main character's best friend. I don't mind that she was crass but at times she felt a bit juvenile with all the potty humor. It made me roll my eyes a few times. Not my thing at all.
I'm not going to criticize that I don't know much more about Anto yet but only because another book is coming. I have no idea if it will be a series or a duology. I don't think that has been announced. I'm hoping that the author will take the time to let us get to know these characters better in the next one.
I highly recommend this book IF you can handle gore and violence. This book doesn't hold back even though it is a YA novel. I also should warn you that it does leave the book on a pretty big cliff hanger so if that is going to bother you then you might want to wait till the author releases the next story so you can find out what happens right away.
August 4, 2023
A quick and easy enough read.
Teenagers are disappearing into another world, and very few return.
Ireland has started these survival schools to train kids in combat and defence to raise their chances of surviving “the call”.
Nessa has cerebral palsy, and everyone believes her chances of survival are the slimmest. She is determined to prove them wrong.
Action packed, but I would have liked more description of the grey land, more world building and explanation. Maybe I’ll get more in the second book.
Teenagers are disappearing into another world, and very few return.
Ireland has started these survival schools to train kids in combat and defence to raise their chances of surviving “the call”.
Nessa has cerebral palsy, and everyone believes her chances of survival are the slimmest. She is determined to prove them wrong.
Action packed, but I would have liked more description of the grey land, more world building and explanation. Maybe I’ll get more in the second book.
August 3, 2019
LINK UPDATED
In the Iron Age, the people of Ireland chased the fairyfolk away and trapped them in a nightmarish other dimension. 25 years ago the Sidhe successfully cursed Ireland, cutting it off from the rest of the world, and began picking off its children.
Sometime between the ages of ten and seventeen, every child will be called to this nightmarish dimension without warning. There, naked and without any weapons, they must run and fight, and do whatever it takes to survive the day. If they make it through 24 hours in the Grey Land (three minutes and four seconds in our world), they can return home, though they will never be the same, because that other world is so very gruesome.
And if they catch you, well… you really don’t want them to catch you.
The rest of this review can be found HERE!
‘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.’
In the Iron Age, the people of Ireland chased the fairyfolk away and trapped them in a nightmarish other dimension. 25 years ago the Sidhe successfully cursed Ireland, cutting it off from the rest of the world, and began picking off its children.
Sometime between the ages of ten and seventeen, every child will be called to this nightmarish dimension without warning. There, naked and without any weapons, they must run and fight, and do whatever it takes to survive the day. If they make it through 24 hours in the Grey Land (three minutes and four seconds in our world), they can return home, though they will never be the same, because that other world is so very gruesome.
The silver landscape falls away in front of her like a scroll with a map drawn on it. Fairyland in its entirety: lakes of red fire, the only colour here, spewing and bubbling in the distance; forests growing terrible fruits; tornadoes, that look like a giant’s fingers digging into the soil; scattered lightening; burning rains and murderous flora of every kind.
The creature was once a human woman. Now she pads along on all fours. Her back legs bend the wrong way. Her jaws have grown thick and large with massive teeth that don’t fit properly together so that the mouth can never fully close, and a constant stream of drool hangs down from her chin. Her paws are still recognizably human hands. Her all-too human breasts hang down, catching on rocks and bushes so that Antoinette aches to see it and wishes she could do something to help.
A worse smell than usual tickles his nostrils. It began with Dagda’s arrival. He sees why when he looks at the man’t clothing, and he gasps, for the hem of each sleeve is a set of human lips – a whole human mouth, in fact, panting in distress around the Sidhe’s wrists, while a tiny trail of what might be vomit drips away to the ground.
And if they catch you, well… you really don’t want them to catch you.
The boy’s body reappears and thumps down hard onto the floor. Nessa is relieved to see that it’s not one of the really awful ones. There’s nothing to churn the stomach here, other than a little blood and a set of tiny antlers growing from the back of his head. The Sidhe can be a lot more imaginative than that, and they even have what experts refer to as a ‘sense of fun’. Nessa shivers.
And suddenly something is there: not a corpse and far too large for a human being. Two metres high, it stands on four legs that end in a parody of a man’s toes. Its skin is the pale white of most Irish, but it has stretched so thinly over such a large frame that parts of it lie torn and bleeding.
The next morning is Halloween. To celebrate, the Sidhe have left a gift in the boy’s dorm. It is Keith, one of the Round Table. They have sculpted his face into a delicate flower of blood and skin.
The rest of this review can be found HERE!
February 24, 2021
"She says, "I'm going to live. And nobody's going to stop me." She believes every word of it."
Look at me procrastinating and actually writing my reviews. Yey for me. But moving on. This was one of the most horrifying books I have ever read. This is pitched as the next Hunger Games and I understand this. It actually managed to do what The Hunger Games couldn't for me. I found THG to be pretty overrated, but this actually did the damn thing. I was engaged through out most of the book and I actually liked the characters. This book was so entertaining that I managed to read it in two sittings!!
So you might ask what this book is about and basically the Irish people thousands of years ago have took over the land of the faerie people called, the Sidhe, and made them move in a place that's, simply put, hell. And now to get their revenge, during their teenage years, everyone is "Called" for 3 minutes. But of course, time is different in the faerie world, so they actually spend a whole day there and most kids don't survive their Call, but those who do, don't come back the same.
Now you can probably tell why this is pitched as "the next Hunger Games". At the same time, it's similar to The Hunger Games and not. It gave me the same feelings THG did, but this did a better job at impressing me. I just found the story to be way more entertaining. Although I have to say I prefer Suzanne Collins' writing style over this author's. Like Collins' writing style was excellent, 10/10, while this author's was kinda meh and I would give it a 6/10. It was alright, just nothing impressing.
As I said before this is one of the most horrifying books, I have ever read. The main character in this book, Nessa, who is also disabled by the way, is 14 years old. 14! And that's the age most people are Called. They are tortured by the Sidhe, some manage to survive their called, but they never return the same. They endure so many horors there. And those who don't survive return mutilated! Imagine living in this world... I wouldn't survive the first five minutes of my Call!
The plot was engaging for the most part and I couldn't put it down. I was not joking when I said I read it in two sittings. There were so much at stakes and I needed to know if Nessa and the other characters will survive or not. I was captivated from page one and I kept turning the pages until I have no more pages to read.
I really liked the cast of characters. Especially Anto. He was just so sweet! I don't really have a favourite character in this book, as I felt like we didn't delve deep enough for me to actually feel a connection with any of them, but I do have to say Anto is the one I was most concerned for. I also really liked Megan, Nessa's closest friend. There was just something so likeable about her and I loved how much she and Nessa actually cared for eachother.
I need to rant a bit about Conor. He was one of the most pathetic characters I have ever read about. Him and his whole gang. Like what the hell is wrong with him?! I wanted to strangle him from the beginning of the book. How can someone be as pathetic as him?
I think this book is considered horror, but I wouldn't say it actually is a horror book. I've never been scared while reading this book, but I've been horrified and for me, there's a difference between the two and I would consider this book more of a thriller than horror, to be completely honest.
I really liked this book, it's not a favourite book of mine by any means, but it's extremely entertaining and addictive, and also if you loved The Hunger Games do definitely give this a try. It's so worth it.
Look at me procrastinating and actually writing my reviews. Yey for me. But moving on. This was one of the most horrifying books I have ever read. This is pitched as the next Hunger Games and I understand this. It actually managed to do what The Hunger Games couldn't for me. I found THG to be pretty overrated, but this actually did the damn thing. I was engaged through out most of the book and I actually liked the characters. This book was so entertaining that I managed to read it in two sittings!!
So you might ask what this book is about and basically the Irish people thousands of years ago have took over the land of the faerie people called, the Sidhe, and made them move in a place that's, simply put, hell. And now to get their revenge, during their teenage years, everyone is "Called" for 3 minutes. But of course, time is different in the faerie world, so they actually spend a whole day there and most kids don't survive their Call, but those who do, don't come back the same.
Now you can probably tell why this is pitched as "the next Hunger Games". At the same time, it's similar to The Hunger Games and not. It gave me the same feelings THG did, but this did a better job at impressing me. I just found the story to be way more entertaining. Although I have to say I prefer Suzanne Collins' writing style over this author's. Like Collins' writing style was excellent, 10/10, while this author's was kinda meh and I would give it a 6/10. It was alright, just nothing impressing.
As I said before this is one of the most horrifying books, I have ever read. The main character in this book, Nessa, who is also disabled by the way, is 14 years old. 14! And that's the age most people are Called. They are tortured by the Sidhe, some manage to survive their called, but they never return the same. They endure so many horors there. And those who don't survive return mutilated! Imagine living in this world... I wouldn't survive the first five minutes of my Call!
The plot was engaging for the most part and I couldn't put it down. I was not joking when I said I read it in two sittings. There were so much at stakes and I needed to know if Nessa and the other characters will survive or not. I was captivated from page one and I kept turning the pages until I have no more pages to read.
I really liked the cast of characters. Especially Anto. He was just so sweet! I don't really have a favourite character in this book, as I felt like we didn't delve deep enough for me to actually feel a connection with any of them, but I do have to say Anto is the one I was most concerned for. I also really liked Megan, Nessa's closest friend. There was just something so likeable about her and I loved how much she and Nessa actually cared for eachother.
I need to rant a bit about Conor. He was one of the most pathetic characters I have ever read about. Him and his whole gang. Like what the hell is wrong with him?! I wanted to strangle him from the beginning of the book. How can someone be as pathetic as him?
I think this book is considered horror, but I wouldn't say it actually is a horror book. I've never been scared while reading this book, but I've been horrified and for me, there's a difference between the two and I would consider this book more of a thriller than horror, to be completely honest.
I really liked this book, it's not a favourite book of mine by any means, but it's extremely entertaining and addictive, and also if you loved The Hunger Games do definitely give this a try. It's so worth it.
November 7, 2016
3.75* The whole time reading this I couldn't stop thinking that this book is perfect for fans of Stranger Things. I recently watched and loved the show and this gave me major Stranger Things vibes. It was eerie and not afraid to be a little disturbing and push boundaries. It was definitely a fun read! I did find the ending slightly anticlimactic and I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style (which I eventually got used to and it didn't take away from the enjoyment of the story.) The Call was a twisted, creepy read and a great book to read around Halloween!!
September 28, 2016
This book had a lot of hype and therefore I was expecting a lot from it it had an interesting enough premise for me but the problem was the pacing. I thought it was too slow and the characters just didn't seem like people you could root for. Here they were in this dire situation and I couldn't root for anyone to come out on top or be the hero. Maybe the point was there wasn't suppose to be one but I usually like books that have heroes.
Nessa was just completely apathetic most of the time and when she wasn't she couldn't make up her mind about liking Anto which bothered me a lot too. I felt, partway through the book, like there was not a purpose or resolution coming to the end of the book. I even said in my status update that I was wondering if this was just going to be a collection of stories about kids getting murdered.
The writing style was something that also threw me off. It would start in 1st person and then go into third person and I guess many books might do this too but it was glaring in this one. I couldn't always follow if Nessa was talking or if someone else was referring to her only to find out that she was talking about herself in third person.
The end of this book was anticlimactic but I was just glad to get to it at all. I had to push myself in the last half of this book and it took me over 8 hrs to finally get up the will to read the last 37 pages. A lot of people enjoyed this book so maybe overall it just didn't agree with me. Oh well.
Nessa was just completely apathetic most of the time and when she wasn't she couldn't make up her mind about liking Anto which bothered me a lot too. I felt, partway through the book, like there was not a purpose or resolution coming to the end of the book. I even said in my status update that I was wondering if this was just going to be a collection of stories about kids getting murdered.
The writing style was something that also threw me off. It would start in 1st person and then go into third person and I guess many books might do this too but it was glaring in this one. I couldn't always follow if Nessa was talking or if someone else was referring to her only to find out that she was talking about herself in third person.
The end of this book was anticlimactic but I was just glad to get to it at all. I had to push myself in the last half of this book and it took me over 8 hrs to finally get up the will to read the last 37 pages. A lot of people enjoyed this book so maybe overall it just didn't agree with me. Oh well.
July 3, 2017
RECENCJA FILMOWA - https://youtu.be/4dD-lZQvEik
WELL……………
Jedna z najdziwniejszych książek jakie ostatnio czytałem.
+ ABSURDALNA fabuła, a jednak wciąga z każdą stroną kiedy zaczynamy rozumieć o co chodzi
+ nie oszczędza czytelnikowi makabrycznych opisów, naprawdę przeraża (czemu dla mnie to jest plus… chyba coś jest ze mną nie tak)
+ czegoś takiego jeszcze nie było
+ współczesność powieści, różnorodność i reprezentacje
- luki fabularno/logiczne
- za dużo dzieje się na raz, można pogubić się w danej sytuacji
- za mało pogłębiona psychologia bohaterów
Ostatnia kwestia - to nie jest typowa dystopia, bardziej taka fantastyka. Tylko mówię, bo ja byłem w błędzie zanim zabrałem się za czytanie ;)
February 26, 2018
4.5 stars for this chilling and gloomy, and in parts downright gruesome and upsetting alternative-reality tale about a group of Irish teens struggling to survive the assaults of the revengeful faeries and their deadly realm.
15 years ago, Ireland was cut off from the rest of the world by magic, everyone who tried to escape by air or by sea would mysteriously vanish without a trace. Even worse, the Irish teenagers started to experience a strange and horrifying phenomena named The Call: out of the blue, teenagers around 14 to 18 would be spirited away (always in front of their shell shocked friends and loved ones) from the human world to the realm of the faeries for the total of 3 minutes and 4 seconds, and during these 3 minutes the revengeful and merciless faeries would hunt those teenagers like preys before the latter were magically sent back (dead or alive or changed) to where they came from; since time flowed differently in the Grey Land than the human world, 3 short minutes of struggling for survival could last from hours to one whole day in the Grey Land.
Our main characters are a bunch of students in one of the Irish Nation's survival colleges --due to the effort of the training system, the survival rate had been increased from 1:100 to 1:10 after years of training the teens against the inescapable horror of the faeries (as you can imagine 15 years on there aren't many young people left as a whole). We mainly follow the stories of a 14 years old girl named Nessa and her friends' as they prepare themselves for the horror of The Call.
No one expects Nessa to survive The Call, since how can you expect a girl with a pair of bad legs to outrun the faerie hunters and their monsters when countless of able-body teens had already failed?
It is an overwhelmingly dark, twisted tale about the faeries (and it is set in a modern world setting which is familiar to our own world), I really like the author's imagination--especially the many horrors in the Grey Land, I found some of the details truly disgusting--not only because of the on-screen violence against the teens (there are plenty) but because of the faeries' cruelty to their captives and their awful, twisted imagination.
As a whole I like the story lines, I also like how the author described the different reaction among the students (bravado, denial, etc) and the details of their training and school's activities. I don't particularly like these main characters but I do think they are reasonable and understandable enough (at least no one is being a drama queen or getting into annoying love triangle when their lives are on the line). So I will look forward to the next book.
15 years ago, Ireland was cut off from the rest of the world by magic, everyone who tried to escape by air or by sea would mysteriously vanish without a trace. Even worse, the Irish teenagers started to experience a strange and horrifying phenomena named The Call: out of the blue, teenagers around 14 to 18 would be spirited away (always in front of their shell shocked friends and loved ones) from the human world to the realm of the faeries for the total of 3 minutes and 4 seconds, and during these 3 minutes the revengeful and merciless faeries would hunt those teenagers like preys before the latter were magically sent back (dead or alive or changed) to where they came from; since time flowed differently in the Grey Land than the human world, 3 short minutes of struggling for survival could last from hours to one whole day in the Grey Land.
Our main characters are a bunch of students in one of the Irish Nation's survival colleges --due to the effort of the training system, the survival rate had been increased from 1:100 to 1:10 after years of training the teens against the inescapable horror of the faeries (as you can imagine 15 years on there aren't many young people left as a whole). We mainly follow the stories of a 14 years old girl named Nessa and her friends' as they prepare themselves for the horror of The Call.
No one expects Nessa to survive The Call, since how can you expect a girl with a pair of bad legs to outrun the faerie hunters and their monsters when countless of able-body teens had already failed?
It is an overwhelmingly dark, twisted tale about the faeries (and it is set in a modern world setting which is familiar to our own world), I really like the author's imagination--especially the many horrors in the Grey Land, I found some of the details truly disgusting--not only because of the on-screen violence against the teens (there are plenty) but because of the faeries' cruelty to their captives and their awful, twisted imagination.
As a whole I like the story lines, I also like how the author described the different reaction among the students (bravado, denial, etc) and the details of their training and school's activities. I don't particularly like these main characters but I do think they are reasonable and understandable enough (at least no one is being a drama queen or getting into annoying love triangle when their lives are on the line). So I will look forward to the next book.
November 2, 2016
The people of Ireland have been facing the Call for the last twenty-five years and there's no avoiding it. The Sidhe are finally getting their revenge for having been driven under the mounds thousands of years ago. Those from age 11 to 16 could be Called from their lives into the world of the Sidhe without any warning for 24 hours - well, 3 minutes and four seconds in the human world. For all of those who get called the survival rate is only about 1 in 10, but that's much higher than it was in the beginning. Even if you are one of the lucky ones to make it back, chances are still very high that you will have all sorts of physical, mental, and emotional scars.
I'm glad I stumbled upon a sampler of The Call at Barnes & Noble and was able to find a final copy via the library. I was very impressed by this unique and twisted vision bringing Irish mythology in to the present. Our main character, Nessa, is very determined to survive and she's quite strong physically and mentally even though she still shows the signs of having contracted polio as a child. Although, she is disabled she never thinks less of herself in a society that constantly does. She knows that she has to keep her mind to her future, and making it through her Call in alive. We also get a good look at many other characters who attend Nessa's Call survival college - their personalities, outlooks, and the horrors of the Sidhe world through their eyes. Personally, I would have preferred to have primarily stayed with Nessa, I still enjoyed jumping into these other perspectives. Sometimes though, these changes in perspective could be very abrupt and at times difficult to keep up with. The author's world-building skills are excellent and well-developed. I loved getting a new look into Irish mythology, which is quite refreshing to see in YA. This makes me wish there were more like it, particularly the dark, gritty, and thoroughly inhuman side of fairies.
Overall, The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín is a twisty page turner that had me glued to the pages. I honestly hope that somehow we will return to this author's world, but in the meantime I'll definitely be looking into his Bone World Trilogy. If you like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, you may also enjoy The Call.
I'm glad I stumbled upon a sampler of The Call at Barnes & Noble and was able to find a final copy via the library. I was very impressed by this unique and twisted vision bringing Irish mythology in to the present. Our main character, Nessa, is very determined to survive and she's quite strong physically and mentally even though she still shows the signs of having contracted polio as a child. Although, she is disabled she never thinks less of herself in a society that constantly does. She knows that she has to keep her mind to her future, and making it through her Call in alive. We also get a good look at many other characters who attend Nessa's Call survival college - their personalities, outlooks, and the horrors of the Sidhe world through their eyes. Personally, I would have preferred to have primarily stayed with Nessa, I still enjoyed jumping into these other perspectives. Sometimes though, these changes in perspective could be very abrupt and at times difficult to keep up with. The author's world-building skills are excellent and well-developed. I loved getting a new look into Irish mythology, which is quite refreshing to see in YA. This makes me wish there were more like it, particularly the dark, gritty, and thoroughly inhuman side of fairies.
Overall, The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín is a twisty page turner that had me glued to the pages. I honestly hope that somehow we will return to this author's world, but in the meantime I'll definitely be looking into his Bone World Trilogy. If you like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, you may also enjoy The Call.
September 17, 2022
If you're within the sound of my voice -- or, more appropriately, the sight of my written words -- please take this as a given: I want to sit you down, shove this book into your hands, and insist that you read it. Now.
Don't let my Goodreads reading dates fool you, either. I've read this twice already.
It may be easy to overlook what a stunning achievement this novel represents, but that's because Peadar Ó Guilín makes it seem so effortless as he draws the reader on from one page-turning moment to the next. It is a stunning achievement nonetheless, with its meditation on how a people's history returns to them for rectification; its all-too-relevant consideration of culture in its descent ("I don't care if I don't make it... I mean it. The country is done for, and we all know that's the truth. Aiofe is right. Even the survivors have nothing to look forward to except decline..."); its seamless world building, folding real and mythic Irish history, language, and poetry (such poetry!) into its storytelling ("Never has a generation of Irish children been so aware of its own folklore"); its related and stunning sense of place; and its utterly compelling depiction of a three-dimensional, dynamic, and partially disabled heroine.
As both a fan and scholar of young adult dystopias, I don't sell the genre short, but I feel confident in saying that The Call transcends the labels others would place on it. Both adult and YA readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror will find much to appreciate here.
The premise is this: Ireland is a nation cut off from the rest of the world, plagued by terrible retribution. Thousands of years after the Sidhe (the people of the mounds, the followers of the Goddess Danu) were displaced by the Irish and banished to a colorless netherworld, they have returned with a vengeance to destroy those who removed them. Every Irish child will face the three minutes of the Call during his or her adolescence. Few return alive, and most of those are distorted and twisted beyond recognition. Nessa, whose polio-weakened legs all but promise she will not outrun the Sidhe when her time comes, stubbornly prepares to meet the Call and win her survival.
What I appreciate most -- and that's saying a lot, considering how much I love about this novel -- is the nuanced, insightful way The Call handles the question of, and challenges readers about, conquest and conflict. What are the causes and costs of war? How we determine who is responsible? What does it mean to be guilty/innocent or winning/losing?
Take for instance this passage:
"'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. You can read it in The Book of Conquests. I mean, look at it from their point of view.... There they were, a few thousand years ago, living in a place they loved so much that they called it the Many-Colored Land. Then this other group arrives, pretty much the same as them, speaking the same language even, except this new lot -- our ancestors -- were the first in the world to have iron weapons. They thought it gave them the right to take everything! Everything!'"
And this one:
"'How long must I wait?' she asks the mirror in Sidhe.
"As a survivor, she doesn't need to speak the language anymore. But many like her are more comfortable in it than English, and since they have no choice but to marry each other, the primary schools of the country are filling with tiny tots whose innocent mouths spout the long-dead language of their distant ancestors, which also happens to be the living, never-changing tongue of the enemy. Some day, she thinks, we will be them, a greater victory for the Sidhe than if they kill us all."
Like all great speculative fiction, The Call provides us metaphors by which we can question our condition and examine current issues in our world today. It also provides a window into history, poetry, and our common humanity. And it does so while providing a haunting, bone-chilling ride.
Don't let my Goodreads reading dates fool you, either. I've read this twice already.
It may be easy to overlook what a stunning achievement this novel represents, but that's because Peadar Ó Guilín makes it seem so effortless as he draws the reader on from one page-turning moment to the next. It is a stunning achievement nonetheless, with its meditation on how a people's history returns to them for rectification; its all-too-relevant consideration of culture in its descent ("I don't care if I don't make it... I mean it. The country is done for, and we all know that's the truth. Aiofe is right. Even the survivors have nothing to look forward to except decline..."); its seamless world building, folding real and mythic Irish history, language, and poetry (such poetry!) into its storytelling ("Never has a generation of Irish children been so aware of its own folklore"); its related and stunning sense of place; and its utterly compelling depiction of a three-dimensional, dynamic, and partially disabled heroine.
As both a fan and scholar of young adult dystopias, I don't sell the genre short, but I feel confident in saying that The Call transcends the labels others would place on it. Both adult and YA readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror will find much to appreciate here.
The premise is this: Ireland is a nation cut off from the rest of the world, plagued by terrible retribution. Thousands of years after the Sidhe (the people of the mounds, the followers of the Goddess Danu) were displaced by the Irish and banished to a colorless netherworld, they have returned with a vengeance to destroy those who removed them. Every Irish child will face the three minutes of the Call during his or her adolescence. Few return alive, and most of those are distorted and twisted beyond recognition. Nessa, whose polio-weakened legs all but promise she will not outrun the Sidhe when her time comes, stubbornly prepares to meet the Call and win her survival.
What I appreciate most -- and that's saying a lot, considering how much I love about this novel -- is the nuanced, insightful way The Call handles the question of, and challenges readers about, conquest and conflict. What are the causes and costs of war? How we determine who is responsible? What does it mean to be guilty/innocent or winning/losing?
Take for instance this passage:
"'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. You can read it in The Book of Conquests. I mean, look at it from their point of view.... There they were, a few thousand years ago, living in a place they loved so much that they called it the Many-Colored Land. Then this other group arrives, pretty much the same as them, speaking the same language even, except this new lot -- our ancestors -- were the first in the world to have iron weapons. They thought it gave them the right to take everything! Everything!'"
And this one:
"'How long must I wait?' she asks the mirror in Sidhe.
"As a survivor, she doesn't need to speak the language anymore. But many like her are more comfortable in it than English, and since they have no choice but to marry each other, the primary schools of the country are filling with tiny tots whose innocent mouths spout the long-dead language of their distant ancestors, which also happens to be the living, never-changing tongue of the enemy. Some day, she thinks, we will be them, a greater victory for the Sidhe than if they kill us all."
Like all great speculative fiction, The Call provides us metaphors by which we can question our condition and examine current issues in our world today. It also provides a window into history, poetry, and our common humanity. And it does so while providing a haunting, bone-chilling ride.
June 18, 2019
What was I thinking?! I discovered this book in 2016 and gave my initial read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. What?? This is clearly a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book! I’d borrow more stars right now if that was possible!
Put to the ultimate test for your survival, you will find out exactly what you’re made of when you’re Called; literally if you’re not quick enough, wily enough or lucky enough. At some point during your adolescence you will be Called to the Grey Land. Your body will return, dead, alive or somewhere in between, exactly three minutes and four seconds after you disappear, but in the Grey Land you must survive an entire day of horror beyond measure.
Cowards have the opportunity to become heroes. Those who are certain they will survive aren’t so sure once they breathe in the acrid air and encounter the first of the Sídhe (fairy, in English) who want to play with them, agonisingly twisting and reshaping their body beyond recognition.
While at first glance it seems clear who the monsters of this story are, the longer I read the more I questioned my initial judgement. It appears there are monsters on both sides of this war and I felt some surprising empathy for the Sídhe as I learned more of their history.
I have the Hugo Awards to thank for finally getting my act together to reread it. The Invasion is a finalist in the 2019 Hugo Awards category, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, so I had the perfect excuse to revisit the awesome horror of the Grey Land in The Call.
Books within the book: I wish I could get my hands on the hundred page History of the Sídhe book mentioned in The Call, as well as all the volumes of the Testimonies.
Content warnings include ableism, sexual assault, bullying, physical assaults and torture, mental health, and brief mentions of family violence and suicidal ideation.
Put to the ultimate test for your survival, you will find out exactly what you’re made of when you’re Called; literally if you’re not quick enough, wily enough or lucky enough. At some point during your adolescence you will be Called to the Grey Land. Your body will return, dead, alive or somewhere in between, exactly three minutes and four seconds after you disappear, but in the Grey Land you must survive an entire day of horror beyond measure.
Cowards have the opportunity to become heroes. Those who are certain they will survive aren’t so sure once they breathe in the acrid air and encounter the first of the Sídhe (fairy, in English) who want to play with them, agonisingly twisting and reshaping their body beyond recognition.
‘The Nation must survive! The future is ours!’With only one out of ten people surviving the Call it’s wise to not get too emotionally attached to anyone. However it’s impossible not to have a few of the teens penetrate your protective emotional armour. My favourite character doesn’t survive their Call but their time in the Grey Land proved to me exactly why I loved them from the moment I met them.
While at first glance it seems clear who the monsters of this story are, the longer I read the more I questioned my initial judgement. It appears there are monsters on both sides of this war and I felt some surprising empathy for the Sídhe as I learned more of their history.
This is the spirit of the Call itself. Deadly and inevitable and imminent.This is one seriously messed up fairy (Sídhe) tale and I love it! It’s a brutal and at times quite gory story, with characters I cheered on to survive (or otherwise), and locations that came to life in my mind. This is definitely not a world I would ever want to visit because there’s no way I’d survive the Call, but I was fully immersed the entire time in this imaginative, well thought out world.
I have the Hugo Awards to thank for finally getting my act together to reread it. The Invasion is a finalist in the 2019 Hugo Awards category, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, so I had the perfect excuse to revisit the awesome horror of the Grey Land in The Call.
Books within the book: I wish I could get my hands on the hundred page History of the Sídhe book mentioned in The Call, as well as all the volumes of the Testimonies.
Content warnings include ableism, sexual assault, bullying, physical assaults and torture, mental health, and brief mentions of family violence and suicidal ideation.
October 12, 2016
Wtf did I just read?
*******
Alright so I really don't have a ton to say about this book. It was just really freaking strange. It wasn't scary in the least. It was just weird. And I still don't even understand what happened. It also has a TON of very foul, vulgar language that was just completely unnecessary and just...wow. I feel like I could rant about this fact for 30 years but I won't get into it here. So, I went into this book with little to no expectations because I was hearing mediocre things from most of my friends. So, I mean, it could have been worse. I did finish it and I did want to know what would happen at the end. The ending was pretty anticlimactic IMO as well but whatever lol. I guess it wasn't AS BAD as I thought. Once again we have a 3rd person omniscient narrator which generally confuse and annoy me, so that didn't really help the whole situation. Yeah it was weird and unnecessary honestly. Meh.
*******
Alright so I really don't have a ton to say about this book. It was just really freaking strange. It wasn't scary in the least. It was just weird. And I still don't even understand what happened. It also has a TON of very foul, vulgar language that was just completely unnecessary and just...wow. I feel like I could rant about this fact for 30 years but I won't get into it here. So, I went into this book with little to no expectations because I was hearing mediocre things from most of my friends. So, I mean, it could have been worse. I did finish it and I did want to know what would happen at the end. The ending was pretty anticlimactic IMO as well but whatever lol. I guess it wasn't AS BAD as I thought. Once again we have a 3rd person omniscient narrator which generally confuse and annoy me, so that didn't really help the whole situation. Yeah it was weird and unnecessary honestly. Meh.
October 28, 2016
4.5 stars
This book has a raw and stripped-down quality that enhances the grim story of the Sidhe exacting their revenge on the humans who took Ireland from them. Excellent storytelling and characters make it a real page turner.
This book has a raw and stripped-down quality that enhances the grim story of the Sidhe exacting their revenge on the humans who took Ireland from them. Excellent storytelling and characters make it a real page turner.
December 27, 2016
Give me more *sobs*
July 25, 2017
3,5 stars.
If you can’t wait for “Stranger Things” to come back, this disturbing horror story might sooth your hunger.
The Call
is a teenage dystopia book far darker than the others, with a kickass main character that doesn’t let her physical disability stand in her way.
2000 years ago, the people of Ireland banished the fairyfolk to the hellish Grey Lands. As punishment, the faeries initiated "the Call", in which any Irish child between the age of ten and seventeen suddenly gets taken away to those Lands for three minutes. In the fairyworld however those minutes are 24 hours, in which you will be constantly hunted by a bloodthirsty group of Sidhe. Only 1 in 10 teenagers makes it through the Call, but they will bear the mental and physical scars for the rest of their lives.
In this book you follow a group of student training in a survival academy; our main character is a 14-year-old girl named Nessa who contracted Polio as a child and now can’t fully use her legs. Despite her disability and everyone thinking she’d be better off dead, Nessa is determinate to survive the Call and prove everyone wrong.
The tiny skulls on the cover should be warning enough, but I was horrifyingly shocked by the brutal hunts and the terrifying atmosphere of this book. As if the fact that you can get “Called” at any time, without any warning, isn’t scary enough, the descriptions of the Grey Lands themselves and the hunts will certainly twist your stomach. No matter how heavily the teenagers are trained to survive, nothing can prepare them for facing beings like this:
Even more awful is that once those 3 minutes are done, the child – either dead or alive - is send back to our world, showing to everyone what the fairies do to the teenagers they…catch
Bloody, twisted and disturbing, but this horrifying setting was actually the strongest part of the book for me. What I loved less was the way this story is told – by switching a lot between perspectives – and how there were simply too many characters and not enough development. I’d loved to get to know Anto and Megan better, or read more about Nessa’s struggles with her disability, instead of following a teen that will most likely die in the next ten pages. The latter works in illustrating the brutality of the fairies, but not when the author writes about ‘high-school’ life at the academy.
But although the characters are a bit thin and the ending was wrapped up a tad too quickly, it’s been a long time since a book surprised me like this one. If you want to read a highly original dark YA novel with an one-of-a-kind main character, read The Call - but only if you can handle gore and descriptions like above.
2000 years ago, the people of Ireland banished the fairyfolk to the hellish Grey Lands. As punishment, the faeries initiated "the Call", in which any Irish child between the age of ten and seventeen suddenly gets taken away to those Lands for three minutes. In the fairyworld however those minutes are 24 hours, in which you will be constantly hunted by a bloodthirsty group of Sidhe. Only 1 in 10 teenagers makes it through the Call, but they will bear the mental and physical scars for the rest of their lives.
In this book you follow a group of student training in a survival academy; our main character is a 14-year-old girl named Nessa who contracted Polio as a child and now can’t fully use her legs. Despite her disability and everyone thinking she’d be better off dead, Nessa is determinate to survive the Call and prove everyone wrong.
The tiny skulls on the cover should be warning enough, but I was horrifyingly shocked by the brutal hunts and the terrifying atmosphere of this book. As if the fact that you can get “Called” at any time, without any warning, isn’t scary enough, the descriptions of the Grey Lands themselves and the hunts will certainly twist your stomach. No matter how heavily the teenagers are trained to survive, nothing can prepare them for facing beings like this:
“The creature was once a human woman. Now she pads along on all fours. Her back legs bend the wrong way. Her jaws have grown thick and large with massive teeth that don’t fit properly together so that the mouth can never fully close, and a constant stream of drool hangs down from her chin. Her paws are still recognizably human hands. Her all-too human breasts hang down, catching on rocks and bushes so that Antoinette aches to see it and wishes she could do something to help.”
Even more awful is that once those 3 minutes are done, the child – either dead or alive - is send back to our world, showing to everyone what the fairies do to the teenagers they…catch
“The next morning is Halloween. To celebrate, the Sidhe have left a gift in the boy’s dorm. It is Keith, one of the Round Table. They have sculpted his face into a delicate flower of blood and skin."
Bloody, twisted and disturbing, but this horrifying setting was actually the strongest part of the book for me. What I loved less was the way this story is told – by switching a lot between perspectives – and how there were simply too many characters and not enough development. I’d loved to get to know Anto and Megan better, or read more about Nessa’s struggles with her disability, instead of following a teen that will most likely die in the next ten pages. The latter works in illustrating the brutality of the fairies, but not when the author writes about ‘high-school’ life at the academy.
But although the characters are a bit thin and the ending was wrapped up a tad too quickly, it’s been a long time since a book surprised me like this one. If you want to read a highly original dark YA novel with an one-of-a-kind main character, read The Call - but only if you can handle gore and descriptions like above.
September 2, 2016
The Call is a book that I'll have on my mind for quite some time- more horror than anything else and quite a gruesome tale the author tells. With a 1 in 10 chance of survival in this book- the odds are truly against you. The book was extremely fast-paced, - I would have loved to see more character development but it's still really good. I would suggest this to people who like horror, survival stories, and just a unique type of books in general.
February 21, 2017
She says, "I'm going to live. And nobody's going to stop me." She believes every word of it.
Being a teenager is hard enough. It's been years since that time in my life, but I remember. In The Call, teenagers in alternate-reality Ireland have to deal with one more thing: the constant threat of disappearing for 3 minutes, only to return horrifically mutated and likely dead, all at the hands of vicious Sídhe (the Fair Folk) pursuers acting out of revenge and hatred for humans. This is The Call, which has been occurring for 25 years at the point when we're introduced to the characters in this book. Teens attend survival schools, the academic pursuits of previous generations eschewed in favor of learning about the flora and fauna of the Grey Lands where the Sídhe reside (and where the teens end up when they are called), intense outdoor training simulating Sídhe hunts, and poring over the written accounts of the few survivors that return alive, having outrun the Sídhe during their time in the Grey Lands.
This is the kind of story that commanded my full attention from the outset and never let go. The cast of characters is what you would come to expect of high school students, almost every expected archetype is on display here. One character worth noting is the protagonist, Nessa. When the Sídhe enacted The Calling, it cut Ireland off from the rest of the world. As such, access to modern-day medicine steadily declined. As a child, Nessa did not receive the vaccine to protect her against polio, and she is struck with the disease, leaving her legs weakened. Considering the overarching storyline, one would immediately assume she is at a terrible disadvantage. Her legs may not be strong like her classmates, but her mind and will to live are stronger than most. Her classmates often comment upon her singular focus and intense self-restraint, as these are traits often attributed to survivors of The Call. I appreciate authors that feature protagonists with a different voice and motivation than what is typically seen within a genre, in this case a main character with a physical disability who is thankfully not used as a source of pity.
Definitely worth the read. There is a strong horror element woven throughout the story, so if you love nighmare fuel, you are in luck.
Being a teenager is hard enough. It's been years since that time in my life, but I remember. In The Call, teenagers in alternate-reality Ireland have to deal with one more thing: the constant threat of disappearing for 3 minutes, only to return horrifically mutated and likely dead, all at the hands of vicious Sídhe (the Fair Folk) pursuers acting out of revenge and hatred for humans. This is The Call, which has been occurring for 25 years at the point when we're introduced to the characters in this book. Teens attend survival schools, the academic pursuits of previous generations eschewed in favor of learning about the flora and fauna of the Grey Lands where the Sídhe reside (and where the teens end up when they are called), intense outdoor training simulating Sídhe hunts, and poring over the written accounts of the few survivors that return alive, having outrun the Sídhe during their time in the Grey Lands.
This is the kind of story that commanded my full attention from the outset and never let go. The cast of characters is what you would come to expect of high school students, almost every expected archetype is on display here. One character worth noting is the protagonist, Nessa. When the Sídhe enacted The Calling, it cut Ireland off from the rest of the world. As such, access to modern-day medicine steadily declined. As a child, Nessa did not receive the vaccine to protect her against polio, and she is struck with the disease, leaving her legs weakened. Considering the overarching storyline, one would immediately assume she is at a terrible disadvantage. Her legs may not be strong like her classmates, but her mind and will to live are stronger than most. Her classmates often comment upon her singular focus and intense self-restraint, as these are traits often attributed to survivors of The Call. I appreciate authors that feature protagonists with a different voice and motivation than what is typically seen within a genre, in this case a main character with a physical disability who is thankfully not used as a source of pity.
Definitely worth the read. There is a strong horror element woven throughout the story, so if you love nighmare fuel, you are in luck.
October 30, 2016
I have read some good reviews about The Call, so I decided to give it a try myself...
Well, I liked it, not as much as I expected to.
The story is set in future Ireland which is cut off from the rest of the world. The population is aged because of The Call. Years ago the Irish people chased down the Sídhe to the Grey Lands and now the Sídhe want to take revenge and gain back their land. They call teenagers to the Grey Land and they have a kind of a fight with them, they kill them or twist them in the strangest ways. In the normal world this lasta only 3 minutes and four seconds, but in the Grey Lands it might be even a day. So teenagers in Ireland spend their life preparing and training for the Call, because they may be called at any time. We follow Nessa a girl suffering from polio ( a desease affecting her legs) training for the Call in a survival school. One of the many Ireland has. Despite her problem she doesn't give up.
Well, in the beginning (until the half of the book I could say), I could not tell where everything was going. The point of it. Ok. We see how teenagers prepare, we see what happens to some of them in the Grey Lands. So?????? The interesting part for me, took a little longer to come up which is no good... Something else I found distressing were the names. They were too many, and all seemed similar to me. I couldn't even tell if they where male or female. I was looking for the pronouns to define it. Another negative in the book was the repetition of the word "grin' and " grinning". It was used countless times!! Come on!!!! Wasn't there anything else to use. And for the sake of repetition what was that thing about the promises?? Give me something to give you something else in exchange! I mean it was good, but up to a point. It was used far too many times!!
On the other hand though, there were some positive elements. The beginning, to start with. The first two chapters were dynamic and with action. The scene on the bus. That it what I'm talking about. Something else that I found interesting, was the way that the callings were made. When someone was called, that was happenning a in a moment that I didn't expect. It came out the blue, and in that way I could sympathise with the characters. It created the appropriate tension for the chapter to follow which usually was about how the Called person experienced the Grey Land. The description were vivid. Too explicit I would say, but that is something I loved!!
This is a book I would definitely recommend to someone who is between the ages of 15-20. I think that someone in this age group would love that book. For me it was good but I expected something more.
Well, I liked it, not as much as I expected to.
The story is set in future Ireland which is cut off from the rest of the world. The population is aged because of The Call. Years ago the Irish people chased down the Sídhe to the Grey Lands and now the Sídhe want to take revenge and gain back their land. They call teenagers to the Grey Land and they have a kind of a fight with them, they kill them or twist them in the strangest ways. In the normal world this lasta only 3 minutes and four seconds, but in the Grey Lands it might be even a day. So teenagers in Ireland spend their life preparing and training for the Call, because they may be called at any time. We follow Nessa a girl suffering from polio ( a desease affecting her legs) training for the Call in a survival school. One of the many Ireland has. Despite her problem she doesn't give up.
Well, in the beginning (until the half of the book I could say), I could not tell where everything was going. The point of it. Ok. We see how teenagers prepare, we see what happens to some of them in the Grey Lands. So?????? The interesting part for me, took a little longer to come up which is no good... Something else I found distressing were the names. They were too many, and all seemed similar to me. I couldn't even tell if they where male or female. I was looking for the pronouns to define it. Another negative in the book was the repetition of the word "grin' and " grinning". It was used countless times!! Come on!!!! Wasn't there anything else to use. And for the sake of repetition what was that thing about the promises?? Give me something to give you something else in exchange! I mean it was good, but up to a point. It was used far too many times!!
On the other hand though, there were some positive elements. The beginning, to start with. The first two chapters were dynamic and with action. The scene on the bus. That it what I'm talking about. Something else that I found interesting, was the way that the callings were made. When someone was called, that was happenning a in a moment that I didn't expect. It came out the blue, and in that way I could sympathise with the characters. It created the appropriate tension for the chapter to follow which usually was about how the Called person experienced the Grey Land. The description were vivid. Too explicit I would say, but that is something I loved!!
This is a book I would definitely recommend to someone who is between the ages of 15-20. I think that someone in this age group would love that book. For me it was good but I expected something more.
February 1, 2025
This read was different to most fairy books, because the focus is on survival of the fairies rather than having romantic feelings for them, even though the book still sticks to most description of fairies as being beautiful,cruel and strong no human is confused by any unwanted feelings.
Just read this book for the second time and I have to say it was pretty savage considering the age of the characters. I'm really excited about the next book as I haven't read the invasion yet.
Happy Reading 📘📚📙📗📓📔📕📓📚📗📚📙📘📕📚📙📕📘📔📖
Just read this book for the second time and I have to say it was pretty savage considering the age of the characters. I'm really excited about the next book as I haven't read the invasion yet.
Happy Reading 📘📚📙📗📓📔📕📓📚📗📚📙📘📕📚📙📕📘📔📖
May 30, 2017
Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars
This is a difficult book for me to rate/review, like very difficult. I'm waffling between a 3 and 3.5 stars.
2000 years ago, humans banished faerie inhabitants to The Gray World. As punishment, the faeries initiated the "Call", in which adolescents are taken at random and hunted, tortured, even killed in the terrifying land of the faeries. 1 in 10 children survives the "Call", though they are not always returned the way they left. This story follows a handful of students in a survival college, particularly a 14-year-old girl named Nessa who has very limited use of her legs due to being diagnosed with Polio.
I think my favorite aspect of this novel was how grotesque and dark it was. Peadar Ó Guilín did an excellent job creating a macabre atmosphere with his downright disturbing descriptions, I was instantly roped into these awful circumstances that are presented at the start of the book. Danger surrounds the students on all sides. They live in constant anxiety about being "called", and on top of that they are engaged in a violent status war with their peers.
I thought the concept was very unique. I felt the fear in these children, and their characterization really made sense given their situation. The faeries were literally fucking horrifying, and definitely more like I imagine faeries should be. Too often lately I've been reading books where the faerie trope is used to create hot princes who sit around on their thrones just waiting to be part of a love triangle. Not these guys.
Where this book fell short for me was in its constantly switching perspectives and a somewhat unsatisfying ending. This book is not very long, but I feel likea shit ton too many characters were introduced. It was to the point that I was confusing who was who. The switching perspectives worked when we were allowed to follow a child who had been "called", but when the perspectives switched back at the survival college I was struggling.
The end of this book also just sort of forced itself to wrap up. Maybe I missed something? But I'm still a little foggy on what specifically happened because there was just so much going on. I almost wish it would've been longer.
Overall a really good book. I would definitely recommend this as a spooky Halloween read or for someone who enjoys dark/macabre themes.
This is a difficult book for me to rate/review, like very difficult. I'm waffling between a 3 and 3.5 stars.
2000 years ago, humans banished faerie inhabitants to The Gray World. As punishment, the faeries initiated the "Call", in which adolescents are taken at random and hunted, tortured, even killed in the terrifying land of the faeries. 1 in 10 children survives the "Call", though they are not always returned the way they left. This story follows a handful of students in a survival college, particularly a 14-year-old girl named Nessa who has very limited use of her legs due to being diagnosed with Polio.
I think my favorite aspect of this novel was how grotesque and dark it was. Peadar Ó Guilín did an excellent job creating a macabre atmosphere with his downright disturbing descriptions, I was instantly roped into these awful circumstances that are presented at the start of the book. Danger surrounds the students on all sides. They live in constant anxiety about being "called", and on top of that they are engaged in a violent status war with their peers.
I thought the concept was very unique. I felt the fear in these children, and their characterization really made sense given their situation. The faeries were literally fucking horrifying, and definitely more like I imagine faeries should be. Too often lately I've been reading books where the faerie trope is used to create hot princes who sit around on their thrones just waiting to be part of a love triangle. Not these guys.
Where this book fell short for me was in its constantly switching perspectives and a somewhat unsatisfying ending. This book is not very long, but I feel like
The end of this book also just sort of forced itself to wrap up. Maybe I missed something? But I'm still a little foggy on what specifically happened because there was just so much going on. I almost wish it would've been longer.
Overall a really good book. I would definitely recommend this as a spooky Halloween read or for someone who enjoys dark/macabre themes.
September 10, 2016
I was really excited to pick up this book and start reading it. Yet, I found myself struggling to read the book. I started this book at night. The next two nights I could only read about 2 chapters and then I grew tried and put the book down. I could barely even comprehend what I was reading. I thought that it was just me and the wrong time of the night to be reading this book. So, I picked up this book again during the day and proceed to start reading it again. Sadly, it was not me. This book was not for me. The time spent at the school was boring, so after a while I jumped ahead to when the Sidhe appeared in the story and it was a race to survive. Yes, the story did pick up some but I still had a hard time getting into the story due to the fact that I had no interest in any of the character and therefore did not care what happened to them.
August 28, 2017
The Call is pure heart racing Irish folklore horror for the YA audience like you've never seen before. I really enjoyed it, as someone who generally dislikes a lot of fae themed books. O'Guilin put the fury, revenge, and twisted nature back into the Irish fae – or sídhe – and as truly grim and at times horrifying the contents of this book are, it shows the humanity of the victims and the complicated ways groups of people try to survive these apocalyptic situations. It shows the way PTSD affects people, how in times of crisis a whole nation can react to an enemy, and it shows the strength of the main character, Nessa, in her refusing to be seen as weak when she has a physical deformity. The ending is swift and brutal, but leaves the important message of hope.
September 2, 2019
Um livro que não me prendeu logo no inicio e que considero um pouco estranho. Nem sei bem se gostei ou não mas confesso que queria saber o que ia acontecer às personagens principais. O final foi previsível mas gostei do caminho que a ele conduziu
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,882 reviews