The Call
Peadar Ó Guilín
It’s bad luck for Nessa that she has twisted legs from Polio. It’s even worse when she finds out on her birthday that she is going to be faced with The Call at some point – dragged into the dark world of the Faery Folk that were banished from Ireland years ago. There, she must survive a day without the Folk finding and torturing her. The odds aren’t good, 1 in 10 returns. And with people in the ‘real world’ also trying to kill her, Nessa has even less chance of surviving.
Who doesn’t love an underdog? Nessa is going to fight for what she has, and pretend she doesn’t care about everything else. Her legs aren’t going to stop her, when her mind is sharp. Her mind ends up being the thing that can save her. Other reviewers have picked on her being a character trope, but I didn’t have an issue with that. I appreciated that Nessa couldn’t see her own faults until it was to late – she couldn’t be too self-sacrificing after all.
The gruesome testimonies alluded to in the novel are backed up by the changing perspectives on the novel. Normally it would irritate me, but the majority of the time, the character then died so they didn’t have to bother me again! And the only person I might have wanted to hear from more than once? Well, he gets a second chance to an extent.
I can’t wait for the second novel of this to happen. I want to know what on earth will go on next! Or perhaps, under earth! The ending leaves it nice and open, and yet satisfying at the same time. I’m not sure I love it enough to reread it, but it was really good and I would advise going out to buy yourself a copy ASAP.
In fact, I am lucky enough to own TWO copies of this novel – one just came in the mail today from Scholastic (the final cover) and an early copy from David Fickling Books. I’m not really sure who to thank, but it was super good! I can’t wait to share it with other people. 4 stars from me.
Scholastic | 1 September 2016 | AU $19.99 | Paperback
Ok, so another reviewer has pointed out that the novel is filled with predictable character types. I think that’s certainly true – plucky heroine protecting her too kind brother and tolerating the hatred of a foster brother who blames her for his parents’ fates. However, I didn’t find it offputting. It gave me more space to think about the implications of the novel, rather than having to do too much thinking about the characters.
Sigh. The blurb gives away the whole story. I mean, everything of it. So if you’re going to read this novel, please don’t read the blurb. Why are people so useless at writing blurbs that don’t give away everything?
Why is there no next book? I need one. Why was this so short? I need it to be longer! I didn’t want to step away from the characters.
Having just read a novel where there is a difference between nice guys and good guys, River makes a good contrast of it. He starts out nice, passes through completely useless, then maybe to good. It’s that character evolution of being just another guy to being one who has gotten a bit of self-awareness happening.
I wanted to like this novel, I really did. But instead it reminded me of 
I really like how the story develops with only hints of Annabel’s problems. It keeps the reader interested, and then invested in both of the characters. Julia too takes some time to get used to, and most of the time I found myself sympathising with her and wishing that she had more guts!
Lily is very… cold. I found it difficult to empathise with her because she seemed unchanged by deaths she had caused. Is it simply a side effect of being a witch? Or is it something else about her character that makes her too much like Lillian. They are the same person after all. I don’t think it was all about Lillian manipulating Lily, much as Rowan wanted to blame her.
There is no feeling of Merlin as a character as she begins simply as a construction of impersonal memories. The novel is plot based, and moves at a relatively fast pace once Merlin encounters other inhabitants of the desolate world. As long as you read this lightly without too many preconceived notions of how an apocalyptic novel should go, you will enjoy it.
I gobbled this up in an hour. I couldn’t put it down. The way Black interacted with her family, with Ed and with the others spoke strongly of her ability to keep on going. But Black, I’m sorry. Sometimes you just aren’t that bright. Sure, you are under a lot of stress, but seriously! Then again, you are only a teenager and teenagers tend to do things like that.