The Call by Peadar O'Guilin

The Call (The Grey Land, #1)

by Peadar O'Guilin

For the last twenty-five years every teenager in Ireland has been subject to "the call" which takes them away to the land of the Sídhe, where they are hunted for twenty four hours (though only three minutes pass in this world)--handicapped by her twisted legs, Nessa Doherty knows that very few return alive, but she is determined to be one of them.

Reviewed by Joséphine on

4 of 5 stars

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Note: I received a finished copy for free from a local distributor in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Initial thoughts: This book was incredibly gruesome in imagery. I expected it to be a lot more heart-stopping but the plot remained pretty straightforward. I think the anticipation of the inevitable didn't leave a lot of room for surprises, though there were some twists here and there.

While The Call was inspired by Irish folklore, I can't say to what extent things remained true. I will say that the characters cared so much about Ireland, the rest of the world didn't even come into question. How things were beyond their borders remained a mystery.

Either way, I enjoyed the writing style. Even though the focus was on Nessa, the main character, the omniscient narrator didn't neglect the experiences and thoughts of the others. That contributed to the creepy atmosphere as more and more of them disappeared.

This is also the first time I read a book revolving around someone with a physical disability from birth. Nessa had polio and the way she navigated her world opened my eyes to her struggles and strengths. I liked that it was treated as a fact of her life rather than something that overshadowed everything else in the book.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 September, 2016: Finished reading
  • 29 September, 2016: Reviewed