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ilka00's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
rereader33's review against another edition
5.0
So, slight tangent: before starting this book I tried reading The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, which was hyped by every YA critic and appeared on every "anticipated YA summer release" article. I made it 37 pages before I dropped it for various reasons, but the biggest being its lack of suspense. For a thriller novel that relies on its twists, it was embarrassing to me how little suspense there actually was. I say this because The Call, a horror/fantasy YA novel, delivered suspense in spades. I seriously had no clue where the story was going to go, what would happen to the characters, any of it, which is an incredible feat for a horror novel (so many of them rely on gore/scary atmosphere but almost never deliver on the suspense). Okay, rant aside, I want to gush about this novel.
This is easily one of the best books I've read and definitely on route to being the best book I read in 2018. The tension, the suspense, the story, the characters, the world, everything just worked so well. As I said before, the suspense is top notch, and the way he accomplishes this is by demonstrating very early on that anything can happen and no one is safe, no matter their training. Not only did this ratchet up the suspense it also made sense in the context of the world. From the first introduction to the Sidhe, it is clear that they have no compassion, no remorse, no conscience, and an abundance of malice. These creatures may kill there prey, they may not, but one thing is certain-that prey is not leaving The Grey Land without suffering. Since the reader gets to witness multiple characters get Called, thanks to the third person perspective (a clever decision), the reader gets to witness all of the horrors of The Grey Land as well as what awaits the characters. What I appreciated about this, and how it relates back to suspense, was that each character faced a different outcome and these outcomes are what made the novel so suspenseful. Since each character's experience is different, readers don't know what's going to happen next, constantly keeping them on their toes. On the subject of suffering, what became clear to me is what makes this story scary is the fear of suffering. As was mentioned earlier, the Sidhe enjoy making their prey suffer, and thus the prevalent fear isn't simply the fear of death, it's the fear of an agonizing death which so much more weight than a quick death.
Speaking of characters, the character roster for this book was exceptional. Readers experienced a wide range of personalities and opinions, from arrogant Conor to outspoken Megan to strong yet flawed Nessa and even pacifists like Anto. It was also nice to see some diversity in the characters, since it was established early on that instructors and kids from all over Ireland attend this school. Aoife and Emma are lesbians, Bruggers is gay, and while Chuckwu is established as the only dark skinned character, Nabil is French but is hinted at practicing Islam. It was little bits of diversity like these that made the world seem more realistic. Going back to the four characters I previously mentioned, each of these characters impacts the story significantly, and while I will avoid spoilers, I do want to talk about them in greater detail. Conor's character goes through an interesting change throughout the story. At first he appears to be nothing more than a narcissistic bully who prides himself on his abilities as a hunter. His reliance on violence and bravado to win his "knights" loyalty speaks volumes of how he sees human life and his disturbing attraction to Nessa makes him a truly detestable character. As the story progresses, and he is thrown obstacle after obstacle, he turns into a pitiful, shameful person. I won't say anymore for fear of spoiling anything, so let's move on to Megan. Megan, at first, was kind of annoying with how blunt and rude she could be. But what I grew to love about her character was that while Conor invoked fear through physical violence, Megan invoked fear/malice through her words. That isn't to say she isn't a great athlete, because she definitely is, but her trademark wit and sharp tongue is what made her such an appealing character, her strong loyalty and platonic love for Nessa notwithstanding.
As for Nessa, she is the strong female character YA has needed for a while. A girl seen as pitiable because of her polio, but refusing to let it slow her down or hamper her. Her recklessness was a strength and a weakness for her, but her lightening-fast reflexes and physical strength help her out. I love how she hides her feelings from everyone, but when a group of girls (including Megan) show genuine concern for her and want to help her, her mask slips and she accepts their help. She is such an awesome character and easily one of my favorite YA female protagonists of all time. Anto is the story's pacifist in a school designed for hunting and being the hunted. This, however, does not make him out as a weak character and while he eventually begins to fight back it is always for someone else's safety. His romance with Nessa is pure and simple, but it is never given center stage. The Sidhe and surviving the Call are always present and while there may be extended moments of Nessa thinking about Anto, the threat born from the Sidhe are never far behind and tend to overshadow it, which I adore. In a novel like this, romance should play second fiddle to the main plot.
There is so much more I could say, but this review would be 10 pages long. Suffice to say, everyone should read this novel, even if they aren't a fan of YA books. The suspense, the story, the characters, everything about it is just awesome. I adore this book and can't wait to get started on the sequel!
This is easily one of the best books I've read and definitely on route to being the best book I read in 2018. The tension, the suspense, the story, the characters, the world, everything just worked so well. As I said before, the suspense is top notch, and the way he accomplishes this is by demonstrating very early on that anything can happen and no one is safe, no matter their training. Not only did this ratchet up the suspense it also made sense in the context of the world. From the first introduction to the Sidhe, it is clear that they have no compassion, no remorse, no conscience, and an abundance of malice. These creatures may kill there prey, they may not, but one thing is certain-that prey is not leaving The Grey Land without suffering. Since the reader gets to witness multiple characters get Called, thanks to the third person perspective (a clever decision), the reader gets to witness all of the horrors of The Grey Land as well as what awaits the characters. What I appreciated about this, and how it relates back to suspense, was that each character faced a different outcome and these outcomes are what made the novel so suspenseful. Since each character's experience is different, readers don't know what's going to happen next, constantly keeping them on their toes. On the subject of suffering, what became clear to me is what makes this story scary is the fear of suffering. As was mentioned earlier, the Sidhe enjoy making their prey suffer, and thus the prevalent fear isn't simply the fear of death, it's the fear of an agonizing death which so much more weight than a quick death.
Speaking of characters, the character roster for this book was exceptional. Readers experienced a wide range of personalities and opinions, from arrogant Conor to outspoken Megan to strong yet flawed Nessa and even pacifists like Anto. It was also nice to see some diversity in the characters, since it was established early on that instructors and kids from all over Ireland attend this school. Aoife and Emma are lesbians, Bruggers is gay, and while Chuckwu is established as the only dark skinned character, Nabil is French but is hinted at practicing Islam. It was little bits of diversity like these that made the world seem more realistic. Going back to the four characters I previously mentioned, each of these characters impacts the story significantly, and while I will avoid spoilers, I do want to talk about them in greater detail. Conor's character goes through an interesting change throughout the story. At first he appears to be nothing more than a narcissistic bully who prides himself on his abilities as a hunter. His reliance on violence and bravado to win his "knights" loyalty speaks volumes of how he sees human life and his disturbing attraction to Nessa makes him a truly detestable character. As the story progresses, and he is thrown obstacle after obstacle, he turns into a pitiful, shameful person. I won't say anymore for fear of spoiling anything, so let's move on to Megan. Megan, at first, was kind of annoying with how blunt and rude she could be. But what I grew to love about her character was that while Conor invoked fear through physical violence, Megan invoked fear/malice through her words. That isn't to say she isn't a great athlete, because she definitely is, but her trademark wit and sharp tongue is what made her such an appealing character, her strong loyalty and platonic love for Nessa notwithstanding.
As for Nessa, she is the strong female character YA has needed for a while. A girl seen as pitiable because of her polio, but refusing to let it slow her down or hamper her. Her recklessness was a strength and a weakness for her, but her lightening-fast reflexes and physical strength help her out. I love how she hides her feelings from everyone, but when a group of girls (including Megan) show genuine concern for her and want to help her, her mask slips and she accepts their help. She is such an awesome character and easily one of my favorite YA female protagonists of all time. Anto is the story's pacifist in a school designed for hunting and being the hunted. This, however, does not make him out as a weak character and while he eventually begins to fight back it is always for someone else's safety. His romance with Nessa is pure and simple, but it is never given center stage. The Sidhe and surviving the Call are always present and while there may be extended moments of Nessa thinking about Anto, the threat born from the Sidhe are never far behind and tend to overshadow it, which I adore. In a novel like this, romance should play second fiddle to the main plot.
There is so much more I could say, but this review would be 10 pages long. Suffice to say, everyone should read this novel, even if they aren't a fan of YA books. The suspense, the story, the characters, everything about it is just awesome. I adore this book and can't wait to get started on the sequel!
beezlebabb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's been a while since I read this, but I remember loving it so much. Hoping to reread it soon.
astheplotthickens24's review against another edition
4.0
It's my first time reading something so gruesome and disturbing to the point of awesomeness. The fact that the main character suffers polio was one of the plus factors of this book because how can someone with a disability survive a hunt that is a combination of HUNGER GAMES and freaking GREEN INFERNO but Nessa managed just fine and she in fact did it splendidly. I would probably be dead within the first five minutes of the hunt but Nessa survived due to her perseverance and wit. There are times that I have to take a deep breath and put the book down because there are some scenes that are pretty disturbing but I finished this novel within a day so I guess I'm not that disturbed at all.
Conor, This son of a bitch was a sadistic-delusional-idiot and I thought maybe he'll do something awesome in the end but meehh!
Every time the word "Fae" comes up I automatically think of Rhysand and Tamlin who despite their heritage are so smoking hot. But, in this book the Fey creatures were sadistic, masochistic and cannibalistic creatures that came out of your worst nightmares and that's cool because it doesn't involve any romance between a human and a fey which was pretty much awesome.
Whenever reading a book I always think of something. Hunger Games made me wanna be fierce just like Katniss. Harry Potter made me want to value loyalty and friendship but The Call made me wanna stay young and never grow up (because you could f*cking be called anytime).
I'll give this book a 4 out of 5 stars mainly because I just hoped that the author became more specific as to how the banishment of fey happened and what was the real reason behind it, how they came to Ireland, What happened to other countries and so on. Excellent read :)
Conor, This son of a bitch was a sadistic-delusional-idiot and
Spoiler
almost killed everyone due to his fanaticism of being a vain kingEvery time the word "Fae" comes up I automatically think of Rhysand and Tamlin who despite their heritage are so smoking hot. But, in this book the Fey creatures were sadistic, masochistic and cannibalistic creatures that came out of your worst nightmares and that's cool because it doesn't involve any romance between a human and a fey which was pretty much awesome.
Whenever reading a book I always think of something. Hunger Games made me wanna be fierce just like Katniss. Harry Potter made me want to value loyalty and friendship but The Call made me wanna stay young and never grow up (because you could f*cking be called anytime).
I'll give this book a 4 out of 5 stars mainly because I just hoped that the author became more specific as to how the banishment of fey happened and what was the real reason behind it, how they came to Ireland, What happened to other countries and so on. Excellent read :)
teeggzz's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5
Honestly I was really excited to get my hands on this book because I've heard so many good things but I couldn't help being let down.
The characters in this book were very bland. They had no qualities or traits that made them likable and I really did not like Megan. She was too loud, snarky and the language she used was totally unneeded. Conor I was so disgusted by and he didn't even act human. Honestly I found it pathetic that his main motivation to kill Nessa was because she rejected him...that is very extreme and quite frankly pathetic. I though he might've redeemed himself but there's no coming back from that. The romance was also quite weak. If you're gonna write a romance at least make me care about the couple! The author didn't develop it enough and I feel as if the book would've been better off without it.
The plot wasn't the most original but I definitely liked how fleshed out the Grey land and its creatures were. It always gave off a creepy vibe that sometimes made me feel cold all over. But in the end I felt that the first half of the book was very slow and became repetitive, we kinda knew what was gonna happen. And the first 30-50 pages I was beyond confused. It wasn't until the very end that it got exciting and I enjoyed how Nessa really stepped up. But over all the characters didn't really achieve much except for maddening the Sidhe even more and kids are still getting called.
So there must be a sequel. Right?
Honestly I was really excited to get my hands on this book because I've heard so many good things but I couldn't help being let down.
The characters in this book were very bland. They had no qualities or traits that made them likable and I really did not like Megan. She was too loud, snarky and the language she used was totally unneeded. Conor I was so disgusted by and he didn't even act human. Honestly I found it pathetic that his main motivation to kill Nessa was because she rejected him...that is very extreme and quite frankly pathetic. I though he might've redeemed himself but there's no coming back from that. The romance was also quite weak. If you're gonna write a romance at least make me care about the couple! The author didn't develop it enough and I feel as if the book would've been better off without it.
The plot wasn't the most original but I definitely liked how fleshed out the Grey land and its creatures were. It always gave off a creepy vibe that sometimes made me feel cold all over. But in the end I felt that the first half of the book was very slow and became repetitive, we kinda knew what was gonna happen. And the first 30-50 pages I was beyond confused. It wasn't until the very end that it got exciting and I enjoyed how Nessa really stepped up. But over all the characters didn't really achieve much except for maddening the Sidhe even more and kids are still getting called.
So there must be a sequel. Right?
zaczytanaati's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
letamcwilliams's review against another edition
4.0
The world building in the beginning was super Not Great but once I had my footing it was a very good ya dystopia fill
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
well, call me unsettled by this unique and darkly twisted fae story.
8lueminn0w's review against another edition
4.0
«She says, "I'm going to live. And nobody's going to stop me." She believes every word of it.»