Review : The Call by Peadar O Gullin

The Call - Peadar O'Guilin
Publisher : David Fickling Books
Release Date : August 30th 2016
Genres : YA, Horror
Pages : 312 
Rating : ★★★★☆

Imagine a world where you might disappear any minute, only to find yourself alone in a grey sickly land, with more horrors in it than you would ever wish to know about. And then you hear a horn and you know that whoever lives in this hell has got your scent and the hunt has already begun.

Could you survive the Call?

 




As soon as I read the description, I knew I was going to like The Call. Long story short, teenagers have to learn how to survive The Call during which "Sidhes", a species exiled in the Grey Land, do whatever it takes to have some fun. In other words, torture and eventually kill them.
Chances or surviving are small but for the main character, Nessa, they're even smaller because she's disabled.

I wasn't a fan of the writing but everything else was on point. The Call is the perfect book for October : It's gripping and so so scary. 

Anybody can be called at anytime and I was constently afraid for my beloved characters. What I loved the most is that we get to read about most of the characters' experiences in the Grey Land. The Sidhes are terrifying but at the same time the author puts things in perspective for us : What if we were exiled in a world without colors ? It's an interesting subject to think about. (I know I find everything interesting but still.)
It's not all black and white, I could understand the Sidhes' feelings and I actually pitied them at some point.

The characters are so well-thought. Anto's sensitivity, Nessa's driving personality... I wish I knew more about other characters but overall I feel satisfied. Connor is, in my opinion, the most interesting one. Just like I could understand the Sidhes, I could understand the way he was. I'm not excusing anything but having a character like him definitely makes a difference.

It's hard to explain how much I like this book but if you're still not sure about wether you're going to like it or not, just read the first chapter. You're going to be immediately invested in Nessa's story.

Even if you don't like horror books, it's okay because nothing is too graphic. Imagination plays a big role in this book.  If you liked Hunger Games, I think you'll like The Call.