Title: The Call
Author: Peadar O’Guilin
Purchase: Available now in the UK, and the US.
Overall rating: 5/5
Great for: Dystopian lovers
Themes: Irish mythology, fairies, unconventional love, living with a disability
Review: ‘The Call’ is YA fantasy with dystopian themes running through it, and for that reason, it’s lumped into this massive bracket where it’s compared to ‘The Hunger Games’. Readers shouldn’t overlook Peadar O’Guilin’s ‘The Call’ with its strong themes including mythology, poetry and an unconventional heroine.
‘The Call’ happens to every Irish child during their adolescence and sees them face three minutes fighting for their lives in the Grey Land. The Sidhe – followers of the Goddess Danu were banished to the colourless world and now seek vengeance on the young Irish. The Irish teens spend their lives training for the moment they’re called but few return alive, and most are distorted and twisted into unthinkable shapes after being played with by the Sidhe.
I was instantly drawn to Nessa, our quick-witted and fierce heroine, who also suffers a weakness physically in the form of polio-weakened legs. She’s stubborn, level-headed, brave and in some cases unforgivingly brutal. Peadar addresses an important issue about disability with Nessa’s character, she didn’t want pity, she didn’t want more or less than anyone else and her frustration towards others perception of her was felt throughout the book.
‘The Call’ is a fast and gritty read which blends the boundaries between science fiction, horror and fantasy. Heck, it might even make you get up out of your comfy reading nook and start training in case your three minutes in the Grey Land is imminent.
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