The Call by Peader O’Gullin; Review by Emily Shunk

The Call

By Peader O’Gullin
Review by Emily Shunk


After being locked in a colorless hell by the Irish long ago, the Sìdhe want their revenge. They steal one of the Irish teenagers away, for 12 hours in their world. On earth, they have 3 minutes and four seconds. 

After The Call has slaughtered thousands, survival colleges have been developed to try and train the youth to fight back. Nessa is determined to stay alive, she promised herself she would on her tenth birthday. Now in Year 5, Nessa is dreading her time to be called, praying she’ll be ready. When an entire survival college is murdered overnight, tension escalates amongst students. Each and every student is awaiting their time to fight back- hoping they’ll be prepared to survive those 3 minutes in hell. 

At first, when I started reading it I was impressed. The voice is magical- I think that’s the best way to describe it. It very well fits the fantasy genre the book is in. However, it very quickly becomes confusing. The author likes to assume you know what they’re talking about- and there have been many times where I’m confused what they’re even referring to. That, and there are so many characters it’s hard to keep track. So far, many chapters in, I still have no idea who anyone other than two of the characters are. The characters are dull, and unrecognizable. When you read a book, you want to be able to tell who everyone is. For example, with Harry Potter, everyone can identify each of the characters with a single trait. Harry Potter- poor skinny kid who’s supposed to save the world. Heremine - fairly stuck up genius. Hagrid- giant, goofy animal lover. With the characters of The Call, I have absolutely no idea who ‘Conor’ or ‘Meagan’, or any of the other characters are. Sometimes, I can’t even tell who’s narrating it. On top of that, the details make it even more confusing what is happening in the scene. Overall- I’m just straight up confused. 

I think overall it’s not a bad book. It’s confusing, and the characters aren’t memorable, but other than that it’s not a bad book. I’m only on chapter 6 (maybe idk), so I’ll update when I finish it, but so far I’d have to give it a 3/10. Probably wouldn’t chose to read it knowing what I do about it now, but it’s not like it’s the worst book ever. It’s kinda interesting, and the voice of the story (once you get past the confusion) matches the book. I just kinda wish it was less confusing, it would make it much more readable. 

Comments

  1. Miriam ADecember 7, 2019 at 6:27 PM

    Great review! Your review was really concise and explained the plot of The Call quickly. I generally don't read books like this, and although the plot sounds interesting, I probably won't read it due to the confusion between characters, narration, etc. I usually stop reading books I find confusing or overly dramatic, and The Call seems to fit both of these descriptions. If the book was slightly more realistic (maybe The Call murdering fewer people--it sounds a little unbelievable that they would be able to get away with thousands of murders) I might be more interested in reading it. Overall, your review was really easy to read and was honest in explaining the negative aspects of the book as well as the positive aspects.

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  2. Marlow TracyDecember 8, 2019 at 10:24 AM

    Nice review! Your summary at the beginning piqued my interest with a concise, thrilling, but slightly confusing introduction to the book. It made me want to read it to find out what was going on. However, you then go on to explain how confusing the book was and that I probably wouldn't find many more answers in it than I did in the summary. It reminds me of 'The Bone Witch' by Rin Chupeco in a way - it lures readers in with an exciting concept and "magical" voice, but soon becomes too confusing to follow. Thanks for the warning!

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  3. JeanaDecember 9, 2019 at 8:01 PM

    Your summary of the book is very good -- it's short, concise, and intriguing. I was a little big confused by the first two sentences, but then you go on to explain that the entire book was confusing, so I guess that makes sense.
    I also liked how you criticized the book. The criticism was specific and you didn't try to sugar-coat it or anything, even going as far as adding examples. Actually, I really liked how you added examples, because it rounded it out and made it more clear about what you were talking about. Also, Harry Potter references -- yay!
    As for first impressions of The Call after reading your review: the plot did intrigue me at first, but your point about the ambiguity of the storyline made me feel much less willing to try this novel. I mean, who knows...honestly, I may pick it up just to see how it ends. Good review!

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  4. Kate ADecember 13, 2019 at 1:18 PM

    The Call sounds like it might be an interesting book, but I usually don't read fantasy books like The Call because the plot can be confusing, and it's hard to keep track of what's going on. You did a great job describing what you didn't like about the book and made sure to give examples. However, I didn't think the summary made much sense. It wasn't clear in the review what The Call actually is or why they are stealing teenagers, but after I read the summary a couple times, it was easier to understand. Other than that, I found your review helpful and well-written. Great job!

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