I really enjoyed this. It's an interesting take on Irish mythology. This book is inventive in the way that it takes gods and legendary objects from mythology and reinterprets them in an interesting (and often creepy and gross) way. I do love me some good old fashioned Fair Folk and would recommend this to anyone looking for something different. ( )

3.5 Stars ( )

Sometimes I am a sucker for advertising. I heard about The Call by Peadar O'Guilin advertised on several Book Riot podcasts and it sounded so interesting. Killer fairies, teens attempting to murder other teens, and a whole other variety of items, what else does one need. While it isn't going to break any literary boundaries, the book was an incredibly fun ride.

The premise was fun. In Ireland, teens are taken at random moments during their teen life. Their clothes are left and they find themselves nude in the Grey Land. A trumpet sounds and they have 3 minutes to survive the hunt from killer fairies.

One touch and the fairies can mold skin, muscle, and bone to any shape they wish. They can be killed, but their sheer number will overwhelm you. The catch is, if you make it or if they take pity on you, a promise is given and they always keep their word. If you don't make it, you either come back dead or disfigured in some way. Vets are treated with respect and can choose how to live out their lives.

Nessa is the protagonist and she has polio. No one really expects her to survive if she is called, but she trains anyway. She has incredible upper body strength and has won a few battles. Due to this, a group called the Round Table has targeted her. Not only does she have to look out for the call, but also this group in the real world who have decided she must die.

I cannot stress how fun a read this way. It is filled with teen angst and YA tropes, but the added layer of the call is what makes this book. This is not a light book in that sense in that the fairies love to punish and torture their victims. They are not nice either. In that sense, this is a true horror book.

In other places I put a mini review, I compared the book to a horror movie like Leprechaun or something along those lines. You know the acting and graphics will be pretty bad, but it will be great escapism for a time. While the writing wasn't bad on this one, the HS stuff was pretty standard in the good girl is targeted by bullies who fit every literary bully stereotype, but who also want to kill her. Even Nessa's friends fit the HS literary stereotypes, but you know what you are getting. There is a scene that will not leave my brain after reading it, which involves horses that aren't horses. Just wait and see.

I gave this one 3.5 stars. Very creative and fun, but not fiction breaking. ( )

This book is perfect for fans of Holly Black or Wilder Girls. Set in a dystopian Ireland, this is a spooky coming of age story about adolescence, impending/disaster, relationships, genocide, and fairyland. CW for body horror. ( )

The summary of this book sounded really great, like a Battle Royale involving fairies, but the writing and dialogue was a bit hard to focus on; it's written in a somewhat non-linear narrative with a lot of necessary background information and history left out. I'm not sure if it's because it was written by an Irish writer so the "accent" is so different from what I'm used to, but it was just difficult for me to get past. I felt like I had walked into the middle of a conversation. ( )