THE CALL - PEADAR O'GUILIN
This novel, for me, wins novel of the year, hands down and by a long margin. And I'm much relieved because I hate reading books by friends and not liking them.
At first glance, I did have a frisson of on-no. The book is in first person, present, a tense I struggle with. But about two pages in, I forgot about that, thoroughly hooked.
The premise is a good one - the island of Ireland has been cut off from the world by the vengeful Sidhe (Shee), who are taking teenagers from the world into theirs. The teen vanishes during this 'Call' for 3 minutes, 4 seconds, in the real world but must survive a day in the Sidhe world.
Firstly, this is dark. Deliciously so. I like me some dark and this is well done with just enough description to set our own imaginations to work, and plenty of fading away from the horror, assuming the reader can fill the blanks. I am going to let my almost-12 year old have a look and see if she likes it (she isn't too squeamish) but I think that choice will vary from child to child. Teens, on the other hand, will soak it up.
This is another book where the characters work. From the teens themselves, through to the teachers, we come to know them bit by bit and that pace works well. We see them as friends, or enemies, and come to care what will happen to them in the fairy land.
I really enjoyed the world building. The fairyworld - the land of Grey - was well depicted with none of the shortcuts you sometimes see in building the a secondary world when a story is mostly embedded in the real world. It's vivid (although colourless) and came alive easily.
I finished the book in two days. I will most likely re-read at some stage, something I rarely do with YA books. I will certainly be standing in line for the sequel.
This novel, for me, wins novel of the year, hands down and by a long margin. And I'm much relieved because I hate reading books by friends and not liking them.
At first glance, I did have a frisson of on-no. The book is in first person, present, a tense I struggle with. But about two pages in, I forgot about that, thoroughly hooked.
The premise is a good one - the island of Ireland has been cut off from the world by the vengeful Sidhe (Shee), who are taking teenagers from the world into theirs. The teen vanishes during this 'Call' for 3 minutes, 4 seconds, in the real world but must survive a day in the Sidhe world.
Firstly, this is dark. Deliciously so. I like me some dark and this is well done with just enough description to set our own imaginations to work, and plenty of fading away from the horror, assuming the reader can fill the blanks. I am going to let my almost-12 year old have a look and see if she likes it (she isn't too squeamish) but I think that choice will vary from child to child. Teens, on the other hand, will soak it up.
This is another book where the characters work. From the teens themselves, through to the teachers, we come to know them bit by bit and that pace works well. We see them as friends, or enemies, and come to care what will happen to them in the fairy land.
I really enjoyed the world building. The fairyworld - the land of Grey - was well depicted with none of the shortcuts you sometimes see in building the a secondary world when a story is mostly embedded in the real world. It's vivid (although colourless) and came alive easily.
I finished the book in two days. I will most likely re-read at some stage, something I rarely do with YA books. I will certainly be standing in line for the sequel.
It's actually way, way better than I expected - really good for anyone into YA fantasy/horror.
