By Paeder O’Guilin

Published 2016

AR level: 5.5

AR points: 11.0

Word Count: 71019

I suggest 8th through 12th grade.

This is a drastic departure from the previous books I’ve written about. Not only is it young adult, but the tone, while not completely devoid of humor, is most definitely dark. As a kid, if someone said “Fairies” I thought of Tinker Bell, not maniacal creatures capable of torturing and killing victims by rearranging their body parts like they were Legos. But true Irish lore is more akin to the twisted side rather than sparkly folk in tutus. Who knew? O’Guilin did as he paints a bleak world where fairies seek vengeance for their ancient defeat by summoning teens to their magical realm in a three-minute game of survival.

From BN.com:

THREE MINUTES

You wake up alone in a horrible land. A horn sounds. The Call has begun.

TWO MINUTES

The Sidhe are close. They’re the most beautiful and terrible people you’ve ever seen. And they’ve seen you.

ONE MINUTE

Nessa will be Called soon. No one thinks she has any chance to survive. But she’s determined to prove them wrong.

TIME’S UP

Could you survive the Call?

A genre-changing blend of fantasy, horror, and folkore, The Call won’t ever leave your mind from the moment you choose to answer it.

The pacing is solid, the tension is real, and the horror of what is waiting sucks you in. The Call is what life would be like in the arena of The Hunger Games. There, you fear for your life…here, if the fairies catch you, you become their toy and you might return alive, but with your legs where your neck used to be.