In The Call we find an Ireland that is totally isolated from the rest of the world. It is at war with The Sidhe, who are a faerie race banished to The Grey Lands, after losing Ireland to the human race. They live for revenge, and their revenge is truly horrible. As part of a treaty, young Irish people are ‘called’ to the Sidhe landscape, where they have to survive for a day, before being returned to their own world where only 3 minutes have passed. The majority do not return, or return so terribly mutilated that their bodies are not recognizable.
This story is like a hybrid Hunger Games/Irish Fairytale/Stephen King. It is very graphic and not for younger readers. I loved it originality, and how it uses familiar fairytale tropes and twists them in unexpected and surprising ways.