littlbooknerd's review against another edition
2.0
✩✩.75/5
“Plenty come back from the Grey Land with a taste for blood. But any kind of horror will do that for you. It takes decades to breed a war out of a people that went through it.”
I read The Call about a year and a half ago and loved it. A survival story about kids being hunted by evil faeries in Ireland? That was definitely a story for me. Ever since I read that book I've been looking forward to reading the sequel. Well, I read it.
What a disappointment.
The Invasion turned out to be the exact opposite of what I envisioned the next part of the story would look like. With the way the previous book ended, there was so much potential for The Invasion to be amazing. Sadly, for me, it was anything but.
Going into it, I expected a story that was more focused on Nessa and Anto. They had both gone through so much in the previous book with surviving the Call and being transformed by the Sidhe, so I think I speak for all of us when I say that they (and we, as readers) were robbed of a *true* happy ending.
The synopsis of the story leads us to believe that during The Invasion, Nessa and Anto's relationship would face various obstacles and trials and that they would have to fight to stay together, all while trying to stay alive among an evil faerie invasion. But, in reality, they only spent like 4% of the book in each other's company??? I don't get why they were kept separated for the near entirety of the book, and the fact that they were was highly irritating to me.
The beginning of the story was great (also the only part of the book I liked). I thought it was so interesting that Nessa was under investigation for being a traitor given the suspicious way she survived her Call when she clearly should have died. That's literally the only part of the book that made sense to me. But, I don't get why Nessa never told anyone how she got her fire powers. She was asked countless times if she was the traitor and if she had just told the truth from the beginning that Connor's the one who made a deal with the Sidhe to spare her so he could be the one to kill her, I'm sure at least one person would have believed her. It would have saved her so much trouble and allowed her to be reunited with Anto.
The next thing that annoyed me was how pointless Anto's expedition with the soldiers was. I knew that there would be a Sidhe invasion in the story because of the book's title, but I think it's frustrating that it ended up being 90% of the plot when the synopsis advertised it as being more relationship-oriented.
The rest of the plot ended up being Nessa running away from the Sidhe, Anto sleeping with what's her face (so annoyed that I don't remember that character's name) because he felt so *hurt and betrayed* by Nessa being a traitor, Nessa putting an end to the invasion and defeating the bad guy and finally Nessa and Anto having a sort of happy ending.
The plot's focus was clearly invested in the wrong place. Although the idea of a full on Sidhe invasion sounded really awesome to me after the way the first book ended, this book felt more like a war story to me and glossed over all the important parts we should have gotten to read. The ending as well as other parts of the book felt rushed while others dragged on and on, which made for really weird pacing.
I was sometimes bored, sometimes annoyed and only very rarely thinking that I was actually enjoying this story. Although The Call was an amazing read, its sequel was sadly not for me.
“Plenty come back from the Grey Land with a taste for blood. But any kind of horror will do that for you. It takes decades to breed a war out of a people that went through it.”
I read The Call about a year and a half ago and loved it. A survival story about kids being hunted by evil faeries in Ireland? That was definitely a story for me. Ever since I read that book I've been looking forward to reading the sequel. Well, I read it.
What a disappointment.
The Invasion turned out to be the exact opposite of what I envisioned the next part of the story would look like. With the way the previous book ended, there was so much potential for The Invasion to be amazing. Sadly, for me, it was anything but.
Going into it, I expected a story that was more focused on Nessa and Anto. They had both gone through so much in the previous book with surviving the Call and being transformed by the Sidhe, so I think I speak for all of us when I say that they (and we, as readers) were robbed of a *true* happy ending.
The synopsis of the story leads us to believe that during The Invasion, Nessa and Anto's relationship would face various obstacles and trials and that they would have to fight to stay together, all while trying to stay alive among an evil faerie invasion. But, in reality, they only spent like 4% of the book in each other's company??? I don't get why they were kept separated for the near entirety of the book, and the fact that they were was highly irritating to me.
The beginning of the story was great (also the only part of the book I liked). I thought it was so interesting that Nessa was under investigation for being a traitor given the suspicious way she survived her Call when she clearly should have died. That's literally the only part of the book that made sense to me. But, I don't get why Nessa never told anyone how she got her fire powers. She was asked countless times if she was the traitor and if she had just told the truth from the beginning that Connor's the one who made a deal with the Sidhe to spare her so he could be the one to kill her, I'm sure at least one person would have believed her. It would have saved her so much trouble and allowed her to be reunited with Anto.
The next thing that annoyed me was how pointless Anto's expedition with the soldiers was. I knew that there would be a Sidhe invasion in the story because of the book's title, but I think it's frustrating that it ended up being 90% of the plot when the synopsis advertised it as being more relationship-oriented.
The rest of the plot ended up being Nessa running away from the Sidhe, Anto sleeping with what's her face (so annoyed that I don't remember that character's name) because he felt so *hurt and betrayed* by Nessa being a traitor, Nessa putting an end to the invasion and defeating the bad guy and finally Nessa and Anto having a sort of happy ending.
The plot's focus was clearly invested in the wrong place. Although the idea of a full on Sidhe invasion sounded really awesome to me after the way the first book ended, this book felt more like a war story to me and glossed over all the important parts we should have gotten to read. The ending as well as other parts of the book felt rushed while others dragged on and on, which made for really weird pacing.
I was sometimes bored, sometimes annoyed and only very rarely thinking that I was actually enjoying this story. Although The Call was an amazing read, its sequel was sadly not for me.
jenna_cross's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars that I just couldn’t round up to 3. I loved [b:The Call|28600081|The Call (The Call, #1)|Peadar Ó Guilín|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500995311l/28600081._SY75_.jpg|48777381] and was looking forward to the follow up. Unfortunately this one meandered a little too much for me. I was glad to find out what happened to Nessa and Anto but felt less engaged with what was happening most of the time. I was disheartened by the treatment of the survivors of such a traumatic experience who were being treated like traitors. I know why society did that but I felt bad for the children that needed more support, not less. There was still some gruesomely beautiful imagery throughout this story that I’m glad to have experienced.
savannahj's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't love it as much as the first book, and thought some plot points didn't make the most sense in the world, but I really think the narration makes this book better. It adds to the atmosphere. Some parts dragged a little, and if I were reading the physical book I'd say 3 stars, but the narrator really bumps it up to 4 for me. I had a fair amount of time between reading the Call and this book, and I definitely didn't know who some of the characters were for a long time, and some of the minor ones I didn't remember at all, which was a bit of a problem because some characters that were minor in book 1 become important.
trying2read's review against another edition
5.0
Never ending action from start to finish! I loved this book! My only complaint is the last chapter. It didn’t connect with the rest of the story. I didn’t like that it wasn’t told by the main characters since that’s who we’ve been following since the first book and wanted closure on their life in the greyland from them but I guess. Overall solid sequel!
obsessedmuch's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent follow up to The Call and after reading this I'm sure to read everything that Peadar Ó Guilín ever writes!
emilylovesflowers's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 maybe? Not as wonderful as the first book, though I'm glad to know how it ends. I think when the main characters were parsed out on their own paths, it took some of that magic chemistry away. I found that the only timeline I wanted to follow was Nessa's, and I was more inclined to speed through everything else. Aoife's point of view wasn't necessary, in my humble opinion.
ssc1109's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This...is hard. On the one hand I really enjoyed the plot, the mystery and the folklore. On the other hand, the writing was so much worse than the first book. It's incredibly choppy and I feel like the editor did not give a fuck. I found myself scanning the pages instead of reading the words and soaking it in like I did with the first book. I ended up just wanting to be done which is so sad because the story is so interesting!
I think I'd recommend this to 14-17yr olds who want to get into horror/thriller books. I probably won't revisit this story but it will definitely be on my mind for at least a few years. I just wish the writing was better.
I think I'd recommend this to 14-17yr olds who want to get into horror/thriller books. I probably won't revisit this story but it will definitely be on my mind for at least a few years. I just wish the writing was better.
dryad23's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
haleybre's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as the first one, but a satisfying and heartwarming ending.