Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping Than you can understand. -William Butler Yeats Vampires stalk the night, hungry for blood. Werewolves lose their morality and turn into beasts. Zombies have an insatiable need for living flesh. Still, no creature of lore terrifies me quite like the Fair Folk and their secret world nestled right beside our own. My fear of the Fair Folk went from "Best mind that which I don't understand," to "These creatures stalk my nightmares" courtesy of two works of young adult fiction. The idea of a creature who cannot lie, but is so beguiling and clever that they can trick humankind into becoming toys, servants, entertainment, and even delicacies with twisted riddles and a knack for double-speech—who wouldn’t be afraid? It’s no wonder that people still respect the Fae with due caution to this day. The first of the two books is THE CALL by Peadar O’Guilin. I listened to the audiobook read by the phenomenal Amy Shiels. The creeping tension made by the looming threat of the Sidhe as depicted by O’Guilin, combined with Shiels’ narrative skills, wove a story that had me itching for any moment I had to listen.
Following Nessa’s journey as she watches each of her classmates be Called, coming back as disfigured, mangled, corpses is enrapturing. Beyond that, I was captivated by the brutal ways of the Sidhe that O’Guilin depicted. Merciless, bloodthirsty, and dreadfully creative with how they toy with each mortal Called to their world, the Sidhe are perfect monsters driven by a furious need for revenge. The Faeries in Holly Black’s THE CRUEL PRINCE are an entirely different manner of monsters, but they follow the same rules that the legends dictate. Where THE CALL has a distinct ‘horror’ vibe to it, THE CRUEL PRINCE focuses more on the danger of courtly intrigue in the vein of GAME OF THRONES.
Unlike THE CALL, THE CRUEL PRINCE takes place primarily in Faerie and focuses more on intrigue and courtly politics. There is also a primarily faerie cast of characters that drew my affection quickly, but not because they were kind. As the title suggests, the faeries that Jude must navigate as a mortal in an immortal world are cruel and malicious. Some prefer outright violence. Still others prefer to toy with mortal emotions. There is one thing that unites all of the faeries in THE CRUEL PRINCE: cross them, and they will not hesitate to inflict punishment. Both THE CALL and THE CRUEL PRINCE were captivating reads, and I look forward to reading both sequels: THE INVASION and THE WICKED KING respectively. I’ve always regarded the Fae as mysterious and dangerous, but thanks to Peadar O’Guilin and Holly Black, I’ll be thinking twice before I make any promises to strangers offering to grant wishes. Title quote by William Butler Yeats.
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