Dannii Elle's Reviews > The Calling

I want to add a disclaimer here that I didn't realise the controversy surrounding the author before purchasing the book and, had I done so, I probably would not have ever read this. My review is based on my enjoyable experience of this book alone, regardless of who penned it. I am not supporting or overlooking his questionable actions but am simply not allowing them to influence my enjoyment. That being said, I certainly won't be purchasing another book by James Frey and am glad that I have the rest of this series already bought second-hand.

This book has been compared to The Hunger Games as though it is a forgery of the legendary dystopian tale. I don't see it. There are factors that link the two, with the main one being the sacrificing of teenagers for the good of the world, but enough about the books are dissimilar to lead this to being a drastically different read.

Twelve players from twelve ancient family lines compete in one puzzle to save themselves from the impending destruction of the world. Alliances are made and bonds are formed but the twelve know that, ultimately, there can only be one winner. Clues and keys to deciphering the cryptic puzzle that will save them are strewn across the globe and the reader is invited into the intrigue and excitement as well-known geography and historical fact is incorporated in amongst the fiction of the tale.

And this is just once facet of the book that actively employs the reader in the tale. A real-world puzzle is also set out with a $500,000 prize for the winner, a mobile game has been made, and a stream of webpages created to involve the reader further into Endgame. The interactive elements of this book are what makes it such an exciting and innovative read.

The actual story is just as intoxicating! It is a whirlwind of insanity, action and riddles. Misleading clues and misguided attempts at conquering the puzzle make the plot's trajectory constantly unguessable and the cryptograms and conundrums were, at least for me, unsolvable.

My only negative was the sensational form of writing that tended to get a little irritating after long periods of reading. However, my enjoyment of every other element of this far outweighed my one small gripe and makes me eager and excited to read the next instalment.