Book Review: The Caller by Juliet Marillier

Thursday, June 12, 2014
I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...



Title: The Caller
Author: Juliet Marillier
Series: Shadowfell Trilogy, Book #3

Synopsis: "Neryn has made a long journey to perfect her skills as a Caller.
She has learned the wisdom of water and of earth; she has travelled to remote isles of the west and the forbidding mountains of the north. Now, she must endure Alban's freezing winter to seek the mysterious White Lady, Guardian of Air.
For only when Neryn has been trained by all four Guardians will she be ready to play her role in toppling the tyrannical King Keldec."

My thoughts: Preliminary notes: This is the third book and thus the final book in a trilogy. I will try not to put any spoilers in, but you may get spoiled a little from the blurb anyway.

Reading this book was really difficult to start with. There was so much tension and sadness from the storyline and from things happening in the previous books, and that made it really hard for me to want to keep reading. I just couldn't be sure that the characters I had come to love were going to be okay, as they were dealing with such an awful and (dare I say it) icky situation.

Once I managed to put those reservations aside, though, I really got back into the story. Neryn is such a wonderful main character. She has her issues, she doubts herself, and yet she keeps going. She always tries to do her best even with so much weighed against her. In some ways she seemed quite flat at times (particularly within the first book, actually, which is why I think so many people had trouble getting into the trilogy in the first place), but I think that's the risk you run when you have to hide all of your emotions and reactions for a greater cause.

I will admit to being a huge Marillier fangirl. I love how she introduces the fae into her stories and looks at pagan traditions and things like herbal healing. I love that Neryn knows how to make simple herbal brews to help people sleep or to settle an upset stomach - these are things that I like researching and learning about, and so it is so lovely seeing them in books. I always feel such connection to Marillier's characters and, while I was initially a little disconnected from the characters in this trilogy, I ended up finding my love for them by the end as always.

For those thinking about reading this book, I definitely recommend reading them in order (Shadowfell is book one, followed by Raven Flight).

I received a copy of this book for review from Pan Macmillan.

You would like this book if: you like Juliet Marillier; you like books with a gentle touch of fantasy mixed with herbal awesomeness.

Rating:  9/10

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