Call of the Sea
Amanda Labonté
275 Pages
3.5/5 stars
Ever since he was little, Alex had been hearing the song. It would come and the only way to get rid of it was to go down to the water. That’s where he’d see her – a mysterious girl with bright red hair and a shimmering dress. But as soon as Alex tried to get close, she’d disappear as quickly as she’d come.
Shortly before returning to his little town outside of St. John’s, Newfoundland from a month long summer camp, Alex and his twin brother Ben go on a fishing trip. The trip doesn’t end well. The brothers get in to a fight and Ben disappears mysteriously.
With the help from Ben’s girlfriend Meg, and the song he’s been hearing since his childhood, Alex must find his brother and solve the mystery of the strange girl. Can he do it before something bad happens to Ben?
My favourite part is when Alex is drunk and he thinks that his brother is missing forever and possibly even dead, Alex decides to drown his sorrows in alcohol. That’s when he gets very helpless and you can tell that he can’t do it alone. But it’s also pretty funny. His comments get very unfiltered and he ends up doing a faceplant in the ocean.
My favourite character is Alex’s oldest brother Artie. It’s hilarious how oblivious he is when it comes to what Alex is doing and where Alex is. Artie is very sweet and always just wants what’s best for his family and does that no matter what. I think Artie is the best kind of brother.
I liked this novel. I really liked how intricate every single story line was. There were lots of twists and turns to the plot line and plenty of surprises, but no detail was left out. Everything was explained to the max and I was never confused. Not many books do that.
I thought Call of the Sea was pretty good overall, it had a magnificent plot and stunning characters, but it took quite a while for the ball to get rolling. I was already almost halfway through the book before all the loose ends of the mystery were tied together and the plot was revealed.
calgarykidcritic 