Review: True Calling by Siobhan Davis

Posted November 29, 2014 by Lola in Dystopia, Fantasy, My To-Be Read List, Review, Romance, Sci-Fi / 14 Comments

LolaReview

Because reading is better than real life

My To-Be Read List is a meme hosted by Because Reading is Better Than Real Life where at the beginning of the month visitors can choose which book I’ll be reading this month. On the first saturday of a month the poll will be up, then on the second saturday of the month I’ll announce the book that won and later that month my review will follow.

This book was chosen through My To-Be Read list as the book I would read and review in November.

sfm_banner_02a

True CallingTrue Calling (True Calling #1)
by Siobhan Davis


Planet Novo, nestled in space twelve hundred miles above the surface of the Earth, is the new home of 17 year old Cadet Ariana Skyee. Confused by the government-sanctioned memory erase and distressed at her impending forced marriage and motherhood, Ariana’s plans for the future are thrown into complete disarray.

As the traumatic events within her family life enfold, Ariana grows increasingly alarmed at the authorities apparent pre-occupation with her and feels progressively more isolated and alone.

Her growing feelings for fellow Cadet Cal Remus intensify as the recently announced pageant, ‘The Calling’, gets underway. Struggling to comprehend the continuous, inexplicable dreams of the mysterious Zane, discovering the past helps shape her future, with devastating personal consequences.

My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

I have to admit the main reason I decided I had to read this book was the cover, it’s so pretty and I just knew I had to read it as soon as I saw that cover. I had some difficulties getting into this book at first. I had some trouble getting used to the author’s writing style, it’s a lot of telling instead of showing and it feels a bit distant. Also at first there’s a lot of explanation, like the main character is telling the readers about her world, which felt a bit off. After the first few chapters I was completely hooked into the story and my earlier issues fel to the background.

I would describe True Calling as a story driven book, the story is certainly the best point of this book. And around 100 pages in, the pace really picked up and I was completely intrigued. There’s lots of things happening. There’s a lot of mystery and the main characters are kept in the dark for a long time, but that only added to the story and every new piece of information we got shone more light on everything.

Then there’s the end, which was well done. A few predictable developments, but also some surprising ones. I was left wondering who really are the bad and the good guys and if there’s even more to this world then we are led to believe.

This book is told from multiple point of views, only not in the way you might expect. There’s the first part which is narrated by Arianna, then there’s the second part form Zane’s perspective and the third part from Arianna’s point of view again. It might seem unusual, but I think it worked really well. There’s no switching back and forth.

I really liked both main characters. Arianna is a likeable character, although sometimes I wish we got to feel her emotions a bit more. It’s described what she feels, but I didn’t really feel it. I did like her as a character, she seemed willing to do whatever was necessary and she cares strongly about those close to her. Then there’s Cal, I didn’t like him at first, he just seemed annoying and arrogant and I didn’t like his attitude. I did came to like him a bit more later on and I believed he really cared about Arianna. There are some sweet moments between the two of them, but there are also some scenes were I doubted if Cal was good for her. Then there’s Zane, I really liked him and he seemed like a nice guy. We only get his perspective for a few chapters, but I liked him and how he was willing to do anything to get Arianna from Novo.

There are some side characters, but I felt like they were only that. We don’t really get to know the side characters, although I did really like Lily, Arianna’s sister and she reminded a bit of my sister. I never connected with Eve, Arianna’s best friend and the further the story progressed the lesser her part got. Another thing that bothered me a bit, was that while Arianna, Call and Eve all attended some military school we never got a good idea of what they knew and got taught. Especially during the scene at the end I was wondering how much of this was normal for Arianna and what she knew.

The romance in this book contains some sort of love triangle, although it isn’t really clear until later in this book. I really have mixed feelings and I am not sure which team I am. Cal and Arianna grow really close to each other in this book, but I also really like Zane and I felt like he didn’t got his chance in this book, although I am pretty sure that will change in the next book. The romance is a bit complicated and closely connected with the ‘Calling’ and the events leading them to go to Novo. I am really curious how the romance will develop in the next book and I feel like Arianna is in a really difficult position.

While I enjoyed reading about the world the author has created, I felt like there was something missing. Especially at the beginning there were a lot of unanswered questions like where was Novo exactly, how did the memory wipe work, what did they remember and what not and why if people were chosen for their health were most families still intact. Later on these questions drifted a bit to the background as I got absorbed into the story. Siobhan does the descriptions really well and I enjoyed getting a sense of the world and how it looked like. I was pleasantly surprised at the paranormal twists, I didn’t see it coming and I found it an original addition. I hope we learn more in depth about it in the next book!

To conclude: I really enjoyed True Calling, the book is story driven with a nice cast of characters. Although I had some trouble getting into the story at first and would’ve liked to get to know more about the characters emotions. As soon as the story picked up I wanted to keep reading. The romance and the love triangle had me a bit conflicted and I can’t figure out what’s my stand on it, I think I prefer Zane, but Cal and Arianna share something as well. The world building was nice, although I would’ve liked to learn a bit more about the world. All in all a great book and I can’t wait to see were Siobhan takes this series next!

4-star

You can add True Calling to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can buy True Calling here:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iBooks
Ciando ebooks
Copia books
Bookbaby

Tags:


14 responses to “Review: True Calling by Siobhan Davis

    • There’s a tv show with the same name? I didn’t know that. The telling about the characters feelings was one of the things that bugged me a bit, I like to feel what the character is feeling. Luckily the rest of the book made more than up for it, the story was really good and I can’t wait for the next book!

    • The telling instead of showing was frustrating at first, but I got kinda used to it as the story progressed and the story was good enough for me to overlook it for the most part. And indeed I think most of the questions will be answered in the next books.

  1. I really need to connect on a somewhat personal level with a characters to really feel for them and I can see that being an issue. I am glad you did like it. They do have a show called True Calling but I don’t think it’s like this book. I have only watched a few episodes of it and wasn’t that hooked.

    Great review!
    Michelle@Because Reading recently posted…A Month of Giving Thanks ~ Day #29My Profile

    • I did connect with the characters, but not completely as I couldn’t really feel what they felt. Nevertheless it was still a great book and I was curious to what happened to the characters. I am glad to story was done so well as that was really the best thing about this book and made me want to keep reading.

    • I would certainly recommend it! I might consider re-reading it at some point as it might shed a different light on early events when you know what happens later on.

  2. Hmm I’m not sure how I’ll feel about this one – the concept just excites me so much and I do like that the story worked so well for you. But always being told, rather than shown/feeling emotions tends to frustrate me and create a disconnect. And I do tend to prefere books that are character driven, more than story driven. But I’m keeping it on my TBR – I still love the concept and you did enjoy it enough for to still try it out. Great review!
    Berls @ Fantasy is More Fun recently posted…Forever & Always by Jasinda Wilder |My TBR List ReviewMy Profile

    • The concept and the story were really well drawn, but it took me some time to get used to the writing style with all the telling. I would say if you give it a try, make sure to read past the first few chapters as it get’s really good later on, it just takes a bit to get there. I do think it’s worth the read and did realy enjoy it, I even had trouble deciding which book to read next as I was still with my head in this world.

      I actually don’t mind whether books are character or story driven, I usually like both types, but in some reviews I just have to mention it if I feel a book really felt character or story driven.

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.