Review: Call Down Thunder by Daniel Finn

Call Down ThunderReve and his sister Mi are alone in the world – their father is dead and their mother has abandoned them. Reve has to learn to be a man – to fight, to fish, to live. He must protect Mi from the rest of the world; she is special, hears voices, can see things. She can call down thunder. Travelling to the big city to search for their mother, Reve and Mi get sucked into the squalid underworld of the sprawling barrio, where danger lurks around every corner, and each day is a fight for survival.


This book took me a while to read because it was very slow paced, but when I finished it I realised that all of the effort was worth it. This is one of those books that manages to get deep into your soul and though it was a step out of my comfort zone I'm very glad that I took that step.

At first I really did not think I was going to get on with this book, it was slow and slightly confusing and I didn't understand the culture. Slowly, I began to get to grips with who was who and the way of speaking and in the end I was able to read it without having to re-read each sentence of dialogue. I think that may be one of this books biggest downfalls; it's slow, confusing at times and the dialogue isn't typical.

However, this book does have an absolutely amazing main character: Reve is tough and strong and though he is only a kid (thirteen I think?) he is able to be brave and strong but he always sounds authentic and real. I also really liked Mi, she was unique and quirky and not all there. Mi's story was well written and I loved the direction the author took her character. I also liked the backing characters, Theon was a character I never really understood and I really liked Tomas he was tough but he cared. I also came to love Baz and Demi, the kids that Reve and Mi meet in the city because they were street smart and kind of cute.


There isn't really much more that I can say for Call Down Thunder. This is pretty heavy and pretty slow, but is worth reading. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone looking for an edge-of-seat read, but if you want something a little deeper and meaningful I would definitely recommend this book.

Overall, this book was very slow and I struggled to stay interested for a while but after finishing it I do feel like I have taken something from this book. I liked the characters in this book as they seemed very authentic.

Overall Rating: C+


Released July 5th 2012 by Panmacmillan
Book received from the author in exchange for an honest review.


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