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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
In the introduction to the Advance Readers Edition of The Iron Trial, Black and Clare write, “We wanted to tell a story about a protagonist who had all the markers of a hero: tragedy and secrets in his past, magic power. We wanted people to believe they knew what kind of story they were in for. And then we wanted them to be surprised…” However, the first major reversal doesn't come until about 200 pages in; subverting tropes means setting up expectations beforehand, and the first two-thirds of the book are heavy on world-building. Anyone who quit before that point could be forgiven for thinking they had been reading an unremarkable addition to the magic school genre. read more
I really enjoyed this, took me back to the harry Potter days and how nice it can be to disappear into a fantasy world. I adore the characters and can't wait for the next book later this year :) as for the harry Potter references I don't think it's the same at all, it has the same magical feel to it but not a rip off of that series.
It's a great book in its own right so don't let that put anyone off.
It's a great book in its own right so don't let that put anyone off.
Me gustó mucho este libro, los perosnajes principales me gustan mucho y creo que es un gran libro. Lo recomiendo bastante.
THAT PLOT TWIST!! WHAT!! The ending blew me away, book 2 will be interesting!
HARRY POTTER AND THE IRON TRIAL SPOILERS. AHEAD
I rarely write reviews but I wanted to talk about this book. It has good things, and bad things, and all the reviews I found or only focused on the bad ones, or only on the good ones, so I wanted to write my version.
Here are some things I wanted to talk about:
-Really obvious Harry Potter ripoff
I know that Harry Potter is NOT the first-ever fantasy series with 'a boy goes to a magical school' setting in it, but The Iron Trial is still a Harry Potter ripoff.
Here're some similarities:
The first 5 pages are about a bunch of people being murdered by the Enemy of Death and a little boy is the only survivor...his mother also died protecting him...
Ummm… The Boy Who Lives?
The name 'The Enemy of Death'...it doesn't remind you of You Know Who?
There's more...three kids, two boys and one girl (an outstandingly smart girl, btw) working as a team for the school year with a mentor who seems to know more about the boy's identity and the secrets from the past than this boy himself…
And don't even get me started with how the Arch Villain's soul is inside the little boy's body. Couldn't they have copied her in a little bit more subtle way!? Although, I loved this twist :)
-Characters
I hate Call
For too many times he said things which are supposed to be smart, but they were SO STUPID! He just made really bad decisions.
You may look at Tamara and presume she is the classic Hermione or Annabeth of the group, simply as a comparison. Sure, Tamara is the most clued into the Magisterium world, and the most intelligent, and she has a lot of things in common with them, CLEAR RIPOFF. I kinda like how she looks so innocent, but she isn´t, but she's still is in a way… I know it doesn't make sense but that's what I think. Tamara has expectations to fill and her parents are in the clue on the magic world, and she always tried her best. Though everyone is stupid in this book and she's not the exception, she's my favorite character so far.
Aaron is so… bipolar. I don't like him.
The Mages-teachers are horrible as educators
For example, at the very beginning, we can see how those mages keep a 12 years old boy despite the lack of parental consent. And you are telling me those mages are supposed to be the good guys!?
Also, those mages have lied to the kids and their parents when they persuade them to their magical school with fake invitation letters which were supposedly sent by ballet schools and other schools of talents! Many parents didn't know that they were sending their kids to a magical school which is going to train them to be magical warriors and fight with monsters and murderers! WHAT THE HELL!?
Then they found their Maker… So let's make public this great discovery! Because the Enemy would NEVER dream of killing him! That's so clever!
Those mages are terrible people. But it makes the story more interesting, I know it might sound strange but I like hating some characters, it makes the story feel more real.
-The world building
Fire wants to burn
Water wants to flow
Air wants to raise
Earth wants to bind
Chaos wants to devour
This is unimaginative and unmagical, but IDK WHY, it's still cool. I mean, it's bad, but I like it. And it kind of makes sense.
I found the idea of mages and their counterweights is really interesting. I would like to know more about this world, bc I think we don't have a lot of information about it.
-Plot
There wasn't too much in the way of the plot. There is some plot but it really starts coming into play at the end. I have to admit, the ending made me turn the pages like a maniac. Things do get clear at the end of the book, with a twist I am EMBARRASSED to say, I honestly didn't expect. WOW.
I rarely write reviews but I wanted to talk about this book. It has good things, and bad things, and all the reviews I found or only focused on the bad ones, or only on the good ones, so I wanted to write my version.
Here are some things I wanted to talk about:
-Really obvious Harry Potter ripoff
I know that Harry Potter is NOT the first-ever fantasy series with 'a boy goes to a magical school' setting in it, but The Iron Trial is still a Harry Potter ripoff.
Here're some similarities:
The first 5 pages are about a bunch of people being murdered by the Enemy of Death and a little boy is the only survivor...his mother also died protecting him...
Ummm… The Boy Who Lives?
The name 'The Enemy of Death'...it doesn't remind you of You Know Who?
There's more...three kids, two boys and one girl (an outstandingly smart girl, btw) working as a team for the school year with a mentor who seems to know more about the boy's identity and the secrets from the past than this boy himself…
And don't even get me started with how the Arch Villain's soul is inside the little boy's body. Couldn't they have copied her in a little bit more subtle way!? Although, I loved this twist :)
-Characters
I hate Call
For too many times he said things which are supposed to be smart, but they were SO STUPID! He just made really bad decisions.
You may look at Tamara and presume she is the classic Hermione or Annabeth of the group, simply as a comparison. Sure, Tamara is the most clued into the Magisterium world, and the most intelligent, and she has a lot of things in common with them, CLEAR RIPOFF. I kinda like how she looks so innocent, but she isn´t, but she's still is in a way… I know it doesn't make sense but that's what I think. Tamara has expectations to fill and her parents are in the clue on the magic world, and she always tried her best. Though everyone is stupid in this book and she's not the exception, she's my favorite character so far.
Aaron is so… bipolar. I don't like him.
The Mages-teachers are horrible as educators
For example, at the very beginning, we can see how those mages keep a 12 years old boy despite the lack of parental consent. And you are telling me those mages are supposed to be the good guys!?
Also, those mages have lied to the kids and their parents when they persuade them to their magical school with fake invitation letters which were supposedly sent by ballet schools and other schools of talents! Many parents didn't know that they were sending their kids to a magical school which is going to train them to be magical warriors and fight with monsters and murderers! WHAT THE HELL!?
Then they found their Maker… So let's make public this great discovery! Because the Enemy would NEVER dream of killing him! That's so clever!
Those mages are terrible people. But it makes the story more interesting, I know it might sound strange but I like hating some characters, it makes the story feel more real.
-The world building
Fire wants to burn
Water wants to flow
Air wants to raise
Earth wants to bind
Chaos wants to devour
This is unimaginative and unmagical, but IDK WHY, it's still cool. I mean, it's bad, but I like it. And it kind of makes sense.
I found the idea of mages and their counterweights is really interesting. I would like to know more about this world, bc I think we don't have a lot of information about it.
-Plot
There wasn't too much in the way of the plot. There is some plot but it really starts coming into play at the end. I have to admit, the ending made me turn the pages like a maniac. Things do get clear at the end of the book, with a twist I am EMBARRASSED to say, I honestly didn't expect. WOW.
Doesn't quite get five as it was pretty uninteresting to start with, but it did pick up and I was certainly surprised by some of those plot twists (Cassandra Clare was always good with those)
This is a really fun beginning of a series, that will leave you super excited about the rest. Definitely worth the read. I feel if I say much else it would be spoilery.
For me it took awhile to get through. The pace was a bit slow at first and it was a lot of lead up. But the ending was fantastic. I loved the characters! Really good can't wait for the second book!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes