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A review by samihaazim
The Iron Trial by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare
2.0
Rating: 2/5 (On Goodreads 2 is labelled as ‘Okay’ which is what this book was for me. Don’t be put off, or offended! It just wasn’t my cup of tea unfortunately)
Cassandra Clare is probably best known for her Shadowhunter series’ and I’m a big fan of The Mortal Instruments series and an even bigger fan of The Infernal Devices. The world is vivid and brilliant and Cassandra Clare’s characters, dialogue and storytelling are close to perfect. This is her latest offering, set externally to the Shadowhunter world and it was co-written with her friend and fellow author, Holly Black. I haven’t read any Holly Black but her books have been glaring at me from my to read list for a while.
All his life, Callum Hunt’s father has told him of all the dangers that are within the Magisterium. So, unlike all other children, Callum is determined to fail at the Iron Trials that determine admittance to the Magisterium. But he doesn’t fail, not exactly. When he makes it into the school, Callum is torn between his duty to his father and the realisation that he finally has friends and has finally found a place where he belongs.
Callum has a broken leg and having a protagonist with a glaring physical weakness that didn’t make him any less strong was great. I liked the growing friendship between Callum, Tamara and Aaron, especially since Callum had always been an outsider before he was accepted into their cohort. The ending was fairly enjoyable and I liked the reveal that will definitely be an exciting premise for the next books.
I was excited at the prospect of a series outside the Shadowhunter world but it’s safe to say that I was disappointed. My main criticism would be that I didn’t find the world enjoyable and wasn’t able to immerse myself in it. It wasn’t built out enough and it lacked magic, which is one thing it should have had. The story wasn’t compelling for me and I found myself having to trudge through the book so I could mark it off as read. Secondary characters can make or break a book but the side characters weren’t memorable enough.
I’m conscious that this book is categorised as middle-grade fiction and perhaps that hindered my enjoyment. I would still recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of either Cassandra Clare or Holly Black or enjoys books that deal with magic and boarding schools.
Cassandra Clare is probably best known for her Shadowhunter series’ and I’m a big fan of The Mortal Instruments series and an even bigger fan of The Infernal Devices. The world is vivid and brilliant and Cassandra Clare’s characters, dialogue and storytelling are close to perfect. This is her latest offering, set externally to the Shadowhunter world and it was co-written with her friend and fellow author, Holly Black. I haven’t read any Holly Black but her books have been glaring at me from my to read list for a while.
All his life, Callum Hunt’s father has told him of all the dangers that are within the Magisterium. So, unlike all other children, Callum is determined to fail at the Iron Trials that determine admittance to the Magisterium. But he doesn’t fail, not exactly. When he makes it into the school, Callum is torn between his duty to his father and the realisation that he finally has friends and has finally found a place where he belongs.
Callum has a broken leg and having a protagonist with a glaring physical weakness that didn’t make him any less strong was great. I liked the growing friendship between Callum, Tamara and Aaron, especially since Callum had always been an outsider before he was accepted into their cohort. The ending was fairly enjoyable and I liked the reveal that will definitely be an exciting premise for the next books.
I was excited at the prospect of a series outside the Shadowhunter world but it’s safe to say that I was disappointed. My main criticism would be that I didn’t find the world enjoyable and wasn’t able to immerse myself in it. It wasn’t built out enough and it lacked magic, which is one thing it should have had. The story wasn’t compelling for me and I found myself having to trudge through the book so I could mark it off as read. Secondary characters can make or break a book but the side characters weren’t memorable enough.
I’m conscious that this book is categorised as middle-grade fiction and perhaps that hindered my enjoyment. I would still recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of either Cassandra Clare or Holly Black or enjoys books that deal with magic and boarding schools.