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raetheraven 's review for:
The Iron Trial
by Holly Black, Cassandra Clare
I find myself doing this more and more these days, but with all the negativity going on, I feel like I need to say something.
I get that some people might not like the book, and that's fine. But what I don't get is why everyone has to hate on Black and Clare for 'ripping off Harry Potter'. They're not. There are similarities, yes, but then why don't we hate every fictional boarding school that is even remotely tied to magic? Why don't we hate Camp Half-Blood? Why don't we hate Camp Half-Blood for even being called Camp Half-Blood? It's so obviously a Harry Potter rip-off, right? Right?. Uh, no.
And anyway, I am willing to bet anything that if I try, I can find you a dozen books published before Harry Potter that have similar concepts. But that doesn't mean we can't love and enjoy all of them. No piece of writing is 100% original. So I'll just leave this here for everyone's consideration and move on the what the book was actually like.
Personally, I found it very enjoyable. It was easy and simple and a lovely one-day, get-your-mind-off-things read. The writing isn't the best it could be, it's not very elaborate and the wit is very childish (it still made me laugh though). But what would you expect from a children's book? I had no problem overlooking this aspect.
Character development was one of my bigger issues. We see Call's progress because we get his perspective, but the other characters have very weird, unnatural shifts in personality, at least as far as we can see. I mean, how do Call, Tamara and Aaron become friends? Aaron was always nice, but Tamara seemed to dislike Call rather strongly and then they're suddenly best friends? How did that happen?
There are several things, plot-wise, that I'm not sure if I should be disappointed by or excited about. Like Warren and his 'Master'. That was sort of dropped in the middle, but I'm not sure if it will come back in subsequent books or what, so a big question mark there.
I loved, loved, loved the elemental magic. I felt like I was 10 again and playing online fantasy RPGs. And I thought the idea of the hero not wanting to go to magic school (come on, who doesn't want superpowers?) was very interesting, especially that, what could be more tempting for a 12 year old who has been a cripple all his life? Who has always felt incompetent and unimportant. So I thought the book started unexpectedly and ended just as unexpectedly. The plot twist, while it was hinted at, was really a surprise. At least for me. I had my ideas, but I honestly did not think of that.
All in all, I enjoyed The Iron Trial and I'm really looking forward to the next book. I think this series has potential.
I get that some people might not like the book, and that's fine. But what I don't get is why everyone has to hate on Black and Clare for 'ripping off Harry Potter'. They're not. There are similarities, yes, but then why don't we hate every fictional boarding school that is even remotely tied to magic? Why don't we hate Camp Half-Blood? Why don't we hate Camp Half-Blood for even being called Camp Half-Blood? It's so obviously a Harry Potter rip-off, right? Right?. Uh, no.
And anyway, I am willing to bet anything that if I try, I can find you a dozen books published before Harry Potter that have similar concepts. But that doesn't mean we can't love and enjoy all of them. No piece of writing is 100% original. So I'll just leave this here for everyone's consideration and move on the what the book was actually like.
Personally, I found it very enjoyable. It was easy and simple and a lovely one-day, get-your-mind-off-things read. The writing isn't the best it could be, it's not very elaborate and the wit is very childish (it still made me laugh though). But what would you expect from a children's book? I had no problem overlooking this aspect.
Character development was one of my bigger issues. We see Call's progress because we get his perspective, but the other characters have very weird, unnatural shifts in personality, at least as far as we can see. I mean, how do Call, Tamara and Aaron become friends? Aaron was always nice, but Tamara seemed to dislike Call rather strongly and then they're suddenly best friends? How did that happen?
There are several things, plot-wise, that I'm not sure if I should be disappointed by or excited about. Like Warren and his 'Master'. That was sort of dropped in the middle, but I'm not sure if it will come back in subsequent books or what, so a big question mark there.
I loved, loved, loved the elemental magic. I felt like I was 10 again and playing online fantasy RPGs. And I thought the idea of the hero not wanting to go to magic school (come on, who doesn't want superpowers?) was very interesting, especially that, what could be more tempting for a 12 year old who has been a cripple all his life? Who has always felt incompetent and unimportant. So I thought the book started unexpectedly and ended just as unexpectedly. The plot twist, while it was hinted at, was really a surprise. At least for me. I had my ideas, but I honestly did not think of that.
All in all, I enjoyed The Iron Trial and I'm really looking forward to the next book. I think this series has potential.