Review: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The main character in "The Iron Trial" is Callum "Call" Hunt. He has the potential to become a mage, but his father has always warned him that magic is dangerous. Despite Call's best efforts, though, he is forced to go to the Magisterium, to be taught how to use is magic. 

This book is very reminiscent of "Harry Potter" in some ways. We have a magic school in a secret location. We have a young boy, who has magical powers. His encounter with the greatest evil of his age when he was a newborn left a permanent physical mark on him. He doesn’t have any friends in his town, but when he goes to the magic school, he befriends several people, in particular a boy and a girl. The dark wizard they’re all afraid of has an ominous nickname: he’s called the Enemy of Death. He wants to become immortal.  

The similarities between "The Iron Trial" and "Harry Potter" are particularly obvious in the first few chapters, so in the beginning I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes and going “oh, I haven’t heard that one before”.

 Thankfully, as time went on, it became less and less similar to the "Harry Potter" series, and I started enjoying it more and more.

“The Iron Trial” is rather short, and not much happens in terms of plot, as most of the book focuses on the world- and character-building. However, the book did make me want to keep reading. 

The main character, Call, is a pretty standard middle grade fantasy lead for most of the book: he’s a troublemaker, he’s caustic, he has the bad habit of acting first and thinking second, he’s loyal to his friends, he’s stubborn and proud. The only really good bit of character development he gets is right at the end. It made me appreciate his character a great deal more.

I really liked Tamara. She’s ready to do pretty much anything in order to reach her goals, and has been pressured from her family to be an overachiever. She has a temper. She wants do to the right thing. 

Of the three main characters, Aaron is the least compelling one. He doesn’t have any characters fault, and he never rises above his own stereotype. He’s a golden boy the first time we see him and he remains that way for the whole book.

The bully character, Jasper, had the possibility of being very interesting, despite the fact that he came off as really clichéd in the beginning. He was brave and his reasons were sympathetic, and I do hope to see more of him in the next books. 

The rest of the characters aren’t very complex or memorable, but none of them are outright unlikable, either.

There wasn’t anything really new and original about the world-building. There’s no sense of wonder,  nothing that surprised me, which is what I look for when I read fantasy. However, it all held together quite nicely and the reader was eased into the world of Magisterium with a lot of skill, so that there were no boring info-dumps. 

I loved the twist at the end of the novel. It was foreshadowed a great deal, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise, but the implications are very interesting. It’s enough to make me want to give the next book in this series a chance.

All in all, this book kept me entertained. I recommend it if you’re in the mood for some light reading and you don’t have a lot of time to read. “The Iron Trial” is an okay book, but nothing more than that. I would have given it two and a half stars, but the twist at the end was a saving grace, and it earned the book an extra half star.  

 Rating: 

★★★

I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

I have a lot to say about this book. I think it's the one I like best in this series, the one I had more fun reading, the one that has some of the best moments. Interestingly, it's also the one who has the most things I don't like.

It's because in "House of Hades", Riordan took more risks than he did in the last few books, which were, admittedly, kind of bland. And risks sometimes pay off and sometimes they don't, but at the end of the day, risks need to be taken for something to be memorable. 

First things first: the humor. In this book, it touched some of its highest and lowest points. What I hated the most was Gale the farting polecat. 
I mean... really? That was a new low. 

The part with Nyx was brilliant. I actually laughed out loud, which I don't do much while reading, I usually just sort of grin if the scene is funny enough. And it's incredible it's in the same book as Gale. 

On the character development angle, this book was great. I especially liked what Riordan did with Nico. I'm not going to spoil what it is, but I thought that was great, and I'm really glad it was included, both because I think it's an important theme and because it was very well-done. 
I also liked Jason's character. He wasn't that interesting in the last few books, but in this one, both his conflict and his actions worked to make him more likable and relatable.

Annabeth and Percy's romance was very sweet but not cheesy or over-the-top, which it could easily have been, given the predicament they were in. 
Another love story I liked was Leo's. He and his love interest work very well as a couple and though they met and fell for each other quite fast, it didn't feel forced or overly dramatic. I hope to see more of them in the last book. 

The part set in Tartarus was really interesting, both because the stakes are higher than usual for the main characters, because they don't know what will happen to them if they die in the Pit, and because it rises a series of interesting questions about destiny, wether or not monsters are able to choose their role - and if the demigods were really justified in killing them. 

That, as well as other situations in the book, proves to be morally challenging for the heroes. I liked that side a lot - you don't see that very often, especially in middle grade level books. 

"House of Hades" was great, and I can hardly wait for the sequel to come out. 

Rating:

★★★★

Review: the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Now it's official: Neil Gaiman is on my direct-to-buy list. As in, the authors whose books I buy without downloading the sample, without checking the reviews, without reading the summary, if the fancy strikes me.
"The Graveyard Book" is wonderful. I can't believe I haven't read it before. I'm already going into good book withdrawal.
Even though the novel starts with the triple murder of a couple and their eldest child the story has some really sweet aspects, like Bod's relationship with his adoptive parents.
The characters were awesome. Bod is an amazing main character and I have a bit of a crush on his guardian, Silas.
I also liked the rest of the characters, they felt incredibly real.
All this would have been enough to make this a great read, but the best thing about it was the writing. It's beautiful, heart-stoppingly good. I loved it. If everything else about "the Graveyard Book" had been awful, it still would have gotten three stars, just for the writing. That's how good this is. 
Read this book. I mean it, read this book, and make sure your children do too. It's fantastic and you'll love it, I'm sure of it. 
And, as mistress Owens' song goes:

Kiss a lover
Dance a measure,
Find your name
And buried treasure... 

Face your life
Its pain,
Its pleasure,
Leave no path untaken 

Rating: 

★★★★★