The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Welcome to Saturday Shorts, where we feature short stories, novellas, or middle-grade books! Today we have a kid’s book by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, two very talented fantasy writers.

Title:  The Iron Trial
Author:  Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Series: Magisterium Book 01
Publish Date:  September 9, 2014
Genre:  MG Fantasy
Source: Purchased

Publisher’s Description: Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst – and fails at failing.

Now the Magisterium awaits him. It’s a place that’s both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .

Possible spoilers beyond this point.

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Luna Lovebooks says…

What I liked: First of all, I love the fact that Call isn’t your typical protagonist. He is witty, pessimistic and gets into all kinds of scrapes, making him more like your typical side-kick in a fantasy adventure story. I also like the fact there are so many twists and surprises that you are left wondering who the bad guy/good guy really is. The world is interesting and the creatures are very imaginative. I feel like this could be the next Harry Potter if more people get into it.

What I didn’t like: I understand there wouldn’t be a story if Call didn’t go to the school. But to drag him away kicking and screaming? He clearly didn’t want to go and this sort of bothered me. I didn’t get why the Magisterium had to lie to the parents – making them think they were taking their kids to try out for ballet school or something along those lines. Most of the children came from already magical families, so wouldn’t they know how the school worked? It just didn’t make much sense to me.

Overall I loved this book and give it 5 stars.

If you like this book…

…you might try the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black,  and Frostborn by Lou Anders.