The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black

First I would like to congratulate Cassandra Clare and Holly Black on this new series! Writing with friends is always fun. Secondly I would like to scold them for rewriting Harry Potter. Yes that's correct, this book is an almost identical copy of Harry Potter. The differences in the two books are slight but there. Firstly Call, our main character, knew what he was where Harry did not. Secondly Call didn't WANT to go to the Magisterium at first (but loved it when he got there), where as Harry welcomed going to Hogwarts.

The book was entertaining but I could not get over the fact that it was a lot like Harry Potter. A boy goes to a magical school for young people who can do magic, finds some friends, makes an enemy and has a good time. Here's the synopsis for the book:

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 — 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…

Alright now that I've gotten what I didn't like about the book out of the way let me talk about what I did like. The fire elemental lizard was absolutely adorable and now I kind of want one of my own... Along with a wolf pup... I mean I've always liked wolves but now after reading this book I want a furry little Chaos-ridden wolf pup for Christmas.

The characters were pretty well thought out and developed over the course of the almost 300 page book, each having their own sets of problems and revelations about them. My favorite would have to be either Aaron or Call. Tamara was a cool character, very Hermione, but I didn't LOVE her like I loved Call and Aaron.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars for being entertaining and having well thought out characters. It would have gotten 4 out of 5 but it was A) too short and B) kind of a rewrite of Harry Potter with a little twist.