The Iron Trial by Holly Black

The Iron Trial by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just when I thought I'd never run into another trio of friends facing danger from a dark lord at a magic school, I found the Magisterium. (Previous encounters: Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, Michael Vey, Percy Jackson )

This book wasn't perfect, but it was pretty dang good. Most of the action and characters flowed along nicely with the telling. The magic system fits in fairly well, and the bad guys are threatening while still being real characters with goals. Adequate twists and turns, especially at the end, to keep readers of all ages engaged, although this is a solid early YA book.

My only issues area some of details here and there. A character named Warren that disappears half way through the book and doesn't reappear. A school made out of tunnels that still reacts to the seasons (underground temperatures are pretty constant.) The whole thing takes place in caves with little to no mention of the lighting challenges. A few balls of flame here and there are poor solutions to that problem. The almost instant acceptance of a beast that some characters had been brought up to fear their whole lives.

Again, I liked this book, but every now and then some detail would pull me out of the story, which was bothersome. Looking forward to the next book though.