The Iron Trial

I’m still battling a wicked cold/flu thing that forced me to spend time relaxing this weekend, which allowed me to get a lot of reading done!  And boy, did it feel great!  I finished The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare and read all of I am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World written by Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick.  Two very different books, but both were really interesting.
Callum Hunt has been warned against magic his whole life so when he is required to attend the Iron Trial, his father tells him to fail… on purpose, but instead a mage selects him as a new recruit where Callum learns more about himself than he ever had before.  Learning to use magic, understanding his power and making new friends sounds very similar to the Harry Potter world, except this story is a lot darker straight from the beginning.
I really enjoyed the storyline with the twists and turns some of which I never expected.  The characters seemed a little stilted, stuck into typical roles – the brainiac girl trying to prove herself, the annoying bully who won’t leave the main character alone, Callum’s trusty friend and sidekick.  Was the story the new Harry Potter?  Probably not.  Was it entertaining? I thought so.  I was drawn to the story because of the authors behind it, hopefully the next book with be even stronger than the fist!
Title: The Iron Trial
Author: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 2014
Page Number: 295 pgs.