Holly Black and Cassandra Clare - Magisterium The Copper Gauntlet

Holly Black and Cassandra Clare - Magisterium The Copper Gauntlet.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars.

Hey everyone! I’m nearly finished reading the Magisterium series! I hope you’re all ready for the big share of reviews your about to receive. It’s been so lovely having time off work to read and relax for once. I got an awful lot done considering I had planned to do absolutely nothing at all. Anyway, I absolutely loved this series. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. So here is my review for book two in the series, The Copper Gauntlet.

Synopsis:

Callum Hunt has returned from the Magisterium victorious. He is now a mage in his own right – a Copper Year student. He has friends; he feels at home in the winding tunnels of the mysterious magical school.

But Call hides a terrible secret.

His soul is not his own. His body is a vessel for a powerful evil mage, wielder of chaos magic . . . murderer.

Salvation could lie in the Alkahest, a mysterious copper gauntlet. But it is a dangerous object, with a violent history. It could destroy everything Call knows and loves . . .

And release the evil within him.

A Little About The Author:

Holly Black and Cassandra Clare first met over ten years ago at Holly’s first-ever book signing. They have since become good friends, bonding over (among other things) their shared love of fantasy – from the sweeping vistas of The Lord of the rings to the gritty tales of Batman in Gotham City to the classic sword-and-sorcery epics to Star Wars. With Magisterium, they decided to team up to write their own story about heroes and villains, good and evil, and being chosen for greatness, whether you like it or not.

Holly is the bestselling author and co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles series and won a Newbery Honor for her novel Doll Bones. Cassie is the author of bestselling YA series, including The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. They both live in Western Massachusetts, about ten minutes away from each other. This is their first collaboration and marks the start of a five-book series.

A Little About The Story:

This book is the second in the five book Magisterium series. In the last book we followed as Call and his friends made it through their first year at the school and at the end of the book Call found out some terrifying news about who he truly is. In this book we watch him try and come to terms with this while he and his friends find themselves once again in danger. A normal day in the life of a magical school student.

The main characters as with the first book are Call, Aaron, and Tamara. However the Enemy of Death is mentioned a lot more in this book and is very important for a character we don’t actually get to properly meet. Notable mentions go to Master Rufus, Master Joseph, Alastair, Jasper and of course Havoc.

In this story the main characters were navigating their second year at the Magisterium. They are learning more about their magic and how to work with it and control it. Call in particular is figuring out who he is and what having a soul that isn’t his means. Is he Callum Hunt or is he the Enemy of Death? We watch as he struggles with this and his identity. We also witness as the youngsters go on a dangerous quest to save Call’s dad from being acquitted for a crime he may or may not have committed and end up face to face with the enemy.

My favourite character in this book is probably Call if I had to pick a favourite. I love that who he is fundamentally doesn’t change. He and his friends were victorious in the first book. They were heroes in a sense. It would have been easy for his personality to do a complete 180. But he stayed the same person he was. Just a little more sure of himself. I love how this character was written. Everyone could find some aspect of themselves in Callum Hunt. It is hard to pick a favourite character in this book though. The little trio with Call, Aaron and Tamara has a bit of everything for everyone in it.

I loved this book. As I said in the review for book one, I never really got into Harry Potter. So this series gave me all the magical school stories I needed in my life. I felt like I missed out on a big thing with Harry Potter, but I have found it in Magisterium. I also adore everything that Cassandra Clare and Holly Black write. These two authors are phenomenal, both separately and as we have seen in this series, together they are even better.

My favourite part of the book was Jaspers immersion into the group. He added something extra to the friendship group, and I liked the small bits of vulnerability we see in him. He changes from the unlikeable character into someone we can all resonate with a little. His character growth is amazing. And he clicks into place with the other three perfectly.

If I could change one thing about the book it would be Tamara’s importance. Don’t get me wrong she is so vital to this story. But I feel like the boys play a much bigger role than she does. I’d like to see the young girl in the story play a more kick ass role than she does.

I would recommend this book to lovers of Clare and Blacks other books. This is the perfect blend of two magical authors. Further to this if you are looking for that magical school feeling this is it. Whether you loved Harry Potter or not, this book fills a whole in your life you didn’t know you had. It is definitely aimed towards the younger audiences but as a fully grown adult I loved this a lot.

There it is, my full review and recommendation for Magisterium – The Copper Gauntlet. I am so pleased with how much I loved this book and how much I adore the series as a whole. If you have read this book, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. If not, I hope my review encouraged you to pick up the book.

Stay Curious! J x