The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Title: The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium, 2)
Authors: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Corgi Books (3rd September 2015)
Blurb:

WHAT IF YOUR SOUL WAS NOT YOUR OWN?
WHAT IF YOU KNEW YOU WERE DESTINED FOR EVIL?

Callum Hunt has returned from the Magisterium victorious. He is now a mage in his own right – a Copper Year student. He has friends; 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 would like in the Alkahest, a mysterious copper gauntlet. But it is a dangerous object, with a violent history. It could destory everything Call knows and loves . . .

And release the evil within him.

THINK YOU  KNOW MAGIC? THINK AGAIN.
ENTER THE BREATHTAKING WORLD OF THE MAGISTERIUM.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

THE COPPER GAUNTLET is the second book in The Magisterium series by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. The book continues the story of Callum Hunt who having completed his first year at the Magisterium, is about to start his second but this time he knows a terrible secret that could have terrible consequences. Despite this Call wants to return to the Magisterium and his friends.

I really enjoyed reading THE COPPER GAUNTLET and thought it was a brilliant addition to The Magisterium series. After the revelation in THE IRON TRIAL (review) I was curious about where the story was going to go and Black and Clare did not disappoint in this book. A lot happens in THE COPPER GAUNTLET in a very short amount of time. On the one hand, there was so much going on that I didn’t even notice this until I reached the final pages of the book. On the other, it has left me desperately hoping that the third book in this series picks up where this one finishes because I want to know more!

Call is a brilliant main character. I think one of the things I most enjoy about him in this book, is his determination to protect those he cares for. He also has really awesome friends in Tamara and Aaron. And I have to take a moment and talk about Havoc, who despite being a wolf and therefore not speaking is a huge presence on the page. He is definitely one of my favourite characters of this series. Call and his friends do a lot of growing up in this book, and I think Black and Clare do a good job in setting up the possibility of future events in this book.

The plot of the book is surprisingly complex, and there are a lot of twists and turns. After the first chapter, I was pretty sure I had an idea where the book was going to go but Black and Clare surprised me. Some of the things I thought might happen did, but there were plenty of other events that I was not expecting at all. THE COPPER GAUNTLET is a strong second book, and in my opinion it really builds on the groundwork of THE IRON TRIAL. The world of The Magisterium is steadily growing more complex, and I have really enjoyed watching events play out so far. I’m curious to see where this series is going.

If you are a fan of magical boarding schools, and have not already done so then be sure to check this series out. There are a lot of elements to this series that are similar to other books in this genre, but Black and Clare approach it in a slightly different direction from what you would expect. As the second book in the series THE COPPER GAUNTLET really adds to the world building of The Magisterium, and we learn more about Call’s story. If you enjoyed THE IRON TRIAL then you will adore this book.

ETA: Sorry this post has gone up a day late, but circumstances conspired against me.