ARC Review: The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium, #2)

The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium, #2): Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Publication Date: September 1st, 2015

Callum Hunt’s summer break isn’t like other kids’. His closest companion is a Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc. His father suspects him of being secretly evil. And, of course, most kids aren’t heading back to the magical world of the Magisterium in the fall.

It’s not easy for Call . . . and it gets even harder after he checks out his basement and discovers that his dad might be trying to destroy both him and Havoc.

Call escapes to the Magisterium -- but things only intensify there. The Alkahest -- a copper gauntlet capable of separating certain magicians from their magic -- has been stolen. And in their search to discover the culprit, Call and his friends Aaron and Tamara awaken the attention of some very dangerous foes -- and get closer to an even more dangerous truth.

I was a huge fan of The Iron Trial. While people were putting it down for being too much like Harry Potter, I think it held it's own as far as middle grade fantasies go. The big plot twist at the end had me picking up my Copper Gauntlet ARC right away. The Iron Trial only took me a few days to read, while The Copper Gauntlet took me weeks. 

The beginning and ending were exciting and fast paced, but the middle seemed to drag. The plot didn't surprise as much as the first book, like it didn't leave me wanting more. I just kind of like "Oh well, I'll wait till the next one". Nothing was cleared up with Alex Strike - I mean there was a big stink with that guy and nothing came of it! I also feel like there was very minimal action besides at the beginning and the end. I obviously don't want to spoil what happens, but looking back now I was just like "when is something exciting going to happen?" I am wondering if I'm just thinking this way because the first book spoiled me so much with exciting twists and turns basically every other chapter. 

The Iron Trial had an amazing cast of characters that meshed in a way that really worked for the story and made you envy their friendship. However, The Copper Gauntlet didn't just challenge their friendship which was to be expected - but it did so in such a manner that really turned me off to the characters in the story. Tamara is one of the only female characters we see a lot of in the story and I'm really disappointed that she completely disregards Call in this book because of her little crush on Aaron.  She fawns over Aaron for the majority of the story and basically just worries about what can happen to him/consequences for Aaron if the entire group does something. It gets extremely annoying. I still like Call, although I don't really see any big character growth yet. Aaron didn't really surprise me - he was self conflicted and brooding, which I expected. My favorite character is still Havoc - I mean what a cute puppy, I just want to kiss him! Oh also Warren, definitely Warren. 

"Yeah but you're a Makar. Makar it open or something"

Anyway, I just wasn't as impressed with The Copper Gauntlet as I was with The Iron Trial. I will definitely be continuing with the series because I still want to see where it goes from here. I'm still hoping there is something surprising up Holly and Cassandra's sleeve because this book didn't knock me off my feet like the first one did. So I'm ready to find out what happens to the Magisterium in The Bronze something!! 

- Jocelyn