kemendraugh's review against another edition
3.0
Four stars up until the end.
UGHHHHHHHHHH.
PS This book is the one I laughed out loud the most in, up until the end. Every time they said Captain Fishface, it was hilarious.
UGHHHHHHHHHH.
PS This book is the one I laughed out loud the most in, up until the end. Every time they said Captain Fishface, it was hilarious.
darkchocolate's review against another edition
5.0
As an adult reading this book series I find them splendid! It just gets better and better! There's no unnecessary chapters, descriptions etc.. Everything is connected and you're always jumping from one event to another. Unfortunately i expected some of the turn outs especially the ones connected to the pictures (chill, i won't spoil that for others who are still reading). And a certain person's death - i dunno what to think. Will he be revived, will he not? Moreover, does it have to be revived? This can have both negative and positive effect on our little Captain Fishface. I feel there's even darker moments coming in the next books but I'm totally signed up for that!
jambam's review against another edition
3.5
My favorite of the series so far. I wish the writing would mature with the characters tho, theyre like what 15-16 in this one?
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I wanted to read this because my goal is to always discover new authors. Holly Black’s cruel prince series is adored on Tiktok but I wanted to read some of her oldest work first. When I saw she had a series with Cassandra Clare I was all for it. I have loved the series so far, but this book dragged and really disappointed me
This books still follow Call and his third year at the Magisterium. The students at the school are supposed to be safe under the watchful eyes of the mages, they are taught to use magic to bring order to the chaotic world. But now the chaos is fighting back. Call, Tamara and Aaron should be worrying about things like pop quizzes, their social life and magic contests – instead they are tracking down a sinister killer after the shocking death of one of their classmates before school started. So they are risking their lives to find out who it is. As Call, Tamara and Aaron discover, magic can only be as good as the person who wields it. In evil hands, it has the capacity to do a lot of harm, unless it can be stopped in time.
I get that this is a young adult more for older children book, but I just felt like the plot was too predictable and boring sometimes. There was no tension expect for the same thing of Aaron and Call can’t control their magic, teachers and students hiding secrets, the new person being accused of the bad guy, Jasper being cruel. I ended up finding myself skimming over a lot of the text because I feel like I’ve read some variation of this book over the series. Hopefully the next book is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Injury/injury detail and Fire/Fire injury
sarahanne1994's review against another edition
Just finished this and I’m desperately trying not to cry. Why Aaron?!? This is my least favorite of the series so far, but it was still an enjoyable plot and storyline. Desperately hoping there is some way that Aaron comes back and isn’t dead because the only middle grade series I’ll allow to bring me to tears is anything Rick Riordan writes.
reclusivereader's review against another edition
4.0
I don't read a lot of middle grade books but it seems that the ones I do, most of Riordan's books for example, are solid. The Magisterium series always seems to give me what I want most out of these kinds of stories : laughs, a lot of fun, young characters experiencing (and reacting to) new things as they grow older, a creative world to play in and adventure mixed in with risk.
THE BRONZE KEY was a quick read but I enjoyed it so much. I like that for all that it's uncomplicated by more adult fantasy plots, it's still complex. It's still layered. And it's still dark. This one especially had something happen I was not expecting and I don't think I've quite processed it yet. I have no idea how this affects the upcoming books and that ending was a second game changer that complicates things even further.
I love the dynamics of the characters, I love the magic, I love the silly little quirks of this world. And though I'm super afraid of where things might end up going before the series wraps up I can't wait to read the next one.
THE BRONZE KEY was a quick read but I enjoyed it so much. I like that for all that it's uncomplicated by more adult fantasy plots, it's still complex. It's still layered. And it's still dark. This one especially had something happen I was not expecting and I don't think I've quite processed it yet. I have no idea how this affects the upcoming books and that ending was a second game changer that complicates things even further.
I love the dynamics of the characters, I love the magic, I love the silly little quirks of this world. And though I'm super afraid of where things might end up going before the series wraps up I can't wait to read the next one.
thechaoshour's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those series where I'm not sure why I keep reading it except to be able to say that I'm done the series. To be fair, I think kids will like this if they don't mind reading a different version of Harry Potter because that's what this feels like.
- I saw the similarities to Harry Potter in the first two books but I found they were either worse in this book or they bothered me more in this book. There's being inspired by a book and then there's basically rewriting it.
- I found the plot wasn't as exciting in this book as it was in the others. There wasn't much of a big battle in the end, it seemed way too short. Most of the plot revolved around the mystery of trying to figure out who was attempting to kill Call but I found that to be pretty boring. There was no adventure this time, only mystery.
- I'm not sure how I feel about the characters anymore. Sometimes I like them and other times I'm not sure. I don't understand the relationships between the characters half the time. Sometimes Call makes a remark about Tamara that makes it seem like he has a crush on her but then he talks about another girl. And is Jasper a friend or not because they all seem to hate each other but he's still part of that inner group now. It's messy and I'm not a fan of how it's going.
I still like the idea of this series but after this ending I'm a little worried I won't like where it's headed. I'll probably give the next book a chance but I'm not holding out hope.
- I saw the similarities to Harry Potter in the first two books but I found they were either worse in this book or they bothered me more in this book. There's being inspired by a book and then there's basically rewriting it.
- I found the plot wasn't as exciting in this book as it was in the others. There wasn't much of a big battle in the end, it seemed way too short. Most of the plot revolved around the mystery of trying to figure out who was attempting to kill Call but I found that to be pretty boring. There was no adventure this time, only mystery.
- I'm not sure how I feel about the characters anymore. Sometimes I like them and other times I'm not sure. I don't understand the relationships between the characters half the time. Sometimes Call makes a remark about Tamara that makes it seem like he has a crush on her but then he talks about another girl. And is Jasper a friend or not because they all seem to hate each other but he's still part of that inner group now. It's messy and I'm not a fan of how it's going.
I still like the idea of this series but after this ending I'm a little worried I won't like where it's headed. I'll probably give the next book a chance but I'm not holding out hope.
cursedherondale's review against another edition
4.0
Here lies my heart, shattered and irreparable. Those sudden turn of events and surprises were unforgivable. Like, really Cassie? Holly? How dare you?! This is supposed to be a Middle Grade book and not some Shakespearean tragedy that will tear me to pieces.
Aside from that heart-wrenching ending, I see some shadow of my annoyance surfacing. The same annoyance I felt from reading A World Without Princes. Gladly, that feeling didn't stay for long, my compassion for the characters won over and that made the ending hurt even more. I really need to get a copy of the fourth book!
Aside from that heart-wrenching ending, I see some shadow of my annoyance surfacing. The same annoyance I felt from reading A World Without Princes. Gladly, that feeling didn't stay for long, my compassion for the characters won over and that made the ending hurt even more. I really need to get a copy of the fourth book!