It’s been a really long time since I last did a book review! It feels like forever for at least me because I’m the one that writes them. When you read a book and you aren’t really into it but you want to finish it, it is a struggle to finish the book. But, here I am. I finished another book and I present to you with another book review! Just beware of the spoilers within the post!
Title: The Bronze Key
Author: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Scholastic
Released: August 30, 2016
Pages: 256 (Hardback)
Magic can save you.
Magic can kill you.
Students at the Magisterium are supposed to be safe. Under the watchful eyes of the mages, they are taught to use magic to bring order to a chaotic world. But now the chaos is fighting back. Call, Tamara, and Aaron should be worrying about things like pop quizzes and magic contests. Instead, after the shocking death of one of their classmates, they must track down a sinister killer… and risk their own lives in the process. 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 immeasurable harm, unless it is stopped in time. In this striking third book of Magisterium, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare present us with a school where anything, good or evil, can happen, and the only way to unlock the truth is to risk everything to find it.
About the Authors: 
My Review:
I really enjoyed reading the previous two books in this series. I thought that they were fun, cute, and such a great quick read. The Bronze Key though, I think of it in the opposite direction. It basically took me two weeks to read about 250 pages. Any other book that length would have taken me about two to three days. Something about the way it was written made me dislike it. Overall, the book has to get a 2.75 out of 5 stars from me.
The plot and the whole purpose of the book was really excited and I was really into finding out who was the one who was trying to kill Call. I expected myself to jump right in and have the book done in no time. But I hated the fact that these teenagers were acting like they were eight. Some of the things that they do were so childlike that I could not over look these little details. Also, Tamara’s character was the only one who seemed to be developed. Tamara was confident but at the same time scared. Call and Aaron were pretty lazy and they really didn’t seem to be thought about much while they were preparing this novel.
I was expecting more monsters and mystery out of the book because Cassandra Clare was the co author of the book. I love reading that stuff in her previous books, which is one reason I really liked this book series. This book though, it didn’t seem to have as excitement. It did have someone trying to kill Call, even when the person was standing right next to them. It had the attack on Call in the middle of the night. The time where Jaspar took Call’s girl. Nothing really flowed together. It might be because I am not the biggest Holly Black fan (I actually can’t stand her books) but I love Cassandra Clare. It almost seemed like the book was published before they got the chance to finish the book.
The ending of the book was actually pretty exciting and is pushing me to give the fourth book in the series a try. The fact that Call found out that his family is a lie and that Anastasia Tarquin is his real mother has me wondering about what else could happen in the book. I also really want to know if Aaron is alive. There is no way that he could be dead. I think there is two or three more books coming out in the series so if they kill him now, who will take his spot? Jaspar? He already took Call’s little girlfriend. Who knows what Jaspar is really capable of?
I don’t know if it was just something I noticed but it almost seemed like Call and Aaron might be going out. Don’t get me wrong about the fact that there should be diversity in books, which I strongly agree there should be in books, but in this book it really doesn’t fit in. Maybe it will be one of those books where Aaron is in love with Call but Call is in love with a girl? Aaron really never hangs out around girls, other than Tamara, so that kind of helps my theory. I might just be the only person that noticed something like this but I hope someone else noticed this as well.
Havoc had to be my favorite character, even though he was just an animal. Animals are considered characters, at least that is what I have been taught in my past. Havoc was loyal, protective and wanted to protect the people around him. When we find out that Alex is actually the person that is trying to kill Call, Havoc wanted to kill him. He basically almost does but he didn’t. I don’t know if it was because I have a dog that is basically just like Havoc but I loved him.
I can see why this book is aimed more towards the middle school kids because it is really written for them to enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, anyone can read this book and get a good kick out of it because there was times that I really did enjoy the book, at least. This series is a great book to get younger kids into reader because it does have elements that they will really enjoy. Some elements might be seen as to violent for maybe 8 year old, but they only last a few pages and it is not as gruesome as most novels. A great book to get kids or others to read if they enjoyed Harry Potter by: J.K. Rowling.
Have you read this book? What were your thoughts on the book? Who do you like better – Cassandra Clare or Holly Black? What do you like about their writing? What are you currently reading? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Happy Reading,
Ann's Reading Corner 
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