The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

As the mysteries of the Magisterium deepen and widen, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare take readers on an extraordinary journey through one boy’s conflict -- and a whole world’s fate.

Review:

I love this book. I also loved the first book. I know the first one had mixed reviews (mostly because people thought it was too similar to Harry Potter), but I loved it. I didn’t find it too similar. And this book certainly was not like Harry Potter much at all. This one was in a league of its own.

The twist at the end of book 1 was epic. I did not see it coming at all, and I was super excited to see what Call would do with the information he learned. I felt so bad for Call when he discovered what he did in his father’s basement. And I must say I just love Call as a main character. He makes lists in his head of things someone evil versus someone who wasn’t evil would do. And my goodness, I just loved every second of it. I love having the main character not be the chosen one, and the good one. I love that he’s physically incapable of things everyone else doesn’t think twice about. He has a bad leg. He’s just so different.

I love his friendships and his frenemies.  I love the magic. I love the setting. The action in this one was splendid. There were Percy Jackson levels of action and suspense. It was so hard to put down. I literally woke up last night in the middle of the night and instead of thinking about going back to bed, immediately turned my light on and thought, “I might as well keep reading.” It’s that kind of book.

The story is darker, the secrets are more intense, and the adventures are riskier. Also, Call has a pet wolf! I can’t talk too much about the plot without giving away serious book 1 spoilers, so I wont. Just know this was great. I can’t wait to see how things go in the next one. I give it a 9/10.