Thursday, October 19, 2017

THE SILVER MASK (Magisterium Series Book #4) By Holly Black & Cassandra Clare #TheSilverMask #MagisteriumSeries


By: Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Published by: Scholastic 
Released on: October 10th, 2017
Series: Magisterium Series #4
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository 
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 5 Owlets
Source: purchased book
Reviewed by: Emm

Callum Hunt's life has fallen apart.

His friend is gone. The spy has escaped. His secret is out.
He is facing an existence behind bars, banished from the rest of the magical community for what he is - for what he might become.

But a shocking revelation has promised freedom - at a cost. Will he stay strong, and faithful to his friends and teachers? Or take the risk, and destroy everything he's ever loved?

This fourth year at the Magisterium will be unlike anything else that has gone before . . . 

It goes without saying that we here at Mundie Kids have been huge fans of Cassandra Clare and Holly Black from TMI and Spiderwick days. Those who follow Cassie and Holly will know they are good friends so when we heard they were writing a book series together we knew it would be a match made in heaven. And what a wonderful Middle Grade book series Magisterium is! The series follows Callum Hunt as he enters the Magisterium, a school for Mages, the magic wielding people of the world. Over the past 3 books we have gotten to know Callum and his friends Aaron and Tamara. We have gotten to know the Magical world they live in and how one of the most evil Mage in history is closely tied to Callum.

Book 4 The Silver Mask starts off about 6 months after the end of the last book. With Callum in the magical jail for his involvement at the end of book 3 (no spoilers I promise) he is having a hard time coming to terms with what has happened and how the magical world has blamed him.  I really love Callum and how he is portrayed in these books. A typical young teenage boy with all the insecurities and uncertainties of life. He doesn’t think very highly of himself but as the book progresses we see him really coming into his own, not relying on others and now making decisions for himself. The burdens placed on him and how he is given roles he really didn’t ask for or likes having, do test his resolve.  I do love how Callum is portrayed and how he has grown through this series but in particular The Silver Mask. I think it teaches it’s reader that in times when you don’t know who to trust, make sure you love and trust yourself first.

In The Silver Mask there is a lot of discussion about our soul and how your soul effects you in the Mage world. How a soul can be taken away piece by piece to save another person or someone can take a part of your soul as well. I really enjoyed this part of the story and how it tests the characters, Callum in particular.  This is an interesting spin on the whole good and evil plot we see in many books. I love how it makes the characters and the reader really think about what is worth the sacrifice to save the ones you love.

In spite of it being a Middle Grade book it is an extremely smart and clever story that people of all ages (including this 41yr old Mom) will enjoy.

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I love talking about books, as much as I love featuring them on social media. Did you know Mundie Kids also has an Instagram account? There you'll also find a variety of book features, that aren't always featured here on the blog. Each of the pictures shared in this post are all from our MKs Instagram account. 


In some cases, you'll see books linked back to reviews here on the blog, and other times, like today, you'll see a picture of a variety of books (picked above) we highly recommend picking up this Fall. I'm working on making the time to write reviews for these books still. They're perfect reads for Halloween. 


  
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Don't miss out! If you're ever interested in the monthly OwlCrateJr book box subscription, I've been sharing our pictures for that as well, but only on Instagram. This month's box arrived yesterday, so I've not yet shared all it's contents. We don't want to spoil anyone yet. I'll be sharing pictures of our unboxing next week. My daughter LOVES these boxes.

*All images are property of Mundie Kids and may not be used without permission.

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~