Cassandra Clare and Holly Black waste no time in reminding us of the events of Book Two and returning us to the thick of the action. Call remains a target, and he is unsure who to trust after the revelations about who he really is.
With some hesitation, Call returns to the Magisterium for his third year. Sadly, after the horrific murder of one of their peers, it is clear that someone is out to get Call. He, Aaron and Tamara don’t get a moment to relax as they – against everyone’s wishes – hunt for the killer themselves. To mark the development of the characters we get slightly more focus on their interpersonal relationships, but this actually provides some comic relief.
There are more than one or two dramatic moments, and we get some further revelations to pique our interest for the next book. I couldn’t help but feel some reservations about the integrity of a number of the characters who feature in this story. No matter what they say, I just don’t trust those people who claim to have Call’s best interests at heart. However, I think some of these characters may well feature further on in the series so we’ll see how things develop.
Personally I was a little surprised by the route taken by the authors right at the end. If I’d read this as a younger reader, I’m not sure I’d have wanted to continue the series – although I do wonder whether Call will end up dabbling in this area and continuing Constantine’s work.
Now all that remains is to wait for another year…