Trials of Magic (The Hundred Halls #1) By: Thomas K. Carpenter

Plot:

There are exactly one hundred halls of magic to choose from. Ever since our parents were killed I knew exactly which hall was for me.

Aurelia “Aurie” Silverthorne is one of the best and brightest to ever apply to the Hundred Halls, the only magical university in the world. To be accepted, she must pass grueling trials that claim the lives of aspirants every year.

But more than her desire to practice magic is at stake.

Aurie’s little sister has been courting powerful forces in hopes of protecting herself from the beings that killed their parents, but alliances come with complications. As things spiral out of control, and dangerous foes arise at every turn, Aurie knows the only way to protect her sister is to pass the trials—even if it means making a terrible sacrifice.

Review:

Once I got into “Trials of Magic”, which was pretty fast, I was so scared that YA tropes I hate would rear their ugly head, but they didn’t.  There was no stupid angsty teen moments or love triangles or gorgeous men/boys that loved our heroines. Those things alone cause me to like the book more.

Technically it’s New Adult, not YA, but I’ve noticed some of my most hated tropes are in both.

Anyway, Aurie and Pi were both interesting and different enough from each other but were still likable. The world was ours with the addition of magic and I could have used some more world building and some more character development on side characters. Hoping for more of that in the second book.

“Trials of Magic” was mainly spent with the girls overcoming the fact that their parents were killed when they were younger. It was sad, but they did well on their own, better than I would expect two young girls to do, but I guess we can attribute that to their powerful magic.

It was a good book, nothing really amazing, but it was interesting enough with interesting enough characters for me to buy the second.

3.5/5