A School for Sorcery

Very annoying book. An interesting system of magic, an interesting (if only lightly sketched) society, and a bunch of absolutely awful characters. The flap cover told me that the protagonist would have to deal with a spoiled brat of a roommate - but before she showed up, I had a very hard time figuring how she could be more of a brat than the protagonist (she managed it handily, though). Tria (the protagonist) started out whining about being suppressed in magic by her father (but apparently made no effort to learn anything about her magic or magic in general). Then she whined (with some reason) about the school not being as fancy as she expected. Then she randomly used her powers, excused herself by saying she didn't know anything about show more them, and whined about the Headmistress scolding and constraining her power. Etc, etc. Then she, for no visible reason, ended up in the middle of a major fight - again, with little or no training and specifically no help (except her roommate - and just why is Lina allowed to get away with all her shenanigans? Never explained - I kept expecting it to come out that she was actually a succubus or other demon-equivalent and couldn't help it). Tria repeatedly, given two possible courses of action, chooses the wrong one - wrong according to what she knows, wrong according to her own feelings, and wrong according to specific warnings she gets. Occasionally she hopes for someone (not her, of course) to tell on her so she won't do whatever it is - but she never thinks of, y'know, actually deciding not to. And on and on - the mirror stuff is truly weird and highly confusing. And then she ends (with one last bout of self-pity) as a top power - beyond the Headmistress. Sheesh! If that's how they get gods, I see why the Dire folk are so attractive... It took me forever to read, because I kept having to put it down until my exasperation subsided. Ugh. Well-written - that is, strong characterization, good description, good dialog - but awful characters. I will look for the other books in this series, but I never want to reread this one. show less

ik verwachtte een slap aftreksel van Harry Potter, maar dit is toch echt weer wat anders. Leuk boek, beetje kostschoolboek in magische wereld, maar dan ook echt een andere wereld, die niets te maken heeft met de onze. Dat is een van de grote verschillen met Potter, evenals het gebrek aan humor (wat geen gebrek van het boek is overigens, het is gewoon een totaal ander soort boek). Fijn boek voor tussendoor, wel een yaffie.

Tria has special magical powers that she's never had a chance to develop. So when she gets a chance to attend a school for people like her, she hopes this will be her big chance. Unfortunately, the school is nothing like she expected. She seems to be in trouble all the time. Making friends isn't as easy as she had hoped either, and the lessons are all theory, no practice.

It soon develops that there are opposing forces at work in the school, and Tria finds herself the only one who can save her friends. She'd better figure out how to use her powers or they're all in trouble.

I had high hopes for this book, but it turned out to be confusing and disappointing. I liked Tria, but wow, she is so dumb sometimes. Her intentions are good, but she show more never learns from her mistakes. The last part of the book was totally confusing, and it would have been so easy to make that easier to read. Not really recommended, although I might give the writer another chance later. show less

Read this book ages ago and for life of me, could not remember the title until I stumbled upon it in the library a few days ago.

Tris is a witch who enrolls in a school for sorcery (like the title states) and quickly begins learning about her own abilities, despite boring ethics classes and a catty roommate.

However, two power-hungry students soon manage to summon demons from another world who steals Tris's beloved. They mock her and then propsse a challenge to her to get him back with her own power. The headmistress tells her to undergo the challenge to bring them back. This is one point that bothers me. It does not make sense that the staff could not stop these idiotic power-hungry students. I call this a plot hole deliberately show more created to give Tris and her friends an plot point.

The middle drags, but I can suffer through it because I love the ending. Seriously, one of the best endings I've seen in a book.

Three stars because I loved this book when I was little and it has a really memorable ending. show less

Read this book ages ago and for life of me, could not remember the title until I stumbled upon it in the library a few days ago.

Tris is a witch who enrolls in a school for sorcery (like the title states) and quickly begins learning about her own abilities, despite boring ethics classes and a catty roommate.

However, two power-hungry students soon manage to summon demons from another world who steals Tris's beloved. They mock her and then propsse a challenge to her to get him back with her own power. The headmistress tells her to undergo the challenge to bring them back. This is one point that bothers me. It does not make sense that the staff could not stop these idiotic power-hungry students. I call this a plot hole deliberately show more created to give Tris and her friends an plot point.

The middle drags, but I can suffer through it because I love the ending. Seriously, one of the best endings I've seen in a book.

Three stars because I loved this book when I was little and it has a really memorable ending. show less

I was enjoying it at first. The world was a little ill-defined, but I'm a sucker for school stories. However, then it got sort of woo-woo and murky and muddled. She's supposed to learn how to use magic, not from her classes, not from her teachers, not even from the guidance of her teachers, or even from books. She's just sort of.. supposed to... figure it out on her own.. somehow.

A few chapters in, I had pulled the next book from the library shelf and checked it out, assuming I'd want to read it. Near the end, I definitely didn't want to read the next one. At the end, well, if it's about an entirely different character and situation, maybe? Maybe.

Not like I don't have 100 other books to read.

* 100 is an exaggeration. I have way way way show more more than that. show less

Just my thoughts as reading:

Tria is as judgmental as Zoey and as stupid as Clary.

She causes the problems, relies on everyone else to provide the impetus for the solution--though Tria herself has to actually take action at least, since she's the only one with any power.

Tria does not suffer enough for the consequences of what she does.

The characterization is overwhelmingly shallow.

The worldbuilding fails

All of this is primarily tied to the fact it's mostly telling vs. showing.

I'll try to come up with a more coherent review later, but sometimes it just made me angry.

On the other hand, the concept is okay, and the actual execution of the jumping through mirrors, etc, actually worked pretty well. It just hadn't been set up in the story. The show more tone is uneven and the plot isn't built. show less