Review: The Glass Gauntlet by Carter Roy

Title: The Glass Gauntlet
Author: Carter Roy
Series: The Blood Guard #2
Genre: Middle Grade/Adventure/Magic
Publisher: Two Lions
Publication Date: August 18th 2015
Pages:  Kindle edition, 272 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

Synopsis:

     Ronan Truelove barely survived his first encounter with his father and the Bend Sinister. Now, he’s determined to become one of the Blood Guard, a sword-wielding secret society sworn to protect thirty-six pure souls crucial to the world’s survival.

     Eager to prove he’s got what it takes, Ronan is sent on his first mission with his friends Greta and Sammy to visit a weird-sounding school and take a series of tests called the Glass Gauntlet. Paper and pencils and nerdy scholarship—where’s the life-or-death challenge in that?

     But the Glass Gauntlet is actually something much more dangerous: head-to-head competitions against ruthless opponents. Nothing and no one are what they seem. Who can he trust, and who will kill him? Ronan has to figure it out fast because his enemies are multiplying, and soon he will have to pass the ultimate test: facing his father again and standing up to those who threaten not only him and his friends but also the world.

Review:

This is a fun Middle Grade series. While this sequel took a while to get off the ground and the middle slowed down quite a bit from the exciting start it had, this was still a really fun read.

We meet more characters, that make me wonder if they will stick around in the series, or if only for this book and possibly the next. 

A slower story this time does give opportunity to explore the characters personalities better. At times some of the characters seemed very similar to another very popular Middle Grade series, that many grew up reading, but at the same time, they were still different enough that nothing in this series feels like a rip-off. 

The interesting thing about this series is who the villain is, that it's the hero's own father. Someone he looked up to, who now is trying to use Ronan to kill not only strangers but his mother too. Something that Ronan seems to constantly be struggling with. Even though he stays with his mother and the other Blood Guard, he continues to question why his father is doing this, and if there is a way to save him. 

I really look forward to where this series is headed.