Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch

Published October 1st, 2012 by Scholastic Books

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Synopsis:

On one side of the Rift is a technological paradise without famine or want. On the other side is a mystery.

Sixteen-year-old Glenn Morgan has lived next to the Rift her entire life and has no idea of what might be on the other side of it. Glenn’s only friend, Kevin, insists the fence holds back a world of monsters and witchcraft, but magic isn’t for Glenn. She has enough problems with reality: Glenn’s mother disappeared when she was six, and soon after, she lost her scientist father to his all-consuming work on the mysterious Project. Glenn buries herself in her studies and dreams about the day she can escape. But when her father’s work leads to his arrest, he gives Glenn a simple metal bracelet that will send Glenn and Kevin on the run—with only one place to go.

Rating:

Review:

This book was sooooooooo boring.  I really don’t have much to say about it, so this review should be short.  Admittedly, the book started off well.  I initially quite liked heroine Glenn, until I got to know her a little.  I liked her ambition and her dreams of a better future.  But I quickly realized that her “dreams” were nothing more than an excuse not to deal with her present.  That annoyed me. Yes, she has a father who has been distant since her mother’s disappearance but she seemed to make no effort to get him help or change the situation.  She just went along and then thought of the day she could escape.

Once we start to learn more about the Magisterium, I was hoping that the book would take an exciting turn.  I mean, what could be more exciting than being chased by the bad guys into a land that you never thought existed, only to discover that things aren’t much better over there either.  It sounds exciting, but it wasn’t.  Glenn made EVERYTHING boring and dull.  Her narration almost put me to sleep.  She seemed to have no feeling about anything that she encountered.  And the situations she was thrust into weren’t all that exciting to begin with.

Along with being dull and boring, it was also painfully predictable.  I knew about 100 pages before they told me what happened to Glenn’s mother. I knew how it would end about the time they crossed into Magisterium.  All I can say for this book is that it was a fantastic idea but never quite lived up to its potential.  And there was no insta-love or love triangles.  But beyond that, there was nothing redeeming about it either.