I’m probably not the recommended demographic for this book. I’m assuming it’s meant for a younger audience. Was recommended to me (a young adult) who has never read anything by Tamora Pierce. I’m gonna guess that this is meant for 10-12 year old girls.

That being said, this book was incredibly low stakes to the point that it was boring. The prose felt monotonous and only meant to be functional and nothing more. The battles were fought too easily. Because there were so many character (who I’m assuming are from a different series in the same world) the author couldn’t very well kill or maim them to give some level of risk. Everything felt too untouchable and organized perfectly. You can tell the author cares about her characters and abhors the idea of giving them real trauma or hardship but it made it feel way too easy and clean. The climax didn’t feel like a climax because the plot structure wasn’t a mountain it was more like a flat road with a few easy speed bumps. Was honestly shocked when the book ended because it felt like it hadn’t gone anywhere.