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pewterwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Can't decided between 3.5 stars or 4. I did like it, but this is very much a "starter" book.
THREE TIMES I HAVE TRIED TO PUT THIS REVIEW UP! THREE TIMES!!! grrr!!!
Review Taken from The Pewter Wolf
Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl who dares to take advantage of the new law of Tortall, allowing females to train for Knighthood. After growing up on the Yamani Islands, she knows women can be fearless warriors and she wants to be one. But Lord Wyldon, the training master, is dead against the idea of girls becoming knights and forces the king to say that Kel must do a year’s trial - something no boy has ever done. Kel is determined to prove herself, just to be seen as equal…
This is the first book in the series so I am quite intrigued to see how the rest of the series moves forward. But the rest of the series isn’t on my library audiobook app, so I won’t know for quite some time what happens next.
I did like this audiobook. I want to make that clear. It was a nice start to the fantasy series and I rooted for Kel. I think this is the set-up book as it’s letting us know the characters and put us in the right places and, hopefully, as the series moves forward, it gets bigger in scope and story-arc.
I did have times listening to this audiobook where I did struggle. But I can’t figure out if I didn’t click with the narrator or if I felt uncomfortable with the level of sexism that Kel faces. And I think this is important as sexism, sadly, still does exist and it’s important that we see characters stand up and fight back against it. Plus, what shocked me was Kel and her classmates are ten or eleven years old, but the level of sexism issued at Kel disturbed me.
I did like this book, and it made a nice change from the heavy “straight white male” fantasy that exists in the adult fantasy genre, but this is a starter book and, as the series goes on, I want more something a tad meatier.
Or maybe I shouldn't mix my Tamora Pierce reading up - I have several ebooks on my kindle and eye several other audiobooks on my library audiobook app! Oh, whatever I decide to read next by her is going to really confuse my brain, isn't it?
THREE TIMES I HAVE TRIED TO PUT THIS REVIEW UP! THREE TIMES!!! grrr!!!
Review Taken from The Pewter Wolf
Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl who dares to take advantage of the new law of Tortall, allowing females to train for Knighthood. After growing up on the Yamani Islands, she knows women can be fearless warriors and she wants to be one. But Lord Wyldon, the training master, is dead against the idea of girls becoming knights and forces the king to say that Kel must do a year’s trial - something no boy has ever done. Kel is determined to prove herself, just to be seen as equal…
This is the first book in the series so I am quite intrigued to see how the rest of the series moves forward. But the rest of the series isn’t on my library audiobook app, so I won’t know for quite some time what happens next.
I did like this audiobook. I want to make that clear. It was a nice start to the fantasy series and I rooted for Kel. I think this is the set-up book as it’s letting us know the characters and put us in the right places and, hopefully, as the series moves forward, it gets bigger in scope and story-arc.
I did have times listening to this audiobook where I did struggle. But I can’t figure out if I didn’t click with the narrator or if I felt uncomfortable with the level of sexism that Kel faces. And I think this is important as sexism, sadly, still does exist and it’s important that we see characters stand up and fight back against it. Plus, what shocked me was Kel and her classmates are ten or eleven years old, but the level of sexism issued at Kel disturbed me.
I did like this book, and it made a nice change from the heavy “straight white male” fantasy that exists in the adult fantasy genre, but this is a starter book and, as the series goes on, I want more something a tad meatier.
Or maybe I shouldn't mix my Tamora Pierce reading up - I have several ebooks on my kindle and eye several other audiobooks on my library audiobook app! Oh, whatever I decide to read next by her is going to really confuse my brain, isn't it?
ellyrarg's review against another edition
3.0
It’s been a long time since I read anything set in Tortall, but it was nice to pick this up and go back.
Clearly this is YA, but it was an easy read, with cameos from old loved characters. I’m not sure I could be as stoic as Kel at ten (!) but I’m enjoying the book all the same.
Clearly this is YA, but it was an easy read, with cameos from old loved characters. I’m not sure I could be as stoic as Kel at ten (!) but I’m enjoying the book all the same.
joviyanna's review against another edition
challenging
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
zurpel's review against another edition
5.0
I just finished another re-listening of First Test and realized once again how much I love Kel's story (I tend to forget this in regular intervals because my very first impression of Kel was that I didn't like her as much as Tamora Pierce's other heroines, probably due to the fact that Kel was so very different from Alanna, the absolute hero of my early youth). I also finally get around to write a review.
In this first part of a quartet (the third series set in Tortall after the books centered around Alanna and Daine) a young girl called Kel decides to become a knight. The rules had been changed years before so that girls now could officially go through training as pages and squires to become knights. However, no girl has chosen to do so so far and Kel is the first. She is disappointed when she learns that she has to pass a year under probation first. Although nearly giving up her plan she stays with her decision all the same and has to prove her worth to the strict and conservative training master. She also has to endure the taunts and verbal as well as physical attacks and tricks from a group of other pages, who don't want a girl among them.
Kel is a very different heroine from Alanna, who had to disguise herself as a boy to become a knight. She also doesn't have magic and doesn't share Alanna's temper. Instead she is determined but usually calm outside, even though a whole storm of feeling may be raging inside of her. She doesn't befriend her fellow pages at once but has to earn their friendship. Kel has a very strong sense of justice and at the age of ten already stands up against bullies. She works hard to be as good if not better as the boys and takes whatever is thrown at her. She is in every aspect a strong character and her fears and "weaknesses" don't really make her weak. She is determined to succeed in spite of her fear of heights, for instance, and gives her best to earn the right to stay after her probation.
In this first part of a quartet (the third series set in Tortall after the books centered around Alanna and Daine) a young girl called Kel decides to become a knight. The rules had been changed years before so that girls now could officially go through training as pages and squires to become knights. However, no girl has chosen to do so so far and Kel is the first. She is disappointed when she learns that she has to pass a year under probation first. Although nearly giving up her plan she stays with her decision all the same and has to prove her worth to the strict and conservative training master. She also has to endure the taunts and verbal as well as physical attacks and tricks from a group of other pages, who don't want a girl among them.
Kel is a very different heroine from Alanna, who had to disguise herself as a boy to become a knight. She also doesn't have magic and doesn't share Alanna's temper. Instead she is determined but usually calm outside, even though a whole storm of feeling may be raging inside of her. She doesn't befriend her fellow pages at once but has to earn their friendship. Kel has a very strong sense of justice and at the age of ten already stands up against bullies. She works hard to be as good if not better as the boys and takes whatever is thrown at her. She is in every aspect a strong character and her fears and "weaknesses" don't really make her weak. She is determined to succeed in spite of her fear of heights, for instance, and gives her best to earn the right to stay after her probation.
michellehenriereads's review against another edition
3.0
Overall the Protector of the Small Quartet is mediocre though there are pieces that are interesting. The Yamani society is parallel to Japanese culture and gives the opportunity for young people to better understand an Eastern philosophy. Many girls will enjoy Kel because she is so brave in the face of adversity and everyone loves someone who defends the underdog. This first book is appropriate for...
To read the full review go to http://talesuntangled.wordpress.com
To read the full review go to http://talesuntangled.wordpress.com
l55's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
villianess's review against another edition
4.0
Keladry wants so badly to be a knight, but being a girl, trying to qualify becomes more than a challenge, it becomes a quest. The rules being changed to allow girls into the training does not set well with the training master and he convinces the King to put Kel on a years probation which no page has ever had to do before. Kel is teased, tormented etc, as any girl trying to fit into a "man's" realm would be. Luckiiy she finds a kind mentor that stands by her side. Between that and her ability with birds, Kel helps in a great defeat over the spidrens.
She has to make a decission whether to come back to the pages training to be a knight or take the advise of her training master and not return since she is a girl growning into a young women.
She has to make a decission whether to come back to the pages training to be a knight or take the advise of her training master and not return since she is a girl growning into a young women.
kimberlyp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
marigale's review against another edition
5.0
Honestly, I've read and reread this book so many times since I was about eleven that I've lost track.
8/18/2023 - squeezing in my annual summer reread just before classes start.
8/18/2023 - squeezing in my annual summer reread just before classes start.