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ladypalutena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
What.
It would be nice to see Kell get older and become a more established Lady Knight, just like Alanna, but I'm sure in any future Tortall series, she's going to be relegated to the background like Alanna was in this one.
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Animal death, Child death, and Death
jessereadsthings's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, and Animal death
Minor: Rape and Racism
kes7706's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Death, War, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As the final book in the quartet it leaves open the idea that Kel and her comrades will have further deeds when this is done, and it settles what she'll do after Haven. It resolves the magical threat posed by the killing machines, and gives an idea of what her friends will do next. It teases a few things that could happen later for secondary characters, but these won't necessarily show up in future Tortall stories.
Kel is still the narrator, with the exception of a brief section from someone else's perspective. She definitely sounds older than the first two books, and her characterization in LADY KNIGHT is consistent with the end of SQUIRE. Other than the fact that Kel was set a task before the book begins, this is self contained enough that it could mostly make sense if someone read it without any of the other books. It covers only a few months, rather than years, and focuses on events within a small area once it gets going. The ending will definitely be more satisfying for someone who at least read SQUIRE, but there's still a lot to love for any readers who try starting here (especially if they're familiar with Tortall as a setting from other series).
Kel has grown up a lot but is very aware of how much she still has to learn. She has a lot of strong relationships which get a chance to pay off here. She's not hanging out with people as much, since her duties and her organization of the refugees take the narrative place that training filled in the earlier books. However, Neal, Dom, and Owen have a strong presence, and I'm fairly confident that this has more of Merric than the rest of the series combined. The animals play an even bigger role this time, made possible by some help from Daine.
The worldbuilding focuses on the logistics of running Haven, as Kel begins having to to many things herself and gradually gets infrastructural support and clerks to make some aspects easier. There's some detail about the war, but as the fourth book of a quartet set in a world already filled with stories, it doesn't pause to explain quite as many things as the earlier books did. There's still enough to make the relevant things make sense, and it works overall.
The plot is the most focused of the quartet. Kel has two main things she needs to accomplish, and she works on running Haven until she gets the information she needs to act on the directions from the Chamber. I enjoyed the process of turning Haven into a defensible position filled with confident civilians who know how to defend themselves. The story conveys the shape of Kel's days without dragging, never letting go of the need to stop the source of the killing machines as soon as she can.
Graphic: War, Animal death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cursing, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Excrement
inferiorwit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Classism, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Animal death, Kidnapping, Slavery, Gore, War, Vomit, Excrement, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This is definitely the darkest of the 4 books, but was one of the least interesting. The last 100 pages has most of the action, and the rest is basically just people living their lives in a Fort. It did feel nice to see/learn more about the side-characters, but it also felt a bit "too little too late".
Kel was the same as she's been in all of the books. She really never changes, nor has any difficulty accomplishing anything. The final climax of the book was about 2 pages, and that was it. Even the MC commented on how it wasn't what she expected.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Slavery, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Animal death and Rape
manarnia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking, Sexism, Misogyny, and Slavery
Minor: Torture
victorianrogue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
iamsammie27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, Violence, Child death, and Murder
meganpbennett's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was not my favorite of the quartet - I found the ending very abrupt, and it felt a bit like the author was trying to tie off loose ends by force. That being said, not-at-her-best Tamora Pierce is still leagues better than other authors at their best.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, and Child death
Minor: Misogyny and Slavery