nematome 's review for:

In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

4.0

---

This is a good continuation of the first in this series. I think that this one is more like 3 1/2 stars for me. In this book, Alanna faces down all of her greatest fears and finally reaches the age of her trial for knighthood. I do realize that this series is not really aimed at a 30 year old, but I felt this one was a little bit too simplistic to really grab me. All of the greatest children's and young adult books tend to transcend the recommended age and have some deeper meaning that can reach anyone. I definitely felt that the first book, Alanna, achieved that. This one features more romance, but it was so glossed over and toned down that I felt as a result it was rather grey. I do understand that this is not going to be a swooning, bodice ripping romance novel and I really appreciated that when I was reading it. However, because falling in love and romance are Alanna's greatest fears, and facing her fears was essentially the main plot point in this book, I felt that it deserved more attention. I still feel that Alanna is a powerful role model for girls and I will definitely be buying this whole series for mine.