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A review by house_of_hannah
Squire by Tamora Pierce
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Kel seems like a juggernaut rather than an actual person at this point in the story. We start this book when she is 14, and ends a bit after her 18th birthday. A majority of the book takes place when she is 14-15, and then we rush through the other years. For some reason her 15th birthday was never mentioned, so I was a bit confused on what year we were in for a few chapters.
As with the other two books we don't really see Kel change at all. Sure, she gets taller (she's 5'10'' !), but her voice is still exactly the same. I think it would have been interesting to see her mentally and emotionally mature as well, but since she grew up with the Yamani people she was already more mature for her age. Still, it's been difficult to actually view her as the ages indicated due to this.
This book definitely has a lot more action, and grander setting than the first two. Since Kel is training under a knight she is traveling all over the realm. It would have been nice to hear a bit more about the individuality of the villages and cities they were in, since it was quite glossed over.
Between the action can be dull. Since we go through 4 years in this book we have a lot of telling instead of showing. We can have over half a year be summarized in just a few pages. They definitely saw a lot of fighting, but we'll just hear one or two sentences about it and move on. Obviously you can't talk in detail about everything that happens, but it does feel a bit strange.
The reason I say Kel is a juggernaut is that she is obviously so much more useful than a majority of the people in this book. She can do no wrong, and always does what is right and needed for the situation. She seems flawless at this point, and I actually found it a bit annoying at a few moments. Even the climax, which this entire book built up to, was just a blip because of how perfect she is.
Regardless, I did enjoy this one more than the other two. I'm looking forward to finishing this series, and I hope we see more of the human side of Kel in the final book.
As with the other two books we don't really see Kel change at all. Sure, she gets taller (she's 5'10'' !), but her voice is still exactly the same. I think it would have been interesting to see her mentally and emotionally mature as well, but since she grew up with the Yamani people she was already more mature for her age. Still, it's been difficult to actually view her as the ages indicated due to this.
This book definitely has a lot more action, and grander setting than the first two. Since Kel is training under a knight she is traveling all over the realm. It would have been nice to hear a bit more about the individuality of the villages and cities they were in, since it was quite glossed over.
Between the action can be dull. Since we go through 4 years in this book we have a lot of telling instead of showing. We can have over half a year be summarized in just a few pages. They definitely saw a lot of fighting, but we'll just hear one or two sentences about it and move on. Obviously you can't talk in detail about everything that happens, but it does feel a bit strange.
The reason I say Kel is a juggernaut is that she is obviously so much more useful than a majority of the people in this book. She can do no wrong, and always does what is right and needed for the situation. She seems flawless at this point, and I actually found it a bit annoying at a few moments. Even the climax, which this entire book built up to, was just a blip because of how perfect she is.
Regardless, I did enjoy this one more than the other two. I'm looking forward to finishing this series, and I hope we see more of the human side of Kel in the final book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Vomit, Sexual violence, Rape, and Kidnapping