A review by lisawreading
First Test by Tamora Pierce

3.0

I enjoyed First Test, but didn't find it particularly exciting. As with the first books in Tamora Pierce's other two quartets that I read this year, we start with a very young main character. Kel is 10 years old at the start of the story, determined to go through the process of training to be a knight. Despite it now being acceptable for girls to work toward knighthood, none have in the 10 years since the law changed -- until Kel steps forward. She faces hostility from the boys training as pages as well, and the head of the training program makes it clear that he thinks she doesn't belong. The book follows Kel's first year as a probationary page, and contains many of the elements familiar from other Pierce books -- palace gossip, bullying and competition among the pages, weaponry and riding training, and a shot at adventure.

First Test is a fun and satisfying read, but I'm looking forward to the later books in the series when, hopefully, an older protagonist will lead to more interesting challenges and relationships.