This was yet another enjoyable book in the Protector of the Small series. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book, but it was still a good read and it wasn't boring at any point in the story. I won't talk about the world and the characters because I've already discussed that in my review of the first book, so my review of this novel will be mostly about the plot.

This story is where we truly see how Kel develops her sense of justice and need to protect those who can't protect themselves. Lalasa really brings this out in her, and it really comes to light at the end of the novel where Lalasa gets kidnapped and Kel, remembering how the woman had told her, at an earlier point in the story, that she knew she would come for her, decides to help her at risk of redoing her page years or giving up becoming a knight altogether. We also see how she gets over her fear of heights through her efforts and that final task, and it's very satisfactory to see that she succeeds in being able to take her tests as a reward for her hard work and her valiance. Kel's fears, hopes, and dreams are believable ones, and it's nice to see how she succeeds and fails based on the actions she takes because of the things she believes in.

The way the author brings up things from the first book for the reader to remember isn't boring, and had I not delved into this book so soon after reading the first I would've welcomed the reminders. What I also liked was how Kel began to develop into a woman and how it was dealt with, but I would've preferred a few more mentions about her adjusting to her period (although I can see why that might bore some readers). Again, feminism wasn't beaten over my head and I was glad that Kel fought to deserve a place beside the boys instead of claiming equality as though she should get by in the same way others could. Having Wyldon assist her along the way properly, and without hindering her or making it easy for her because she was a girl was a nice touch, and it was great to have such a firm character be likeable even though his ideals aren't the ideal ones.

I didn't like how puberty was blamed for her "sudden" feelings for Neal, though. Her becoming attractive to so many people felt a bit forced, but the biggest problem for me was that it was as if Kel didn't mentally like Neal as much as she physically did – in the sense that her womanhood had forced it onto her instead of it being something she saw in him. The small things with Joren and Cleon are well played, though, and it was nice to see how time changed people – and how quickly three years had gone by.

This is perhaps the slowest and least eventful book in the series, but it's a great book to see where Kel really begins to bloom in her leadership skills – such as when she faced those bandits and continued to fight first year page hazing – and in other aspects, and it's a great segue into the next book where we get to cheer her on and see how she uses all the skills she's developed as a page into something meaningful and worth all her efforts.