Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

First Test, Protector of the Small #1 by Tamora Pierce.
Page, Protector of the Small #2 by Tamora Pierce.
Squire, Protector of the Small #3 by Tamora Pierce.
Lady Knight, Protector of the Small #4 by Tamora Pierce.

First Test
Quick synopsis: Set in a fantasy world, 10 year Kel wants to become the second ever female knight (her hero being the first one). Mountains of sexism and conservative men stand in her way.

Brief opinion: I loved every page of it!

Plot: Even though ten years ago the King ruled that women could become knights, none have tried until Kel. Everyone and everything stands in her way: Teachers, the head of the training school, and many many many packs of bullies.

Through much hard work, she succeeds in passing her first year of training.

-----
Page
Quick synopsis: Boys will be boys. Though a gang of boys still plagues her, Kel is becoming better with weapons and taking a leadership position.

Brief opinion: This is the book where I kept running into the question "Is Kel too perfect?". I enjoyed the story, but I must have asked myself that a dozen times.

Plot: As Kel moves through her second year of training, she becomes really, really good at most everything, though she still has her one flaw: She's scared of heights. Through this book, while she did normal page training, she and the head of the training school worked on her fear.

[The plot sections seem skimpy, but most of these books were just "day to day" life stuff, there were generally no big plot stuff through the first three.]

-----
Squire
Quick synopsis: Having passed her first two years, Kel must spend four years as a squire before she can become a knight.

Brief opinion: I asked myself "Is Kel too perfect?" dozens of times. She's outstanding at everything, and her one flaw (fear of heights) is nearly gone. Everyone loves her (except crusty conservative men).

Plot: Kel's knight-master (Lord Commander of the King's Own -- the very best knight-master possible) likes her a whole lot. Everyone does! She picks up more skills and quickly excels at them while she and the King's Own group ride around the country righting wrongs and mapping new areas.

-----
Lady Knight
Quick synopsis: Kel becomes a knight (of course, there was never any doubt beyond book 1). War comes to her country, but luckily she can singlehandedly end it.

Brief opinion: While I loved the first book and mostly enjoyed the second and third ones, this book was a slog for me. This one had a lot more plot and happenings, but it just never held my attention.

Plot: War has arrived, but luckily for all the country's strongest magical item picks Kel to stop it.

No one else knows what it told her though, and though it gave her permission to tell people she never does, so instead of going off right away to kill the guy who will basically end the war, she's assigned to open and run a refugee camp. Which she does with outstanding skill and becomes beloved by most everyone. She also completely overcomes her one flaw: her fear of heights is gone.

Writing/editing: Writing and editing were fine, though there were some technical issues with the ebook: In books 2, 3, and 4 there was no line break between sections. So I'd be happily reading along, and between one paragraph and the next would be an entire scene change. It was so disruptive to reading!

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I liked a lot of the magic and some of the setting, but I wish the fantasy world hadn't been so Earth-ish. Why was there a fantasy-Japan? Fantasy-Arabic nations? The story used outright Japanese words for things.

I wish Kel hadn't been so beloved by all. Her (vast and unending) skills felt more earned, but nearly every character who meets her loves her and that got to be a bit much. In book 4 we met an angry woman, and I knew she would come around and love Kel like a daughter in the end.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved:

First Test: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Loved
Page: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Liked
Squire: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ - Okay
Lady Knight: ⭐️⭐️ ½ - Disliked (DNFed about 50% in.)