Oh I can hear what trad pub professionals would say about this one from here. Let me explain. 

This book is written in a style that has fallen out of vogue in children’s publishing, and it’s really rare to find by an author that wasn’t  writing it in the 80’s too. This book has the soul of a Tamora Pierce, Gail Carson Levine, and Robin McKinley book all rolled into one. A slightly anxious but fiercely brave girl disguising herself as someone else to follow her dream, and discovering magic, friendship, love, and her own power along the way??? Spectacular. SPECTACULAR. It also does something else I find important: it is writing an older teen (16, in this case), for a YOUNGER audience. This voice is made for the 12-14 year olds, the girls that need girls like Lorel to show them how it’s done. The fact Margaret gave us a trans girl? In this form??? I can’t scream ENOUGH about how vitally important that is. Trans preteens NEED an older girl living as herself and succeeding in their fiction as much as they do in their lives. 

Also, the plot?? Is really fun and engaging?? The side characters are complex and dealing with their own stuff?? The pacing is measured and the prose is clear and active?? 

I think my only gripe is the pace may be marginally too slow? But that’s a tenant of the genre so I don’t even care that much. 

I can’t WAIT to read the rest of these books.