I've always liked this one a lot. Yes, on adult rereading, the quest for the Dominion Jewel and the climax are a bit thin and easy, but this is still the book that gives us Buri and Thayet and places Tortall on the path to becoming its weird little ahistorical somewhat progressive paradise in later books. And tbh, there are some other reviews that criticize Alanna's multiple romances throughout the books but I appreciate a book that doesn't make a big deal over a heroine that f**ks! Let her live! And for folks who say this isn't appropriate for YA/middle grade, who other than teenage girls most needs the lesson that when you fall in lust with someone that's deeply incompatible and a bit of jerk, you've just gotta let them go?