Squire

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable!
Review: I purchased "Squire" as soon as I could, knowing it would be a fantastic book, as Tamora Pierce's always are. I liked a lot of things about the book. For one thing, it was a longer than the others, which left more room for things to happen. It also gets a little bit more realistic as with what Kel has to go through. It isn't just getting bruised on the practice courts anymore. I also liked the aspect of the Chamber of the Ordeal giving Kel visions, and that the Ordeal was far more detailed than in the Alanna books. Kel grows a lot in this book and faces real problems: like the unfairness of the law, death, sex, taking care of a griffin she really doesn't want to take care of, and is reunited with Joren, her former bully. I loved Sir Raoul's return and I enjoyed meeting new characters like Dom and Lerant. There were a few things about the book that I didn't really like: The abscence of Neal was sad, but I could deal with that--this book is supposed to be her life, and in life, things change, people have to move away. I was upset at her growing romance with Cleon. He's a sweet guy but he never really was a developed character--it would have been kind of obvious if Kel hooked up with Neal (but it would have been much appreciated!), so it seemed the right choice to have her pair up with one of Neal's friends. But it seemed as though she didn't really WANT to be with Cleon, almost as though he kind of forced her into it (it probably would have been hard to say no to a sweet guy like him); while she was with him she still had feelings for Dom and Neal. That seemed a little bit weird. Kel had never had the fun-loving relationship with Cleon as she had with Neal, and even Dom. She seemed a little bit dazed when Neal was "going out" with the Yamani lady in waiting. But, who knows? The next book has yet to be published. Also, the characters of Daine and Alanna seem flat, not as they were in their own books. I hate having to wait for the next book, but if Tamora Pierce can write a finishing book as good as this one, I don't care how long it takes! :)

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!!! Absolutely awesome
Review: This is the thrid book in the Protector of the Small quartet, and it is a really amazing read. It's about how Kel deals with being a squire, and having people like and dislike her. In this book she finds out who her "unknown benificiary" is, as if we didn't have a clue. Here she has to go through the Chamber of the Ordeal, which if you've read the Alanna books know how difficult it is. She also finds out who had Lalasa, her maid, kidnapped, and his ultimely end. This is a wonderful author and she really makes Kel come alive. I can't wait for more books from her!!!!1

Rating:
Summary: ok, yeah, listen up.
Review: This is a great book. Really. I've read other people's reviews and I'm kinda disappointed that they aren't giving it the credit that it deserves (5 stars). I mean, no kel doesn't spend a lot of time with her old friends...but how could she?!? Thats just thinking crazy thoughts. She's traveling ALL THE TIME. Being the squire to raoul doesn't leave her much time to socialize does it? and its not like she didn't make other friends. Besides, the book was already huge....how could Pierce have fit anything else in it? . well, if he liked her he would have said something sooner, and thats that. Besides, she gave up liking neal in favor of dom right at the beginning of the book! Every girl will think shes in love with someone until someone better comes along, I mean geez, alanna changed her mind all the time, in this case it was cleon who had obviously liked kel for a while. No, he hadn't been a fully developed character in the other books...but thats ok! Now we get to know him a little better.... same goes for raoul. But anyway, I'm glad kel and cleon got together. Don't dwell on neal, he found someone else anyway:) finally, theres the whole ordeal thing. I thought it was great and not at all disappointing, and thats all I have to say on that matter. So, if you THINK THROUGH THIS LOGICALLY and don't get stuck on what YOU wanted to happen you'll really really enjoy this book. Not every story goes the way you want it to but thats no reason to deprive it of the 5 star rating that it deserves.

Rating:
Summary: Tamora Pierce and Kel strike again!
Review: I am a big fan of Tamora Pierce and I love all of her books. In this series so far I think that the best book is Page because it just has more action and Kel is more herself. What happened to Neal anyway? This was a great book but a lot more characteristic of Tamora Pierce could have been added. I also like how much longer it was.

Rating:
Summary: What will be in store for Keldary?
Review: I must say, this is the best book out of the quartet.

First of all, I must say that Kel is a perfect heroine: smart, fiesty, loyal. She's a great role model for young girls.

Pierce's books somehow contain this degree of imagination that appeals to adults and younger children. They're charming, serious, witty, and at some points laugh out loud funny. Her charachters come alive so easily that it seems like you've known them your whole lives.

Another thing I really enjoyed about these books was bringing back old charachters like Raoul, Alanna, George, Daine, Jonothan, Thayet. It's always somehow exciting when you get to hear about charachters that seem so distant.

Oh, and the whole Kel and Cleon romance is absolutely adorable.

To sum it up: Kel is a fabulous heroine in a lively book full of danger, romance, and the power of the human mind.

Read these books to your children and enjoy them yourselves.

Rating:
Summary: good book overall
Review: I'll begin with one thing: I liked this book. It was one of my favorites. Even though a lot of people are getting upset about the fact that she falls out of love with Neal, (even I did at first) I think Ms. Pierce was trying to make a more "real" heroine by making Kel have crushes that won't last forever. I do wish that more of the old characters were mentioned, though, aka Neal, Owen, Merric, etc. They gave the books more "flavor" before.

Rating:
Summary: Too short
Review: Okay, I know she got an extra one hundred pages, but the book really has a bare bones quality to it. As many have said, we don't see much of Kel's other friends, but Ms. Pierce only gets so many pages per book and she couldn't have cut anything else out to add something else in. On the bright side, she did make the NY children's bestseller list for two weeks, so maybe she can weasel out a few more pages from her publishers. And trust me, Lady Knight promises to be a FANTASTIC read! The only thing I didn't like in SQUIRE was how she resolved the conflict between Joren and Kel, but once again I blame a lack of pages and I'm hoping she'll suprise us in the book to come. Basically, the book's a good, if slightly rushed and dissapointing, read, but the next promises to truly phenomenal.

Rating:
Summary: Kel is Shining Again
Review: I truly enjoyed Tamora Pierce's latest book. I found it quite difficult to put down and finished in less than one day. Once again the readers were brought into the fictional world of Tortall, with the female squire Keladry as our guide. However, this book did lack the fun excitement with fellow squires such as Neal, Merric, Owen, and even Joren that the previous two books possessed. I was quite suprised by the actions of Kel in this book, which seemed to be out of her "lump" character. An example would be her affair with Cleon. While it was out of character, I think that it added something to the story and even helped to show the reader how Kel was growing up. Though there are few suprises throughout this book, it is defenitely worth the time to read.

Rating:
Summary: You'll love this book
Review: I found this book so engaging that my seven year old and I stayed up late reading for so many evenings that the grade one teacher asked why my daughter was so tired. The characters are believable and its great to have wonderful heroines.

Rating:
Summary: Just Read
Review: OK I actually haven't read this (or Page) because I won't recieve the dang books till June 25. What will I do till then? Anyway, I am reviewing this just because. Tamora Pierce's books are always phenomonal, (with the exception of Circle of Magic books. They were just okay.) and I expect Squire to live up to her name. Also this whole secret benifactor. I'm betting that it is Alanna, too. But I hope TP is a little more original and makes it someone like, ohh, maybe Lord Wyldon or King Jonathan. Well, cheerios. I hope you read this book cause I love this author!!!