Reviews with content warning for War - Ridder Keladry

Lady Knight is the last hurrah of Lady Keladry of Mindelan, the first known lady knight in Tortall in over a century. With the war against Scanra underway, Kel assumes she's going to be put to combat, especially after the Chamber of the Ordeal gives her a task - to fight and kill the Nothing Man that's been responsible for the mysterious killing machines that Scanra has at their disposal. To her dismay, Kel is put in charge of a refugee camp where she won't be able to go off and find the Nothing Man, and help put an end to the war.

I love Kel. She's my favorite Pierce protagonist by far. I find there's something so real about her that she's easy to relate to, even if I'm nothing like her. Most young adult protagonists in her situation would break rank and run off to fulfill their Destiny(tm). Kel doesn't. She's been given a task and, as much as she hates it, she's going to do it one hundred and ten percent because that's what knights do. I find that admirable in her. Yeah, she could have run off on the back of her trusty stead and saved the day, ending the war and maybe becoming a hero like Destiny(tm) wants her to. But, no. She's going to deal with people bitching at her all day, she's going to clean the latrines, she's going to hope that the enemy doesn't come in force at her because she's not equipped to deal with it but hell if she's going to let them take her people without a fight.

The addition of the Haven characters are lovely. They're all so lovely.

So much sadness after what happened to a lot of them. That part really hits you deep. I know, I read Pierce's Author Notes at the end of the book and how she was writing this one during 9/11 and how the scene was always going to happen, but how that event still affected her writing. It just makes it hurt a little more.

Kel eventually does go after her people after they've been ransacked and kidnapped while she was away for a couple of days. This time, she's expressly disobeying orders because she was told the first time to look after and protect them, and she'd be damned if she let the Scanrans kill or enslave any of them. I love the moment when the others decide that they're going after her. With the exception of Neal and Merric, who are stationed at Haven with her, we rarely got to see any of her friends as they were separated throughout Squire and nearly the entirety of this book. But, it just goes to show the bond that they have, and that Kel managed to instill such loyalty in people who, by society's rights, she shouldn't be getting along with when they were only teens is amazing and wonderful and I just love all the friendships in this book, okay.

The ending is befitting of Kel's last book. It's not glamorous and doesn't seem very heroic, and she's probably covered in dirt and looks like hell through most of the climax, but that's just Kel. And, it ends on a note that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I really love this book, no matter how many times I've read it. It's a perfect cap to an amazing character and their story, and leaves things open for more in the future, one of which will be very bright for her.

Gods all bless, Lady Knight.

Content Warnings

grace_b_3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

hendrixpants's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

freesiaelect's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

emilily's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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musen_henning's review against another edition

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adventurous

4.0

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kes7706's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An amazing end to the Protector of the Small quartet. I had forgotten that it was being written suring the events of September 11, 2001. This is my 7th or 8th re-read, and this time I was struck with how well Tamora Pierce drew on the emotions of that traumatic event in American history to tell this story.

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