I really love finding middle grade fantasy that doesn't talk down to its audience; part of that is letting the threat level be quite high, but I think part of it is also letting the characters make serious mistakes and be realistic people, who don't always know best or even always do what's right. This author is good at that, and I thoroughly enjoyed this; it felt very much like a book I'd have loved as a kid (including a few off-colour moments that were totally fine [😬] in 2007 but wouldn't get past an editor now). Definitely some parts that I'd be careful to discuss with my kiddos if they were reading this, but nothing so terrible that I wouldn't let them read it, and really fun otherwise.