This entire book reads like a really long introduction, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. This book is after all, an introduction to a series. Alanna is written pretty realistically for a girl her age. She starts off her training towards knighthood being quite whiny and expresses her emotions in quite a volatile manner even thinking for quitting. Thankfully her mentor, Coram, convinces her otherwise. Seeing Alanna befriend people around her and deal with the changes that women go through during puberty was great. It's unusual for themes like puberty to be explored in young adult books like this. Alanna having trouble coping with the fact that she is a woman despite the social constraints that entails is also interesting. I really do appreciate the exploration of these themes by the books and hope to continue reading the rest of the books in time.