Turns out I prefer my protagonists to be young adults who have at least some training/education in their parents' world — the most comparable setup that comes to mind currently is Daughter of the Pirate King.

That said, while I love stories of magic and adventure and life-or-death battles and dubious new friends, I enjoyed but didn't altogether love this book. I had a bit of trouble keeping up with the worldbuilding alongside the fast-paced plot, and the developments were pretty predictable if decently executed.