I'm sentimental about these books - they remind me of my best friend who lives far away from me. But that isn't to say that these books aren't great! I love following Maddie through her journey to become a ranger and getting to fight chauvinistic villains and their expectations. This book was great in particular because we were following Horace, Cassandra, and Maddie through the siege of Castle Araluen and got to delve further into battle strategies and tactics. This is an amazing middle-grade book that can still interest adults.