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Alanna: The First Adventure Song of the Lioness #1

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Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Being sent away from her home by an otherwise occupied father, Alanna doesn't want to go to the convent to become a lady and her brother Thom doesn't want to become a knight. So they decide to switch places and Alanna, pretending to be a boy, heads to the palace to begin her training as a page while Thom goes to study sorcery at the convent. It is a difficult world physically, mentally, and emotionally as Alanna must learn to fit in at the palace.

Category: YA

Why I chose this book: Read a few books from the same author when I was younger

My personal opinion (the review): I was hoping for more from this book. It was good and I will continue with the series, but it just seemed to leave something to be desired. For one, there was more magic/fantasy elements than I expected. Also, we don't get to see a lot of the behind the scenes struggle. Alanna struggles with sword combat. We are told she practices her skills after everyone else goes to bed at night and then all of a sudden she is the best in the palace. She also hardly seems to have negative consequences from anything that happens to her. 

Warnings
Language: None
Violence: Learns fighting skills of knights. Several battles recited blow by blow, but nothing graphic.
"Adult" situations: Nothing sexual, however it mentions Alanna going through puberty and not understanding what is happening and trying to hide the signs of her maturity. A healer woman gives her a charm to ward of pregnancy after she starts her menstrual cycle, but it doesn't come into play in this book. 
Death: Alanna participates in battles seeing and killing enemies, nothing explicitly graphic. 

 Movie rating equivalent: PG-13

Protagonist description: Alanna is strong-willed (though she is realistic in that she does get tired and overwhelmed at times.) She is intelligent and good in her studies and gains the favor of all who know her (but sometimes, she is almost too good).

Point of view of story: Third

Book length: Listened to it, medium

Story flow: Fluid

Grammar and spelling issues: None, listened to it. 

Character connection (no spoilers): Sir Miles 

For series:
Independent or integral: Independent as first in series

Series review as a whole: The first book was decent, but then the series took some turns I wasn't expecting. Overall it's probably not worth looking into.

If you only have time for one, read: Alanna: The First Adventure 

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