" I love love love the rest of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. They were hilarious and made me laugh, and the characters managed to be uproariously comical yet at the same time serious and diverse. This book, though of the same universe, did not measure up. I suppose it was supposed to be a "young adult" novel, though the idea of having the protagonist be nine years old absolutely flummoxed me. She acted more like she was 12 or 14, indeed, I would have identified with her more if she was. That still does not excuse ex deus machina or miraculous last minute strength summoning or strange, idealistic interpretations of magic that had even this avid fantasy reader scratching her head. I'm not flaying this book, no no, I did after all give it three stars. But I won't be reading the second, unless I grow extremely bored and have no other options. "
— Kyra, 1/9/2014