“If you must fight someday, allow me to advise you about one thing: do not fight in anger.”

Easily my favorite in the series so far!!

This was a great example of what middle grade fantasy can /should be. This book focuses a lot on Aru Shah's changing emotions as she's getting older, with a particular focus on anger. The discussions around it were so poignant for the intended audience, but still managed to be impactful for people not in the target age-range.

I also felt that quest elements were extremely creative in this one and the plot itself was coherent, while also never feeling boring. The humor was a bit cartoonish, which is expected in a middle grade, but there were moments where even I (in my cranky book-humor state) found the jokes funny.

All in all, this was a great installment and I look forward to finishing the series.