“This first book of the series was fine. A mountain girl will learn about her wild magic as she faces increasing challenges, but her friends help her through it. I like the inexpert and bold ways of a novice who finds herself in new sophisticated circles, and the emphasis on her animal friends. Enjoy this book, but stop there. I was increasingly disappointed with the other books in the series. By the end, the best characters of the first book were forgotten, and we have to suffer through a whiney romance, half hearted plots, irritating characters, and a confused but energized young girl who's been prematurely transformed into a smug and predictable "adult". The story kept rolling along, but I had to drag myself through it, and I find some of the passages in poor taste and inappropriate, just thrown in there as an attempt to wake us up. ”