The Gift

While it often seemed the author had a checklist of fantasy genre cliches and made sure she ticked them all off over the course of the story. Girl has mysterious powers she didn't know she had! Girl gets a wise older man with shady past for a mentor! Girl has unexpected first period! Her parents were killed by the bad guy! etc.

I didn't see the point in being reminded three times that Maerad was a girl and had to bleed every month. If it was a not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman thing, we got that with the first mention. If it was a passage of time thing, surely there are other ways to do it? I don't object to periods (well, I do, but that's because I'm a girl too), but it seemed more than a little weird.

But I am trying to like books despite their flaws, instead of dismissing them because of their flaws, and I will be reading the second in this series. I do appreciate a strong female character and this book has one, and overall the series has potential.