I will admit I struggled with this read. I did not love the pacing in this book and I did not feel super connected to the characters. I wanted to love this book. I also only felt connected to one character and all the new characters overwhelmed me. I did like the "teaching aspects" of this read. I just did not love the pacing and wish the story grabbed my attention more. I def want to keep reading this series in the future. ( )

I will admit I struggled with this read. I did not love the pacing in this book and I did not feel super connected to the characters. I wanted to love this book. I also only felt connected to one character and all the new characters overwhelmed me. I did like the "teaching aspects" of this read. I just did not love the pacing and wish the story grabbed my attention more. I def want to keep reading this series in the future. ( )

One of my favorite parts of this book is watching Sandry gain experience as a teacher and learning more about what she wants in her community and where her future likely will be. The writing is fun and enjoyable. The characters are interesting. I love the way Pierce's magic systems work. The characters can also be quite cute and fun together (and pleasant developments occur with at least one familiar face).

I love the entire "Circle of Magic" series and suggest it to anyone who likes high fantasy, young adult fantasy and particularly Tamora Pierce. I started with her Tortallans series and love them but in many ways I find "Circle of Magic" equal if not superior to those books. ( )

I grew up on Tamora Pierce, but I had always read books set in the Tortall universe. I've never read the Emelan books. Unfortunately my library doesn't have all of them, let alone in order, so I read this book 100 percent clueless as to what happened in the first series.

I like Sandry. The way the book starts I thought Pasco, the dancer-mage that the book is named for and the cover depicts, would be the main character. By the end of the book I still felt like I didn't know him or had much reason to like him. As my lovely, mature Sandry has said, "He's a bit...young." At least her intellect, both street and theoretical, balances him in the story.

By the reflective moments, clearly a lot of excitement happened in the first series. Somehow my alienation let me identify with Sandry missing her old mage friends, like somehow their presence would assure me in this new world I got sucked into.

I'm still guessing what kind of world Emelan is. Tortall was clearly a high medieval period England and all the neighboring countries distinctly resembled cultures from the real world like Japan and Scandinavia. However, Emelan has this curious Middle East yet not Middle East essence.

The story is more character driven, which I like well enough, but I didn't get as immersed as the Tortall books that more description, more secondary and charming characters, and together compounded to create a concrete world with maps, several distinct societies, an intricate timeline, and general setting description. Maybe reading more of the Emelan books will help in these respects, but is I compare my first Emelan book, Magic Steps, to my first Tortall book, Wild Magic--both tomes are about the same length--I got a significantly better experience out of Wild Magic. ( )

I enjoyed The Circle of Magic Series but I think this series, The Circle Opens, is better. The chracters are more fleshed out and I find the stories more engaging. I always love the writing style of Tamora Pierce and this is no exception. As always these are a must read for me. ( )