I think if 12-year-old me read this book, she'd immediately insist on giving it 5 stars, and since she's in the target age group, her 5 stars should probably count more than my 3 stars. It's a very sweet book, and I enjoyed the way the author portrayed the beginnings of a romance. I loved the main characters and their interactions. I didn't really care so much about the plot, and I felt like there were times I just wanted the characters to do more. I was pulled out of the story by long blocks of world-building, and though I liked the world, I didn't like being dragged out of the meat of the story for the explanations.This would probably be a perfect book for a young girl who loves fantasy and reads above her grade level but isn't quite ready for some of the themes that can pop up in an older YA novel.