A return to the Old Kingdom? Yes please! 
 This is a prequel to the original trilogy, a backstory to a character I had, frankly, forgotten. (A cursory Google search tells me she's a pretty significant character, but it's probably been a decade easy since I've read Lireal, a fact I should remedy except that time is finite and my to-read list is not.) Clariel is of royal heritage, and of a line of Abhorsens. There are expectations upon her--a solid marriage for political gains, maybe. It's not the life Clariel wants, and she rebels against it--but it's the sort of rebellion with a body count, Free Magic creatures, and destruction of her connection with the Charter. 
 I might have enjoyed this more if I'd read it closer to the other books, but it didn't pull me in the same way. I didn't immediately fall into the world. I didn't connect with Clariel, though I understand her and find her intriguing. I like that she's a woman of her own agency, and doesn't allow herself to be bullied into things she doesn't want. But the book didn't wow me.