The Shadow Cadets of Pennyroyal Academy: Pennyroyal Academy, Book 2

Hunting and killing witches and assorted monsters is a core duty of princesses. As the story begins, three mysterious women murder an innkeeper's wife with swords, and swordplay is important to many characters (and plot developments). Evie and Basil have good skills with swords -- and, usually, the wisdom to know when they're not the right tool for the job. Characters good and evil die or suffer grave injury in hand-to-hand combat. A once-beautiful character is now grotesquely hideous. The deadly tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is the beginning of the war between the princesses and the witches.

A couple of brief, sweet kisses. On the darker side, one of the princesses takes the bleak view that "the best outcome for me is to be married off as some sort of diplomatic tool."

Brief mentions of "bum," as in rear end. A few matter-of-fact references to pee and poop (bear urine is an important element in one class), but U.S. parents will find little to worry about. British parents should be forewarned that author Larson is very fond of putting "bloody" and, on one occasion, "sod" in the mouths of adult and kid characters.

Adult characters drink, and a king describes past hunting trips that involved a lot of mead. In two key scenes, characters drug or cast spells on others to make them unconscious. In one case, it's part of a plan and the character has consented, but in the other, the character's tranquilized to keep her quiet.