Kindling

It’s like the Magnificent Seven, but with more magic and emotional trauma. Well. More magic, anyway.

A group of former child soldiers gather in the mountains, to defend a village that is being raided by bandits. Each of the seven have their own wounds (physical and mental) and baggage, but none of them can resist the chance for one last possible victory. 
Author Traci Chee does a marvelous job of distinguishing the characters’ personalities, and creating unique individuals that have you rooting for (or against) them. The setting is intense and richly detailed, and I would love to read more books set in this world she has created. The ending will leave you emotionally compromised (I can’t say if you’ll end up in tears or not, it really depends on how prone you as a reader are to crying at sad books), but it’s totally worth it.