Holy shit, I read this when I was really young (and this series was already old then too lol). It's a really grand coming of age adventure story for 4 sister with difficult fates. For a story geared towards girls, it has a ton of action and interesting politics and such. It is a bit old and rough around the edges in terms of drawing and pacing and whatnot near the beginning, but by the end you'll be glad to have read it