big +1 on Tamora Pierce. I've always been a fantasy reader and her + Patricia Wrede were so important to me when it came to re-inventing female stereotypes. Age gaps are a persistent issue with a lot of Pierce's protagonists and it def hasn't sat well with me and think back on power dynamics (re: Daine and Numair being student-teacher and my younger self having a huge crush x_x). there's been a lot of discussion on that in reader groups though and there's interesting nuance as Pierce has been able to express her changing viewpoints with her fan community e.g. Alanna's gender presentation.

if the environmental themes seen inconsistent to you it might be a matter of personal politics. I'm of Buddhist heritage but have always had an open mind when it comes to plant-based diets and meat since I was raised by a fisherman. The Immortals was set in a time period where hunting was the norm + Daine was a child of a hunting god(? spirit? whatever the specific fictional ideology was). even as a child, it made sense to me for her to compartmentalize her values when it came to sustenance as hunters have a v particular relationship with the land/nature and don't let life go to waste. For her to not want to eat ones she's transformed into also makes sense as her morals continued to develop as she got older which is how ethics are for all of us.