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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I read Seraphina two years ago, and it was the best book I'd read in ages. I don't think this one is much worse. I think I've just read better books since.
In all, I didn't love this book, didn't hate it. For all that it wasn't always captivating, the ending felt earned.
Summary: Tess, at seventeen, has just finished arranging her younger sister's betrothal, which would have been her own if she hadn't tainted herself with an accidental pregnancy at 13. With this arrangement, her sister get a love match, and her family will finally be saved from its debt, but it's not enough to earn her way back into her family's good graces. Seeing no future beyond a maidservant to her sister or being shipped off to a nunnery, she runs away and sets out on a journey to discover her place in the world, what her options really are as a woman, and maybe what it means to be alive.
It's kind of a meandering story, more adventure than action. More travel and self-discovery than dragons. It's a pretty progressive novel that doesn't teach you how to see the world, just that people are people. Sex workers are selling their bodies, and... so are soldiers, and they're all afraid and doing their best. Parents fail their children, and putting that right again isn't as simple as just wanting things to be good again. Your first love might be something you look back on and realize you were afraid then, too. Maybe the most meaningful thing you could possibly do with your life starts with deciding you want to live.
I think those are all cool concepts. I think their execution was... fine. I thought it was incredibly jarring to hear the way the author wrote so disparagingly about a fat man's weight and body and "many many many many" chins, given how otherwise progressive this story was. That was gross.
Anyway. It was fine.
In all, I didn't love this book, didn't hate it. For all that it wasn't always captivating, the ending felt earned.
Summary: Tess, at seventeen, has just finished arranging her younger sister's betrothal, which would have been her own if she hadn't tainted herself with an accidental pregnancy at 13. With this arrangement, her sister get a love match, and her family will finally be saved from its debt, but it's not enough to earn her way back into her family's good graces. Seeing no future beyond a maidservant to her sister or being shipped off to a nunnery, she runs away and sets out on a journey to discover her place in the world, what her options really are as a woman, and maybe what it means to be alive.
It's kind of a meandering story, more adventure than action. More travel and self-discovery than dragons. It's a pretty progressive novel that doesn't teach you how to see the world, just that people are people. Sex workers are selling their bodies, and... so are soldiers, and they're all afraid and doing their best. Parents fail their children, and putting that right again isn't as simple as just wanting things to be good again. Your first love might be something you look back on and realize you were afraid then, too. Maybe the most meaningful thing you could possibly do with your life starts with deciding you want to live.
I think those are all cool concepts. I think their execution was... fine. I thought it was incredibly jarring to hear the way the author wrote so disparagingly about a fat man's weight and body and "many many many many" chins, given how otherwise progressive this story was. That was gross.
Anyway. It was fine.
I want to like this book. But I'm not sure if I do? Even if some parts were good.
Review to Come (and hopefully more coherent thoughts).
Review to Come (and hopefully more coherent thoughts).
I wasn't sure what to expect, the story was ok, but what really got me was the emotional journey taken by the character. Tess of the D'Ubervilles was forefront in my mind as I read this. Definitely has potential to get one thinking about the things daughters are told and the standard to which they are held.
Loved the spinoff and the depth of character development!
A fantastic related book (not quite a sequel) to Seraphina and Shadow Scale, focusing on Seraphina's younger half-sister, Tess Dombegh. This was truly an enjoyable book, and it does look like it leaves space for a possible sequel of its own.
LOVED Tess. She's a bit rough around the edges but man is she a fun one. This had a slow ramp up for sure, but once she was fully on the Road it was excellent. I really enjoyed Pathka's character - Pathka had their own journey and existed outside of Tess, but was a good foil for her. The slow reveals of Tess' past were heartbreaking, but it felt done with such care. I liked how the book had the protagonist question a lot of the messaging she was raised with (purity above all) and examine it more and more critically as Tess grew and saw more of the world. I really want there to be a book 2.
This book changed my worldview, but not in a good way. Due to this book, I now wholeheartedly believe it is ok to DNF a book if it's wasted too much of your time. I now believe that life is too short to waste time on unenjoyable books when there are so many other books to be read.
The main character is insufferable, and remains that way for as far as I could read. She complains, but doesn't seem to do anything to directly deal with her problems. She takes actions that harm those around her, but doesn't apologize or try to make amends.
I read for so long hoping that something about the dragon on the cover would appear, but it never did. "Tess of the Road" is an appropriate title, but I wish whoever designed the cover art hadn't included the dragon as it gave me false hope for something interesting to happen.
The main character is insufferable, and remains that way for as far as I could read. She complains, but doesn't seem to do anything to directly deal with her problems. She takes actions that harm those around her, but doesn't apologize or try to make amends.
I read for so long hoping that something about the dragon on the cover would appear, but it never did. "Tess of the Road" is an appropriate title, but I wish whoever designed the cover art hadn't included the dragon as it gave me false hope for something interesting to happen.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.
Tess of the Road was not the dragon-fantasy-work that I was expecting from the author of Seraphina. I was hoping to delve deeper into the people of the Southlands, saars and political conspiracies. I sought an adventurous light but well-developed read. Instead, at a semi-torturous pedantic pace ToTR was imbued with the hero/journey archetypes of classic literature. I give it 2.5 stars for story content and reader engagement...then rounded up for prose (Rachel Hartman can write!).
Seventeen year old Teresa, “Tess,” is a typical gothic hero-misunderstood, deeply unhappy with a tragic past. She runs away from home and embarks on a journey (pilgrimage) seeking penance and identity. At times her self-pity over past mistakes and character flaws is overbearing but her guilt and self-doubt is strangely relatable. In this way she is a refreshing YA heroine. I’m not sure that I always liked her, but I did admire and respect her.
The flow of the story bothered me. I generally prefer a linear plot to the odessey-esque flashbacks where the majority of the “action” occurred. In addition to stretching out and then winding back on itself ( much like a road) The various uses of “road” (road literal, road as life, road as journey, spiritual road) made the story heavy and too philosophical for my taste. Each of Tess’ encounters along her road was so brief yet compelling, I felt that I was getting robbed of the chance to really make their acquaintance. Even so, I could appreciate the many intentional metaphors that shape Tess’ story.
Tess of the Road was not the dragon-fantasy-work that I was expecting from the author of Seraphina. I was hoping to delve deeper into the people of the Southlands, saars and political conspiracies. I sought an adventurous light but well-developed read. Instead, at a semi-torturous pedantic pace ToTR was imbued with the hero/journey archetypes of classic literature. I give it 2.5 stars for story content and reader engagement...then rounded up for prose (Rachel Hartman can write!).
Seventeen year old Teresa, “Tess,” is a typical gothic hero-misunderstood, deeply unhappy with a tragic past. She runs away from home and embarks on a journey (pilgrimage) seeking penance and identity. At times her self-pity over past mistakes and character flaws is overbearing but her guilt and self-doubt is strangely relatable. In this way she is a refreshing YA heroine. I’m not sure that I always liked her, but I did admire and respect her.
The flow of the story bothered me. I generally prefer a linear plot to the odessey-esque flashbacks where the majority of the “action” occurred. In addition to stretching out and then winding back on itself ( much like a road) The various uses of “road” (road literal, road as life, road as journey, spiritual road) made the story heavy and too philosophical for my taste. Each of Tess’ encounters along her road was so brief yet compelling, I felt that I was getting robbed of the chance to really make their acquaintance. Even so, I could appreciate the many intentional metaphors that shape Tess’ story.
Spoiler
By making the conscious decision to “walk on” every day and every instance Tess finally reaches self actualization at the end of her 9month journey. She is reborn, no longer a child (turned 18), and finally recovering from her rape/infant’s death. She finds enlightenment, “vocation” as she termed it.
This is the best book I've read this summer, possibly this year. The prose is beautiful, the characters are complicated, and the story is riveting. What begins as a standard coming of age, road of self-discovery tale, becomes so much more as we walk along with Tess on the road. Within the narrative, Hartman negotiates paths of gender issues, gender identity, sexuality, equality, forgiveness, and redemption. Also woven into the story is an underlying theme of faith, spirituality, and vocation.
As I finished the last page I was already having that feeling of loving a book so much I didn't want it to end. Thankfully, it's the first in a series. I will be waiting anxiously for Tess and her next adventure.
As I finished the last page I was already having that feeling of loving a book so much I didn't want it to end. Thankfully, it's the first in a series. I will be waiting anxiously for Tess and her next adventure.
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't realize when I started reading it that it was tied to Seraphina by Hartman (which I haven't read but now I want to). Even without knowing all the background about Seraphina's story, there was enough of a set-up and worldbuilding in this book that it was easy to keep up with the story. Tess was a fun character, headstrong and inventive, and I really enjoyed her adventures. I look forward to reading more books set in this world.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this title in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this title in exchange for an honest review.