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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
It's great. till the last few pages. For a romance that was set up for that long, it had a very lackluster end.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5
There were so many things I loved about this book. The world building, the beautiful prose, Abdo. Hell I even loved Jannoula. I felt her pain, understood her motivations.
But I still felt unsatisfied with the ending. I felt that at points Serephina missed too many clues and didn't put things together quick enough. OR the stupid plot device of missed communication was used too often. I also felt Jannoula deserved a harsher end seeing how she wreaked havoc and killed so many people.
All in all, loved this book. Will definitely be reading other books by this author.
There were so many things I loved about this book. The world building, the beautiful prose, Abdo. Hell I even loved Jannoula. I felt her pain, understood her motivations.
But I still felt unsatisfied with the ending. I felt that at points Serephina missed too many clues and didn't put things together quick enough. OR the stupid plot device of missed communication was used too often. I also felt Jannoula deserved a harsher end seeing how she wreaked havoc and killed so many people.
All in all, loved this book. Will definitely be reading other books by this author.
The story is more about Seraphina's search for identity as a half dragon, and for her place amongst the other half dragons. A little long, but it held my interest throughout, and I was satisfied with the conclusion to Seraphina's story.
Honestly. This was rough. I was skimming by the end. The book is LONG, and most of it consists of an endless series of underdeveloped character introductions, almost exactly none of whom end up mattering in the end. The plot felt oddly episodic, as if it were written on the fly and not considered as a coherent whole.
The first book had problems, but there was also a plotline that I really loved which made it worthwhile for me -- and that was pretty much entirely abandoned in this book.
Also, it was infuriating to be teased with a love interest that was way more interesting than Kiggs, right at the end of the book. Really annoying.
I own Tess of the Road and will probably read it anyway, but otherwise I will continue my YA searches elsewhere...
The first book had problems, but there was also a plotline that I really loved which made it worthwhile for me -- and that was pretty much entirely abandoned in this book.
Also, it was infuriating to be teased with a love interest that was way more interesting than Kiggs, right at the end of the book. Really annoying.
I own Tess of the Road and will probably read it anyway, but otherwise I will continue my YA searches elsewhere...
KIGGS. A million othere things could happen in this book but kiggs is my heart. seraphinas growth is such a journey, this story has a lot more depth thani sawthe first time around
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not as good as the first but an okay conclusion.
'Shadow Scale' is the second and final book in Rachel Hartman's series following Seraphina. Seraphina is a half dragon living in Goredd. Previously she was hiding who she as relations between dragons and humans was unheard of but now she knows there are many more like her. Following the events in 'Seraphine', book one, war feels inevitable, tensions between humans and dragons are reaching new heights. But maybe she can do something to help for through her half dragon mind Seraphine feels able to find others like herself. Feeling her plans might be able to succeed she is blindsided by her past when her efforts are being blocked by a powerful half dragon she used to know.
spoilers
I think my favourite part of this book was the beginning, when a male voice narrated, I listened to the audiobook, it gave a recap of the first book but did like an ancient chronically recording history that had been passed down to him. I found there was a lot of slow parts for me or just parts that I felt disconnected with and had little interest. Theres so much focus on adding new bits from her past and then meeting new people so I felt like lots of the relationships she developed in the first book are completely abandoned or become just after thoughts. It was nice to see the character growth but I feel like her relationships with the now Queen and Kiggs suffered for it. I felt the end wrapped up way too quickly and I would have preferred more. Maybe even a third book to deal with the aftermath and Janoula and how the country with continue now having half dragons recognized.
I figure I will continue with Hartman, she has other books in the same world that might be worth checking out.
'Shadow Scale' is the second and final book in Rachel Hartman's series following Seraphina. Seraphina is a half dragon living in Goredd. Previously she was hiding who she as relations between dragons and humans was unheard of but now she knows there are many more like her. Following the events in 'Seraphine', book one, war feels inevitable, tensions between humans and dragons are reaching new heights. But maybe she can do something to help for through her half dragon mind Seraphine feels able to find others like herself. Feeling her plans might be able to succeed she is blindsided by her past when her efforts are being blocked by a powerful half dragon she used to know.
spoilers
I think my favourite part of this book was the beginning, when a male voice narrated, I listened to the audiobook, it gave a recap of the first book but did like an ancient chronically recording history that had been passed down to him. I found there was a lot of slow parts for me or just parts that I felt disconnected with and had little interest. Theres so much focus on adding new bits from her past and then meeting new people so I felt like lots of the relationships she developed in the first book are completely abandoned or become just after thoughts. It was nice to see the character growth but I feel like her relationships with the now Queen and Kiggs suffered for it. I felt the end wrapped up way too quickly and I would have preferred more. Maybe even a third book to deal with the aftermath and Janoula and how the country with continue now having half dragons recognized.
I figure I will continue with Hartman, she has other books in the same world that might be worth checking out.
This series has been delightful - the world building has been excellent, and the characters have been wonderful. I was hesitant in picking this up because I saw a lot of reviews which said things like "great coming of age story," which always gets my eyes rolling.
This is really so much more then that - I can see where it can be dismissed as such, because yes, part of it is that the main characters has to embrace -- both privately and in public - what she is - but the entire context of political and social upheaval makes this story so much richer and complex. And I do have to the author points for creating for the romantic relationships in the story, which are both appropriate to the storyline and very nicely done.
This is really so much more then that - I can see where it can be dismissed as such, because yes, part of it is that the main characters has to embrace -- both privately and in public - what she is - but the entire context of political and social upheaval makes this story so much richer and complex. And I do have to the author points for creating for the romantic relationships in the story, which are both appropriate to the storyline and very nicely done.
"Wrong gender. You use cosmic neuter for a stranger."
I glanced at Rodya; he leaned to one side and spat on the ground. "He's not a stranger anymore. If ever anyone embodied naive masculine, surely Rodya--"
"You use cosmic neuter for a stranger," Abdo insisted. "And he's a stranger until you've asked, 'How may I pronoun you?'"
"But you told me cosmic neuter was the gender of the gods and eggplant," I protested, unsure why I was arguing with a native speaker about his own language.
"People may choose it," said Abdo, "but it's polite for strangers. You may be almost sure he's not an eggplant, but he might still be some agent of the gods."
I glanced at Rodya; he leaned to one side and spat on the ground. "He's not a stranger anymore. If ever anyone embodied naive masculine, surely Rodya--"
"You use cosmic neuter for a stranger," Abdo insisted. "And he's a stranger until you've asked, 'How may I pronoun you?'"
"But you told me cosmic neuter was the gender of the gods and eggplant," I protested, unsure why I was arguing with a native speaker about his own language.
"People may choose it," said Abdo, "but it's polite for strangers. You may be almost sure he's not an eggplant, but he might still be some agent of the gods."
