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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Supremely disappointing beside Seraphina. Lacks luster, lacks passion-- it feels like Hartman wrote it as a chore and killed what may have been a good story with flat prose and weak inflection.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Edit: I enjoyed this a lot more on the second read. I think just being prepared for the pacing and unexpected turn in focus made a big difference - I didn't have expectations that weren't being met this time. Things I appreciated this time around:
* There were actually several instances of the protagonist being confronted with her biases, responding with humility, and trying to broaden her mind. I think I'd actually recommend this book to privileged people who are struggling with how to respond when they mess up. It's certainly not the main point of the book, but it is a bit of a theme.
* I loved the discussions of logic and exploring the out-sized impact of axiom selection - that is, people can follow the same logical rules and arrive at very different outcomes if they start from different "fundamental truths." Even the most objective decision process still has a subjective human influence at the start, to decide "what matters."
It does still feel like the latter two books of a trilogy got squashed into one - there's a reveal not long after we get to Samsam that would have made a good cliffhanger, and the direction of the book shifts not long after that.
I enjoyed, but felt like it had major pacing and focus issues, especially in comparison to [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387577872s/19549841.jpg|17375239]. If you loved that one and want to know what happens next, here's the sequel. I can't really see this as a standalone volume though, even with the prologue. I almost quit halfway through, and firmly believe that the book would benefit from cutting most of the time in Ninys and Samsam.
Things I enjoyed:
* Racism got addressed, yay! The thing where all of the dragons in the first book were white was explained, in a way that made out protagonist a bit chagrined about her assumptions, A+
* Also, positive portrayals of characters who are not straight, cis, or gender-normative (some familiar from the last book, some new). Generally good representation and characterization of the outcast.
As a whole, it was fine, a fun continuation of Seraphina, but would not have grabbed my attention as that one did.
* There were actually several instances of the protagonist being confronted with her biases, responding with humility, and trying to broaden her mind. I think I'd actually recommend this book to privileged people who are struggling with how to respond when they mess up. It's certainly not the main point of the book, but it is a bit of a theme.
* I loved the discussions of logic and exploring the out-sized impact of axiom selection - that is, people can follow the same logical rules and arrive at very different outcomes if they start from different "fundamental truths." Even the most objective decision process still has a subjective human influence at the start, to decide "what matters."
It does still feel like the latter two books of a trilogy got squashed into one - there's a reveal not long after we get to Samsam that would have made a good cliffhanger, and the direction of the book shifts not long after that.
I enjoyed, but felt like it had major pacing and focus issues, especially in comparison to [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387577872s/19549841.jpg|17375239]. If you loved that one and want to know what happens next, here's the sequel. I can't really see this as a standalone volume though, even with the prologue. I almost quit halfway through, and firmly believe that the book would benefit from cutting most of the time in Ninys and Samsam.
Things I enjoyed:
* Racism got addressed, yay! The thing where all of the dragons in the first book were white was explained, in a way that made out protagonist a bit chagrined about her assumptions, A+
* Also, positive portrayals of characters who are not straight, cis, or gender-normative (some familiar from the last book, some new). Generally good representation and characterization of the outcast.
As a whole, it was fine, a fun continuation of Seraphina, but would not have grabbed my attention as that one did.
Once again, Rachel Hartman demonstrates impressive talent for deep, earth-shattering, logical emotional arcs. In SERAPHINA, our protagonist learns to engage with the world; in SHADOW SCALE, she learns how to relate to it, understanding the flaws in her own initially stunted perceptions. Hartman also turns YA romantic tropes delightfully topsey-turvey, with a fantastic middle finger to the love triangle concept.
There's plenty of good material here, but it's a mess. This book needed a great deal of editing and trimming. It might honestly have worked better as two more tightly plotted volumes.
3.5 stars - This was not a bad book, but it so deeply failed to be as awesome as the first book that I had trouble getting over that.
The first volume Seraphina was clever, subtle and intelligent storytelling. Shadowscale was none of those things. At many points it felt like poorly edited fanfiction for the first book. I'm honestly not sure how a writer can go from such talented debut work to such rough and amateurish writing in so short a time.
This book had too many big ideas and too much ground to cover. It made arbitrary connections and felt very contrived with how it worked characters into place for what the plot needed to happen at any given moment.
The same set of beloved characters went from being smart and relatable to being thick, reactive and inexplicable in terms of motivation. This more than anything made me unable to continue reading sometimes for sheer frustration.
It had several good redeeming points which made it worth my time to finish:
* it answered pretty much all of the questions left hanging in the air at the end of the first book. Nothing was left needlessly unexplored to try and sell a third book
* Like the first book, it kept the romance from being a gigantic feature of the plot. Romantic strife was not a major motivator even where it existed.
* THE ROMANTIC CONFLICT WAS RESOLVED WITH TALKING, COMMUNICATION AND COMPROMISE.
*The three friends with a threatening complicated love triangle live happily ever after in a non-monogamous triad EXACTLY THE WAY I WANTED
* themes of music, art, philosophy and love and connection were still engaging.
* we do get to actually explore the exiting world we only heard about in the first book. Which was confined to a single town in a single kingdom.
I'm glad I started it, and glad I finished it. I'm not sure I had a good enough time to read it again, or to spend time on a third book if one ever emerges.
The first volume Seraphina was clever, subtle and intelligent storytelling. Shadowscale was none of those things. At many points it felt like poorly edited fanfiction for the first book. I'm honestly not sure how a writer can go from such talented debut work to such rough and amateurish writing in so short a time.
This book had too many big ideas and too much ground to cover. It made arbitrary connections and felt very contrived with how it worked characters into place for what the plot needed to happen at any given moment.
The same set of beloved characters went from being smart and relatable to being thick, reactive and inexplicable in terms of motivation. This more than anything made me unable to continue reading sometimes for sheer frustration.
It had several good redeeming points which made it worth my time to finish:
* it answered pretty much all of the questions left hanging in the air at the end of the first book. Nothing was left needlessly unexplored to try and sell a third book
* Like the first book, it kept the romance from being a gigantic feature of the plot. Romantic strife was not a major motivator even where it existed.
* THE ROMANTIC CONFLICT WAS RESOLVED WITH TALKING, COMMUNICATION AND COMPROMISE.
*
* themes of music, art, philosophy and love and connection were still engaging.
* we do get to actually explore the exiting world we only heard about in the first book. Which was confined to a single town in a single kingdom.
I'm glad I started it, and glad I finished it. I'm not sure I had a good enough time to read it again, or to spend time on a third book if one ever emerges.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was not at all impressed with this book. Boring, repetitive, and lacking in the sort of character depth that the first so beautifully flourished with. Having absolutely ADORED the first book, I had high hopes for this one.
Edit: Actually, there was one specific element in the story that pretty much drove me crazy and still drives me crazy every time I think about it, and I feel the great need to complain about it. More like a specific character tbh. Rant over.
Mostly, I was disappointed at how dull and two-faced Seraphina suddenly had become. She seemed to have forgotten all the strengths she had gained in the first book, and most of the book was her wallowing in self-pity as well as making stupid decisions or taking no action at all. I had really hoped to get to know all of her garden friends very well by the end of the book, but it mostly focused on Abdo and one other character aside of evil Jannoula.
Another problem I had with this book was its fantastical ending. It was way too convenient and took much too long for Seraphina to gain perspective on her full potentials. I mean it. She'd seriously become a stark idiot, for reasons I won't expound upon because spoilers. Plus, the ending romance was just not good or satisfying, let alone cleverly thought out. It ended as if all would be well, and I can promise you that with such an ending, all would NOT be well. It's hard enough to keep a relationship of just TWO in a good, happy place. Good glory what a disappointment.
Lastly, there were a lot of weird magical elements that were never really explained. I think it might have been intentional to give the higher abilities of the half-dragons an edge and an open-ending, but it was just confusing and there were too many inconsistencies, overall it wasn't very believable and left me pretty underwhelmed.
I will say this: the characters were wonderfully diverse and there were a couple of plot twists I wasn't expecting that were heart-wrenching, but I personally enjoyed. The thing is, I still found fault here as it simply felt like social propaganda, rather than a work of art as the first book felt.
IMO, she should have gone with a trilogy. There was so much she could have expounded on with the magic, politics and intrigue as well as the ityasaari and their personal developments that I felt was so left in the dust because she was too busy making Seraphina whiny and suddenly unintuitive?? Really, tho, she just seemed so dumb in this book it was very disappointing. I think I'll stick with Seraphina as a stand alone.
Edit: Actually, there was one specific element in the story that pretty much drove me crazy and still drives me crazy every time I think about it, and I feel the great need to complain about it. More like a specific character tbh.
Spoiler
Tiny Tom. (Whose actual name has escaped me at the moment). What. The. Heck. At the beginning of Seraphina's journey, it seems as if, as she touches upon each of her garden friends, that there is going to be something WAY deeper to discover in this particular Ityasaari. I was thoroughly annoyed and extremely disappointed that he turned out to just be a vessel used by Jannoula and basically that was it. SO FRUSTRATING. I really wanted there to be more to ALL of the Ityasaari as well, but specifically Tiny Tom, because it was implied that we would get it from him. Or something from him. Very, very dissappointing and shallow. If the first book hadn't been so deep with both Lars and Abdo and Dame Okra and also just about every other character in the dang book, I wouldn't be so upset over this point. But it was. That was one of my favorite things about the first book. It covered such a diverse and broad spectrum of different characters with extremely ranging personalities and gave them depth that ALOT of other stories don't. Shadow Scale was HEAVILY lacking in that area, and I felt almost NO attachment to ANY of the characters by the end of the book because of it, including Seraphina.Mostly, I was disappointed at how dull and two-faced Seraphina suddenly had become. She seemed to have forgotten all the strengths she had gained in the first book, and most of the book was her wallowing in self-pity as well as making stupid decisions or taking no action at all. I had really hoped to get to know all of her garden friends very well by the end of the book, but it mostly focused on Abdo and one other character aside of evil Jannoula.
Another problem I had with this book was its fantastical ending. It was way too convenient and took much too long for Seraphina to gain perspective on her full potentials. I mean it. She'd seriously become a stark idiot, for reasons I won't expound upon because spoilers. Plus, the ending romance was just not good or satisfying, let alone cleverly thought out. It ended as if all would be well, and I can promise you that with such an ending, all would NOT be well. It's hard enough to keep a relationship of just TWO in a good, happy place. Good glory what a disappointment.
Lastly, there were a lot of weird magical elements that were never really explained. I think it might have been intentional to give the higher abilities of the half-dragons an edge and an open-ending, but it was just confusing and there were too many inconsistencies, overall it wasn't very believable and left me pretty underwhelmed.
I will say this: the characters were wonderfully diverse and there were a couple of plot twists I wasn't expecting that were heart-wrenching, but I personally enjoyed. The thing is, I still found fault here as it simply felt like social propaganda, rather than a work of art as the first book felt.
IMO, she should have gone with a trilogy. There was so much she could have expounded on with the magic, politics and intrigue as well as the ityasaari and their personal developments that I felt was so left in the dust because she was too busy making Seraphina whiny and suddenly unintuitive?? Really, tho, she just seemed so dumb in this book it was very disappointing. I think I'll stick with Seraphina as a stand alone.
THIS is how you write a diverse cast. Characters from all walks of life, who's experience has made them into unique beings, joined together to make one story. I loved or hated every single character in these books, which I mean as a compliment, since is is said the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. I pity anyone who is indifferent about this series. Sadly, the only thing that disappointed me about this book was how abruptly it ended. It felt like Hartman was trying to tie up 6 different plot points in less than 50 pages.Over-all though, this is definitely one of my top 5 favorite series, and no doubt my favorite epic fantasy.