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apmanda 's review for:
Shadow Scale
by Rachel Hartman
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.