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thereadingwren 's review for:

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
3.0

Seraphina is one of my favourite books of all time but there was something about this sequel that didn't click with me. (Maybe it was the lack of Orma, lol)

I still love Seraphina as a character, she's such a badass but still really humble about everything and constantly struggling with being half-dragon. I really loved seeing more of Abdo, what an absolute adorable little monster. Their friendship is so wonderful and one of the best things about this book.

The quest part of the book dragged a little, though I THOROUGHLY enjoyed going to places where gender isn't binary and language reflects that. Loved the addition of trans characters too. Seriously, the queer rep in this book was really great for a YA fantasy.

The mind garden Seraphina has was always really interesting but I preferred the way it was handled in book 1. The whole conflict with Jannoula wasn't nearly as interesting as I anticipated and I kind of wish it wasn't there at all. The way everything was handled and the day saved was very deus ex machina.

My personal head-cannon of that ending is that
Spoiler Glisselda, Kiggs, and Seraphina are in a happy polyamorous relationship and rule together in bliss and that Orma regains his memories and starts a little family.