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A review by youngling80
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
5.0
I found this book at a used bookstore. It had a really cool cityscape and a DRAGON on the cover. And I thought, "I will absolutely judge this book by its cover, and my judgment says I am gonna buy this book right now." I had never heard of this book before I purchased it ... and now I am wondering why the heck not????? Seriously ... this book was freaking fantastic, y'all. I mean like reeeeeeeally freaking fantastic.
In a world with a tentative (and fairly recent) peace treaty between dragons and humans, there isn't a lot of trust between species ... especially when a prince in the royal family turns up dead without his head. It could be part of the old guard of dragons who never wanted the treaty in the first place. It could also be a band of rogue knights (who are convinced that dragons are the embodiment of evil) trying to incite a war between the species by framing a dragon. In the backdrop of this political turmoil is court musician, Seraphina. Seraphina, whose father has always admonished her to fly under the radar. Seraphina, with an extraordinary musical gift. Seraphina, who has a secret ... a secret that could destroy her family. Because Seraphina's mother was a dragon. According to the dragons, she is an illegality. According to the humans, she's the butt of every terrible joke about the peace accords and the fear of humans and dragons alike. According to everyone, she shouldn't even exist. But she does. And she discovers that she is not alone. There are others like her. She has the power to reach them all through her mind, and each of them, in turn has special abilities. Seraphina struggles to navigate the challenges of protecting her family, herself, and others like her, she also uses her abilities and her mother's memories to track down the murderer and uncover a plot to foil the treaty, which would plunge both dragon and humankind into war. Along the way, she might just fall in love, too.
The world building in this was top-tier. Hartman makes a world of dragons who think and function very differently than humans. Through our half-human and half-dragon protagonist, Seraphina, the reader comes to understand both worlds politically. We see how the human government works through Seraphina's position as court musician and through her friendship with the crown princess and captain of the guard. Dragon thinking and politicking is shown through the memories of Seraphina's mother (magically imprinted into baby Seraphina by her dying mother) and through her relationship with her mother's brother. The political drama is woven seamlessly with Seraphina's acceptance of herself and her powers, as well as her desire to protecting those she loves while also serving the court with integrity. Hartman's prose is a lovely experience, appropriately lush without being overdone.
Seraphina is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2025 so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Hartman resolves this duology with Shadow Scale.
In a world with a tentative (and fairly recent) peace treaty between dragons and humans, there isn't a lot of trust between species ... especially when a prince in the royal family turns up dead without his head. It could be part of the old guard of dragons who never wanted the treaty in the first place. It could also be a band of rogue knights (who are convinced that dragons are the embodiment of evil) trying to incite a war between the species by framing a dragon. In the backdrop of this political turmoil is court musician, Seraphina. Seraphina, whose father has always admonished her to fly under the radar. Seraphina, with an extraordinary musical gift. Seraphina, who has a secret ... a secret that could destroy her family. Because Seraphina's mother was a dragon. According to the dragons, she is an illegality. According to the humans, she's the butt of every terrible joke about the peace accords and the fear of humans and dragons alike. According to everyone, she shouldn't even exist. But she does. And she discovers that she is not alone. There are others like her. She has the power to reach them all through her mind, and each of them, in turn has special abilities. Seraphina struggles to navigate the challenges of protecting her family, herself, and others like her, she also uses her abilities and her mother's memories to track down the murderer and uncover a plot to foil the treaty, which would plunge both dragon and humankind into war. Along the way, she might just fall in love, too.
The world building in this was top-tier. Hartman makes a world of dragons who think and function very differently than humans. Through our half-human and half-dragon protagonist, Seraphina, the reader comes to understand both worlds politically. We see how the human government works through Seraphina's position as court musician and through her friendship with the crown princess and captain of the guard. Dragon thinking and politicking is shown through the memories of Seraphina's mother (magically imprinted into baby Seraphina by her dying mother) and through her relationship with her mother's brother. The political drama is woven seamlessly with Seraphina's acceptance of herself and her powers, as well as her desire to protecting those she loves while also serving the court with integrity. Hartman's prose is a lovely experience, appropriately lush without being overdone.
Seraphina is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2025 so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Hartman resolves this duology with Shadow Scale.