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A review by ethan_warrener
Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
2.0
I wanted to wait a while before writing a review for Shadow Scale. Perhaps what will inevitably be a scathing review would be ameliorated by the kind of perspective one gets with the passing of time. Alas, the intervening six months have only served to deepen my frustration and disappointment. You had so much potential, Hartman!
Perhaps it is the sheer volume of wasted potential that makes the disappointment so sharp. Seraphina was a fantastic piece of young adult fiction. It was Harry Potter good. It was Narnia good. Shadow Scale, quite frankly, is not. Drawing comparisons between Seraphina and her sequel serve to emphasize the former's glitter a little more, but it also sharpens the bite of the latter's letdown.
Seraphina was profound and thought-provoking, while Shadow Scale is about as subtle as an anvil dropped on your head. Seraphina carefully constructed a restrained cast of interesting characters. Shadow Scale stagnates its returning characters and drowns them in a deluge of archetypes and forced drama. Seraphina set up a nail-biting, high-stakes conflict. Shadow Scale spends most of its time in flashback and nigh-aimless globe-trotting as the central conflict fades into the distant background. Seraphina thoughtfully explored the complexities of living in a diverse or globalized society, and it did this in a way that fit into its own story world like a hand into a glove. Shadow Scale felt like Buzzfeed slapped over the thin veneer of a fantasy setting. I could go on...
So I will. Seraphina set up the first interesting love triangle I think I've ever read, but the sequel waves it away in an out-of-left-field resolution that just feels like it's pandering to the fan fiction community. Seraphina was tight and focused, but Shadow Scale is all over the place. The deus ex machina ending is a letdown, the structure is wonky, the straw man characterization of religious faith is insulting, and the interesting points (and there are some) are either not developed adequately or lose steam too quickly.
Shadow Scale could have been good. Even with significant departures from Seraphina, I would have been okay with the finished product if the execution had been on point. As it is, Shadow Scale feels like a deadline forced on a talented emerging writer, a book that has not had enough time to bake. If the author had had more time to make deep revisions, to kill darlings, to rethink and rework and polish, Shadow Scale could have been great.
All that to say that I still like Rachel Hartman. Even my favorite authors write stuff I dislike every now and again, and Seraphina was good enough on its own that I think Hartman deserves some slack. I just wish I could've had a conclusion that was as satisfying as the beginning.
Perhaps it is the sheer volume of wasted potential that makes the disappointment so sharp. Seraphina was a fantastic piece of young adult fiction. It was Harry Potter good. It was Narnia good. Shadow Scale, quite frankly, is not. Drawing comparisons between Seraphina and her sequel serve to emphasize the former's glitter a little more, but it also sharpens the bite of the latter's letdown.
Seraphina was profound and thought-provoking, while Shadow Scale is about as subtle as an anvil dropped on your head. Seraphina carefully constructed a restrained cast of interesting characters. Shadow Scale stagnates its returning characters and drowns them in a deluge of archetypes and forced drama. Seraphina set up a nail-biting, high-stakes conflict. Shadow Scale spends most of its time in flashback and nigh-aimless globe-trotting as the central conflict fades into the distant background. Seraphina thoughtfully explored the complexities of living in a diverse or globalized society, and it did this in a way that fit into its own story world like a hand into a glove. Shadow Scale felt like Buzzfeed slapped over the thin veneer of a fantasy setting. I could go on...
So I will. Seraphina set up the first interesting love triangle I think I've ever read, but the sequel waves it away in an out-of-left-field resolution that just feels like it's pandering to the fan fiction community. Seraphina was tight and focused, but Shadow Scale is all over the place. The deus ex machina ending is a letdown, the structure is wonky, the straw man characterization of religious faith is insulting, and the interesting points (and there are some) are either not developed adequately or lose steam too quickly.
Shadow Scale could have been good. Even with significant departures from Seraphina, I would have been okay with the finished product if the execution had been on point. As it is, Shadow Scale feels like a deadline forced on a talented emerging writer, a book that has not had enough time to bake. If the author had had more time to make deep revisions, to kill darlings, to rethink and rework and polish, Shadow Scale could have been great.
All that to say that I still like Rachel Hartman. Even my favorite authors write stuff I dislike every now and again, and Seraphina was good enough on its own that I think Hartman deserves some slack. I just wish I could've had a conclusion that was as satisfying as the beginning.