review; seraphina
Seraphina
by Rachel Hartman
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.
Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered – in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.
Review:This was by far a better story than I expected. Seraphina is a reserved and prickly young girl, who is an extremely talented musician. When a member of the castle where she works is murdered, she finds herself caught in the intrigue, and her secrets threaten to be exposed.
It took a while for me to get into the book. The beginning feels a little disjointed, and a little off. But somewhere within the first third of the book, the author hits her stride, and I could not put the book down after.
The idea of dragons and humans co-existing is something people have used before. I cannot claim to have read anything where dragons can take human form – not like this – so I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author built her world. The differences between the species meant that both could learn from one another. But everybody defies change and things that are different, and that is where the story really delves deep.
Seraphina herself is a strong-willed character. Her insecurities and fears are valid, and though it is never explicitly stated, from early on in the book, one can tell she is hiding things. It is ultimately, not a story just about a murder and intrigue, but about acceptance and accepting oneself – learning to love oneself.
All the characters are built well – from Seraphina, to Kiggs, to Grisselda, to Orma and Claude and Basind – every character had layers and was multidimensional.
My only gripe is that I have to wait for the next book.
Ara
I’m Ara, a Southeast Asian writer who someday hopes to have published a novel, and who is currently losing herself in the worlds created by others. I love books and food and television and blogging and I get distracted and sidetracked easily.
2 Comments
Olivia-Savannah
Oh my goodness I agree with you so much! I have read this book and the first half I hated it… I was so confused and it felt disjointed as you said. But about halfway it seemed to change and then the book started to make sense and was enjoyable. So then I enjoyed it more. It was just hard to get through that beginning confusion.
Ara
I’m hoping the second book isn’t like that? I still haven’t read it, but the first one was intriguing enough that I want to…