ARC SPOT: Seraphina

Seraphina
Rachel Hartman

7.10.2012

Random House

ISBN 978-0-375-86656-2

Pre-Order Today:  bn.com  /  amazon  /  powells

Author On The Net:

Website: http://rachelhartmanbooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelhartmanbooks
Publisher Website: http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/seraphina/index.php#header&panel1-1


Our Thoughts On Seraphina:

    There are times when there are great books and then something comes along that blows the year’s releases out of the water, and Seraphina is that book. Rachel Hartman weaves a tragically beautiful fantasy surrounding a talented girl with a heavy secret surrounded by a world that has no true place for her. Being half in the world of man and half in the world of the dragons, Seraphina carries a heavy burden while always hiding her true self and becoming a shadow of a person. Seraphina doesn’t have that intent but what comes is a truly captivating tale of one girl’s growth and hardship surround the acceptance of her parentage but also in coming to terms with her feelings and her friends. Working in close quarters with the prince an d princess of Goredd and as their relationships develop it could be the very thing that brings a catalyst to the country or part of the very thing that soon may save it from the beginnings of war.

     With dragons and humans there is always some kind of animosity and quest of Power for characters involved, and Seraphina takes those elements and ties them into the perspective of young Seraphina. With a complicated inheritance of being the child born of dragon and human with the scales to mark her of it, Seraphina has a complex relationship with her world. Having followed her heart in music and against the wishes of her father she takes a job at the palace that will soon open her world into that of the brewing conflict with dragons and humans. Rachel Hartman’s dragons pursue their love of knowledge behind a series of rules in the world of Goredd, marked with bells and living in selected parts of the city, the dragons here can take human shape at will, but the humans of the world have no great love for their kind. It is utter blasphemy to be a halfling in Serpahina’s world also, so with one hand humans, which she hides it from, are outraged and horrified by the idea, while dragons do not accept that reality and kill all such offspring.

     Seraphina’s place in her world is terrifying and full of secrets and lies, and with this struggle her character really shines. Keeping a close watch on her body and it her secrets she moves about the city trying to keep to herself but also using her love of music to develop a relationship with her world unwillingly. Music is her passion but the attention it beings may be one of the very things that could reveal and destroy her. What is really captivating about Seraphina in the book is her voice. Getting caught in the developments of her story you see a young girl who is tired of being voiceless and hiding and is now opening up into a headstrong young woman finding her strength and abilities. With new ties in the human community she is finding that sharing her knowledge of dragons may prove beneficial to the leaders of her realm and also help the dragons who are struggling in her community. With a dangerous plot developing and war almost at the door, Seraphina has all the elements of a great growing fantasy series to catch onto a whole new generation of readers.

Blurb From The Publisher:

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 ..

*received a copy of this book for review through the publisher and Netgalley. There is no compensation for these reviews, they are all the manifestations of our reviewers and we enjoy just spreading the word on a great book.