by Rachel Hartman
sequel to Seraphina
As Seraphina gathers this motley crew, she is pursued by humans who want to stop her. But the most terrifying is another half dragon, who can creep into people’s minds and take them over. Until now, Seraphina has kept her mind safe from intruders, but that also means she’s held back her own gift. It is time to make a choice: Cling to the safety of her old life, or embrace a powerful new destiny? (Description from Goodreads.com)
As I said above, I've been waiting three long years for this sequel! When the book finally arrived on my doorstep, I'm pretty sure there was some epic squealing and jumping... As I started reading I kept struggling with myself. I had a huge urge to plow straight through and devour it, but then I could not help but slow down and savor Hartman's writing.
Not only is this another fantastic example of a fantasy that I just could not wait to see unfold, but Hartman truly does have a gift for description. Her characters, places, and general world-building sucked me in once again. Though this is a hefty tome (coming in at almost 600 pages), I never felt as if it was too much. Each scene felt right and necessary. I love the amount of information that she was able to continue to add to Seraphina's world - the history of the kingdoms, Seraphina's past interactions with the other ityasaari (half-dragons) and then her ability to merge the backstories of several characters into one larger, more important storyline. Absolutely compelling.
Those of you waiting with bated breath as I was, you won't be disappointed. Seraphina's tale is one of war, love, friendship, betrayal, danger, compromise, and compassion. Though I'm sorry to see it end, it was well done and I enjoyed it all the way through. Another gold star to Rachel Hartman!
Full disclosure: Review copy received from Publisher for Blog Tour
