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Title: Seraphina

Author: Rachel Hartman

Published: Random House 07/10/2012

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Rating: 3 Stars

Content Rating: 2 (Clean Read)

“Blessed is he who passes, love,

Beneath your window’s eye

And does not sigh.

Gone my heart and gone my soul,

Look down on me love, look down

Before I die.

One glimpse, my royal pearl, one smile

Sufficient to sustain me,

Grant me this,

Or take my life and make it yours:

I’d fight a hundred thousand wars

For just one kiss.”

Caution: This book contains a world with dragons, an investigative bastard born Prince, and a half human half dragon Seraphina.

In the land of Goredd, where humans and dragons live in a time of peace. There lives a girl who thinks herself as a monster. All alone with secrets and lies as her constant companions, her uncle teachers all things he deems important for her to know. The only thing she really cared to know was music. She becomes the music mans assistant at the palace. She teaches the princess her music lessons. She is in charge of all things music for entertainments and the big celebration coming up that is honoring the Peace Treaty between the humans and dragons. In this world the dragons can take human form but must wear a bell. They bleed silver. They don’t understand human emotion. They are very stiff. They have a very strong sense of smell. (as in they can smell color..) They are clueless when it comes to sarcasm. No one knows that half breeds exist. They assume it’s impossible and its against the law on both sides to be with each other. This is a story of how one musically gifted girl grows into who she is meant to be. She learns how to not be afraid. She finds love and friendship.

                                                                                *****

I absolutely love fantasy. In the past I didn’t think that was the case. I have always loved a romance. If what I am reading has no love story I have a VERY hard time reading it. I usually read historical romances. Going back in time.. or to any other time period is so much fun. Then I discovered how much fun it is to be transported into a fictional world where anything is possible. I have such an admiration for authors that can write a book about some fantastical land with mystical creatures and magic . Writers that can suck you into a world like that should get more credit than they do. I now love fantasy and sci-fi and crazy new stories but they have to be well thought out, with characters that you adore in a setting we can understand.

Now that we understand that I love a good fantasy let me say that this book was good. It was different. Not like anything I have read before. I feel that maybe some of it went over my head because she uses words that I didn’t understand. I had to fill in what I thought she was talking about it. I hate doing that. Made up words for a made up land.. (I did feel a little bit dumb when I finished the book and found a glossary in the back with said words and their meanings) Also I don’t go to cathedrals. The Goreddi people have what they call Allsaints. Different Saints for different things and heretics. Some of this was difficult for me to really get into. The over all story was good. I liked the plot. I liked the characters. There is a little bit of a love story. I feel torn because I liked it but I didn’t LOVE it and I can’t quite pinpoint why. Something was lacking for me.  I also felt that it was a more for a younger audience that what I am used to reading. If I was 12 I would probably would have absolutely fallen in love with this book.