Saturday, June 30, 2012

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina is just a girl with mixed blood.  She didn't choose to be born.  And she didn't choose to have dragon blood either...

Random House Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this ebook for review (thank you).  It will be published on July 10th and if you like fantasy and dragons, you need this book!

Dragons have always caught my interest (so do demons, but regular blog followers already know that).  I fully expected to like this story, but I have to say it's more than that:  I love it!

Seraphina has dragon characteristics she must hide.  If anyone sees her scales, she'll probably be killed.  Her other problem is that she has emotions and dragon's don't.  Combine these and you get a mixed up young woman who is trying to hide her light under a bushel and is not interested in love because it is impossible for her.  Dragons and humans don't normally have children and she believes she is sterile and can't have children of her own.  So why get involved with men?

Her Uncle is a dragon in human form and he has been helping her deal with her situation.  He's also teaching her music and she has great talent in that.  So much so, that she gets a job at the palace as an assistant to their musician.  This is where the story starts to get complex.

This author writes a well woven story with complex characters and multiple plots intertwined.  There are spies, censors, a radical group against the dragons, an assassination attempt, a forbidden love, and even other half-dragons.

I anxiously read this whole story and had empathy for almost everyone (not grandfather).  They were all so powerful and so vulnerable at the same time.  At the end, I didn't want to say goodbye.  I also know the story isn't done yet.  So I was happy to see the next book is coming out in fall of next year.  That's a long wait, but I won't forget Seraphina and her friends.  I'll be watching for it.

Happy reading.

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