Shadow Scale – Guest Post Review

 

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

Published: 03/10/2015

 

Summary: 

The kingdom of Goredd: a world where humans and dragons share life with an uneasy balance, and those few who are both human and dragon must hide the truth. Seraphina is one of these, part girl, part dragon, who is reluctantly drawn into the politics of her world.

When war breaks out between the dragons and humans, she must travel the lands to find those like herself—for she has an inexplicable connection to all of them, and together they will be able to fight the dragons in powerful, magical ways.

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?

My honest review: *Please note I received this from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. A glorious follow-up to the world introduced in Seraphina, Shadow Scale is sure to top the best seller list.  I’m normally not into dragon fantasy, but the world weaved between these two books is awe-inspiring.

Shadow Scale picks up shortly after the events of Seraphina and like its predecessor, starts out a bit sluggish, slowly building up to a point where everything we just read gets knocked down like a child stomping through a town of building blocks.  I didn’t truly become invested in the outcome until halfway through the story.  Then I couldn’t stop.

I’m not a political person, and the majority of this novel is like watching a political chess match–boring (to me) but you just can’t look away.  Then I couldn’t put the damn thing down.  Happy endings prevail and events are all wrapped up nicely in a bow.  I find myself longing for more books in this world, just to please my sheer fascination with Hartman’s world building and to dissect it for my own world-building purposes.

I greatly enjoyed Shadow Scale, and those who loved Seraphina will be very much pleased with the sequel.

 

 

 

 

Guest post contributed by What Kara Reads. An aspiring YA author, Kara writes book reviews, writerly ramblings, and a writing corner linked to her boards on Pinterest. She claims to be occasionally witty, and I agree.