Close Menu
www.crackingthecover.com
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Home
    • Picture
      • Ages 0-3
      • Ages 2 and up
      • Ages 3 and up
      • Ages 4 and up
      • Ages 5 and up
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 8 and up
      • Author Interviews
      • Bedtime Stories
      • Gift Guide
    • Middle Grade
      • Author Interviews
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 7 and up
      • Ages 8-12
      • Ages 9-12
      • Ages 10 and up
      • Gift Guide
    • YA
      • Author Interviews
      • Reviews
      • Adult Crossover
      • Gift Guide
    • Seasonal
      • Back to School
      • Christmas
      • Earth Day
      • Easter
      • Fall
      • Father’s Day
      • Mother’s Day
      • Gift Guide
      • Halloween
      • Spring
      • Valentine’s Day
      • Winter
    • Diversity
      • AANHPI Heritage
      • Autism Month
      • Black Experience
      • Chinese New Year
      • Hispanic Heritage
      • Pride Month
      • Women’s History
    • Crossover
    • About
      • Review/interview policy
      • About our reviewers
    www.crackingthecover.com

    Rachel Hartman’s sophisticated writing shines in ‘Seraphina’

    0
    By Jessica on September 27, 2012 YA review, young adult

    “Seraphina,” by Rachel Hartman, Random House Books for Young Readers, July 10, 2012, Hardcover, $17.99 (young adult)

    Seraphina Dombegh lives in a time of tenuous peace. For four decades, humans and dragons have lived together in the kingdom of Goredd. Able to shift into human form, the dragons attend court as ambassadors and go about their business. Mathematically inclined, they apply their rational minds to scholarly activities and teaching. Humans are, well, very human.

    After four decades, you’d think the two groups would have settled into a routine of sorts, but as the anniversary of the treaty nears, mistrust rears its angry head.

    Seraphina is a gifted musician. She loves music more than anything. She also has a secret, a secret that could get her killed if she’s not careful. So it’s with some trepidation that she enters the royal court as a musician. But it doesn’t take long for Seraphina to get noticed — someone with her talent can’t stay hidden.

    When a dragon seemingly murders a member of the royal family, Seraphina is inadvertently pulled into the investigation. Working side by side with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, Seraphina helps uncover a sinister plot, which could expose her and her secret to the world.

    At first glance, “Seraphina” seems similar to Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, though if you take a closer look, you’ll see that while the attention to detail and writing quality in both are strong, the stories themselves are much different.

    The dragons here are haughty, almost aloof in their mannerisms. Emotions are considered bad and better to be avoided. That provides an interesting juxtaposition with humans who often wear emotions on their sleeves.

    Seraphina herself is a compelling character with layer upon layer of her unveiled throughout the book. Her insecurities make her strong and likeable while her developing talents shape her into someone you want to root for.

    Debut author Rachel Hartman has a sophisticated writing style that some readers will need to warm to. “Seraphina” reads slower than your typical YA book, but that just gives you more time to savor it. Description and scene setting are key players here, and the book is better for it. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Jessica
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)

    Jessica Harrison is the reviewer behind Cracking the Cover. She loves books and worked as the in-house book critic at a daily newspaper, writing reviews and interviewing authors for two years. When the company cut back, she lost her position covering books, but that doesn't mean she stopped reading. If anything, the whole experience made her more passionate about reading and giving people the tools to make informed decisions in their own book choices. She has been featured on NetGalley's Blogger Spotlight and is on Kindleprenuer's Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs. Contact her at jessica(at)crackingthecover(dot)com and follow Cracking the Cover on Bluesky, Instagram,  Facebook and Twitter (X) @crackingthecovr. You can also read scaled down reviews on Jessica's Goodreads review page. Jessica is also a reviewer on Amazon.

    Related Posts

    Rachel Reiss’s Out of Air is creepy summer adventure

    Aimee Phan’s compelling The Lost Queen draws on Vietnamese lore

    Julie Soto’s The Thrashers is strong YA mystery/thriller

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • bluesky
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • facebook
    • goodreads
    • amazon
    • bloglovin
    • mail
    Subscribe by email
    Follow
    Recent Posts
    May 15, 2025

    Margaret Finnegan’s Spelling It Out is S-T-R-O-N-G middle grade

    May 14, 2025

    Rachel Reiss’s Out of Air is creepy summer adventure

    May 14, 2025

    Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon celebrates individuality

    May 8, 2025

    Sleuth & Solve: Art offers up solo and group fun

    May 8, 2025

    Aimee Phan’s compelling The Lost Queen draws on Vietnamese lore

    Archives
    Categories
    Cybils Awards

    On Writing

    “The dance with words and the way the hair on the back of my neck raises when it works right is what I live for.”

    —Gary Paulsen

    “I write because I exist. Because I read. Because I breathe.”

    —Lindsay Eager

    “Books are kind of like the sense of smell: inhale one page and memories come rushing back.”

    —Keir Graff

    Cracking the Cover is a website dedicated to picture, middle-grade and young adult books. It features reviews, author interviews and other book news. PLEASE NOTE: We are not currently accepting self published books for review.

    Copyright © 2010-2022 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.

    Reviews Published Professional Reader 2016 NetGalley Challenge 100 Book Reviews

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.