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Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)

Rachel Hartman

Start date: November 2, 2012

Finish date: November 30, 2012

Discussion: Books of the Month

Why we're reading this: We voted and this one won for YA Book of the Month
[close] We voted and this one won for YA Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Sep 29, 2012 Angie Taylor rated it it was amazing

"Love is not a disease...I cannot let them cut you out of me, ...I will cling to my sickness...if it is a sickness...I will hold it close to me like the sun..."
"If I could keep a single moment for all time, that would be the one.
I became the air; I was full of stars. I was the soaring spaces between the spires of the cathedral, the solemn breath of chimneys, a whispered prayer upon the winter wind. I was silence, and I was music, one clear transcendent chord rising toward Heaven. I believed, th ...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Lauren rated it liked it

Wow... this was kind of painful to get through, but I kept at it just because it has won some awards and got pretty high ratings from my goodreads friends. It turns out that a fantasy book (or any book, for that matter) can be well conceived and well written, you need to have a marginal interest in the fictional world in order for it to work for you. I thought I could care about dragons, but I just... don't. I could only keep track of a few of the characters and the dragon terminology (I did fin ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Yzabel Ginsberg rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, dragons

Mixed opinion on that one.

Gorgeous cover, for starters. Also, pleasant writing, more sophisticated than what is usually found in books intended for the targetted audience (while this might be a bad point for some, I had no difficulty with the vocabulary, and enjoyed the use of less common words for a change).

Rachel Hartman created a world that quickly caught my interest. Among other things: dragons who can take on a human shape in order to understand humans and uphold a decades-old peace treaty, Mixed opinion on that one.

Gorgeous cover, for starters. Also, pleasant writing, more sophisticated than what is usually found in books intended for the targetted audience (while this might be a bad point for some, I had no difficulty with the vocabulary, and enjoyed the use of less common words for a change).

Rachel Hartman created a world that quickly caught my interest. Among other things: dragons who can take on a human shape in order to understand humans and uphold a decades-old peace treaty, yet are alien to "emotions", and even fearful of them; zealots on both sides of the fence, who would like nothing more than to see the treaty gone; knights who're the only ones left with the knowledge of how to fight dragons. Moreover, I was quite fond of some of the secondary characters. Orma was interesting to read about. Abdo and Lars were definitely of the nice kind. Dame Okra and her reactions often made me smile. Glisselda was a pretty positive character, with a strong streak and appropriate reactions.

Alas, I wasn't so thrilled about the main characters, who fell too flat in comparison. Seraphina could have been much more interesting if her reactions had made more sense; for instance, she spent her whole life hiding who she was, going on with a well-established daily routine, but then throws herself head first into the investigation (I wanted to tell her "Well, do you want to be noticed, yes or no? Because you can't have both."). The prince, well... Nice, but nothing to write home about.

The pacing itself was a problem. The first part of the book dragged for a little too long, before things started to pick up, and I also think that the end dragged as well, considering what it dealt with. In my opinion, it should've ended sooner, instead of on the love-relationship part. And here's another problem for me: the romance. Seriously, why, why does it always have to be about romance and love triangles nowadays? The story would've worked exactly the same way, with the same things at stake (being accepted for who one really is, fear of rejection, etc.) had Seraphina found a *friend* in Lucian, and not a *love interest* (which, by the way, came out of the blue). It doesn't help that said love triangle is a bit on the twisted side, going as it is behind Glisselda's back.

Overall, a pleasant enough read, but that would've been better for me without the romance (which felt forced) and with more punch and logics added to the main characters. ...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Shanyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mind-blowing, favorite-characters

This book is exceptional. It is extraordinarily well written, the characters are engrossing and completely evolved. And the amount of world building Rachel Hartman does is staggering and thoroughly gorgeous.

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Apr 17, 2013 Jayme Pendergraft rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2013, 2013-big-books-challenge, src-spring-2013

This was really hard to follow as an audiobook.

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Nov 02, 2013 Vickie rated it really liked it

Shelves: listened-to

A well-told tale of dragons and humans. It's more than fantasy. It's also about how prejudice can damage. This is book one of a what looks to be a trilogy or series. I do look forward to more. ...more

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