Seraphina

"was really difficult for me to understand."

"This was exactly what I wanted when I choose it for a fantasy sub-genre challenge months ago. It had dragons, it had death, it had complicated characters, and it even had a side of romance that was very endearing and exactly how I like romance written. I was impressed. It started slow, I had seen a review that said the same, but I still don't know if I would have kept reading it if not for the fact that I was using it in a reading challenge. It picked up speed like a rock rolling down a hill, and even though it was slow, I began to get connected and interested in the plot and characters in the book. That was a really fun thing to experience. I've always loved music myself, so having that as one of the side plots is fun too. I don't think it plays a huge role, but it is a part of Seraphina's personality. Her mind stuff was a bit too much at the beginning of the story, which was part of the reason it took so long for me to get into it, but it came across pretty well by the end. I think what makes this book stand out is the characters, not the plot. The way that dragons are portrayed is also very unique and makes it stand out. If you look at the plot purely that, it's very basic but the characters make it work. There was a good climax at the end, that left plenty for the second and much larger book in the series. I'll be reading it as soon as I'm next in line on Libby."

"Ahhhhhh wowie my family has good taste! This book featured in a pile of books gifted to my mom from her mom. The rest of the books were: The Queen of the Tearling, The Bone Season, and Wildwood. I've read The Queen of the Tearling (also gave it 5 stars, go check out my review if you'd like!), and my mom gave me her copy of The Bone Season to keep since she had it on her kindle and adored it. She even told me to read The Priory of the Orange Tree (which is fitting as I am her lesbian daughter lol) and I definitely plan to - it's on my kindle and I'm saving it for our summer road trip in July. Let's just say, I'm definitely going to be reading The Bone Season ASAP, and then borrowing Wildwood from my mom (hopefully) as well. <br/><br/>The timing of my reading of this book was just about perfect. I had picked up a different book, it had been a Christmas gift from my mom, and it had been rumored to have amazing Jewish and Autistic-coded representation. Well in that book they introduced that character as being an arsonist, loving numbers, etc. Well, going into this one - all I knew was "hey dragons love and turn into humans." I was overjoyed when I discovered that more likely than not (as an autistic woman recognizing particular descriptions that is), the entire race of dragons was based on autistic people. It made me feel seen and so ******* emotional. All the moments with Linn's memories and her talking about how emotions are so complex and metaphors are so abstract but they're the only way to explain her feelings, with Omra being introduced as loving difficult mathematics and hating itchy fabrics, the subtle social cues that Omra misses which are amusing as someone who uhhhh definitely relates... I need more books like these. It's so beautiful too, the prose, the description, the story in general. <br/><br/>While this wasn't one of those books that made me "rethink my rating system" it was one that I connected to so much that it would be a crime not to add it to the favorites shelf. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book."

"Love this perspective on living between cultures or people, not really accepted by either. Sometimes I myself feel on the periferi and appreciated moments when she found others existing there too. Also can relate to having such a complex inner world that needs time caring for. Dragons and music are always cool subjects!"

"This was really REALLY good!!!! It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up quickly enough!!! Overall, a really good dragon story!!!"

"Beautiful story! #dragons "

"I can't believe this book does not have more love. Not a single word is wasted, it is a masterpiece. It is too good for the YA shelf. I'm absolutely in love and it's so rewarding to read a book that you can tell the author just feels in her bones. The dialogue, the characterization, it's all just beautiful and paced perfectly. I'm extra delighted by how thoroughly Hartman describes music. You can tell she loves it and really understands it."

"Yes! It's one of my absolute favorites. I really like the author's writing style, and the characters are so interesting. "

"I really don't know why, but I just could not get into this story. It didn't speak to me, or whatever, but for whatever reason, it wasn't compelling enough for me to finish after a hundred pages or so. So, I've given it up in favor of more interesting fare. Your mileage may vary. :)"

"Not gonna lie, it took me two days to get 20% through this. But whenever you get over the typical initial lag - you know, when you dive into a fantasy world without much explanation - it’s so amazing. Everything about it, the music, the prose, the characters, everything is just so great. I loved it!"