Seraphina

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Average customer rating 4.6 (8 comments)

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Loved this one! Beautiful writing, a strong and interesting heroine, and dragons!

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Dragons are the vampires of yesterday! Interesting take on dragons, their role in 'society' and how this role can seem perfectly normal, acceptable, realistic to the storyline! This is a hot topic for the young adult readers. I think I'd have enjoyed this book a lot more if I'd read it when I was younger!

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I gobbled up high fantasy like this by the shelf-full as a teenager but it's been a while since I had picked up a recent publication. My thirteen year-old self would have adored Seraphina even more than my present self does. It's a smart, magical and romantic book with just the right number of cruel dangers for a smart, mysterious and plucky heroine to fight against.

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This is a very moving and fascinating young adult fantasy. We see the world through the eyes of Seraphina who is half human and half dragon. You don't want to be a dragon in this world. Hartman beautifully intertwines Catholicism and fantasy throughout the novel. The characters are life-like, the world-building is realistic. And it has a great lesson to teach. Looking forward to the next installment.

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Just when you think there are no new stories about dragons, Rachel Hartman comes up with a beautiful and fascinating twist to the dragon/human situation. Seraphina is a wonderful book for any age reader.

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My fantasy reading has been very limited (mostly Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom of Landover series) but I wanted to read this from the first time I glimpsed the cover. I tend not to read reviews when I select books other than maybe a blurb or two to get the basic gist of the story, so, when I started reading this I knew only that (1) it was getting great reviews; (2) it involved dragons; (3) the main character of the story was a girl who was half-dragon and (4) it had an awesome cover. Not being familiar with fantasy novels, I initially struggled with the unfamiliar names given to the characters and places. Fortunately, I discovered a Cast of Characters and Glossery when I turned to the back to find out how many pages were in the novel. I struggled through the first couple of chapters while I adjusted to the writing style but by Chapter 3 I was hooked. I look forward to possibly re-reading this and to the sequel that I hope will follow.

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I was drawn to this book for its cover, but was happy to find a well-written and interesting book inside. I enjoyed the characters, setting and plot, didn't find the dialogue to be a burden to the story. It may not sound especially original from its description, but it really is. Greatly enjoyed it, and looking forward to the second installment.

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Just when you think nothing new can be done with dragons, Rachel Hartman enters the YA landscape with "Seraphina," offering a fresh take on the fabled fantasy creatures. In her world, dragons are attempting to live peacefully among humans in the form of "saars" - dragons who have taken human skin. They can't quite disguise themselves, as dragons abhor human emotion. They stand for logic and fact and distrust something as intangible as feelings. The title heroine is a teenage girl who has felt like an outcast her whole life, and for good reason: she's a half-dragon. As such, Seraphina is rejected by both species, few even believing her existence possible. She is forced to keep her true identity secret, living life through lie after lie. For any fans of fantasy -- from Christopher Paolini to Tolkien -- I highly recommend this book. I absolutely loved this book. Though Phina's father is very one-dimensional, he is the exception rather than the rule. Fun, fast read on learning to trust and taking risks and embracing who you are. Can't wait to see what Hartman releases next.