Review - Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Series: Seraphina #2 (Final)
Genre: Fantasy 
Age Group: Young Adult
Published: March 2015
Hardcover - 608pgs
Add it // Buy it 

Rating: 3/5

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?

Quick Thoughts: At the end of Seraphina I couldn't believe this would only be a duology. There were so many storylines started in book one that needed to be explored and tied up. In the end I think Hartman did a good job wrapping up her story, but there were many things I still had questions about at the end of this long book. I still enjoyed the characters and the world building is excellent.

Full Review: At the end of the day my feelings about this book are conflicted.

If I based my review entirely on characters, prose and world building, Shadow Scale would rank at the top. Hartman is incredibly skilled at writing and I loved the world. However, the plot and wrap up to the store left me wanting something more. In the end there was very little character growth from Seraphina which was really disappointing. She struggled throughout the book to make good decisions and was befuddled by her enemies, but never learned from her mistakes.

Throughout this duology Hartman discussed both race and religion prominently. Seraphina travels abroad and encounters many different views on her mixed heritage both rooted in religion and cultural differences. Hartman's world is full of rich details and I enjoyed how much we explored, literally, in this wrap up. Hartman is also a master at writing beautiful phrases that sucked me into the story. 

However I was disappointed we rushed through the scenes in Goredd at the end of the story after spending so much time abroad throughout the book. One of the most frustrating parts of this novel was despite the build up throughout both books, the romance disappeared into the background almost completely. In general it seemed like the old characters were abandoned for a new set of traveling companions. Overall I missed Seraphina's homeland and wanted to get back to it sooner!

Towards the end the story was a bit muddled and rushed. There were some last minute revelation that were great in theory, but glossed over so much I felt like that there were added for shock value. To me this wrap up could have used a little more trimming as far as the traveling and more explanation at the end. Overall it was ok, but compared to Seraphina it fell flat.

Happy Reading

Top Five Wednesday - Favorite Fathers/Father Figures

As we approach Father's Day this weekend, it was only appropriate to talk about our favorite literary fathers and father figures for Top Five Wednesday.

My Last Top Five Wednesday ---> Top Five Character Names

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of The Year

There is nothing to say! These are the books I cannot wait for these books to be released. Thank you to Broke and the Bookish and Top Ten Tuesday for this topic so we can talk about exciting new books.

Covers first, descriptions below. Beware the descriptions of sequels!! 

  

May Favorites (2016)

Overall in May I didn't have a lot of time to develop favorites. I was in a wedding and attended two graduations. Early in the month I was doing everything possible to keep my head above water. Towards the end of the month I had a little more time to relax and enjoy some books, music, movies and blogs. Check out what I've been loving! 

Book Favorite: 

This month is a tie. I simply cannot pick between my favorite reads from May. Both Finnikin of the Rock and The Scorpio Races were amazing. They were the best among a month filled with many great reads. I loved them! 

 

Currently Reading (Tome Topple Update)

This week has been an amazing reading week. As of writing his post I've finished A Feast for Crows in a week! I cannot believe how fast I read this installment of the series. I need the next one now, but with no release date for Winds of Winter, I don't know if I should read it right away. I've been spacing this out over years. I can wait right? Maybe???

Review - Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Series: The Illuminae Files #1

Genre: Science-Fiction

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Purchased

Published: 2015

Hardcover -599 pgs. 

Add it // Buy it

Rating: 5/5

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes. 

Star Jar Update

This year instead of making a TBR jar or quote jar like I've done in the past, I've decided to turn my mason jar into a star jar. I update it fairly regularly after I make final decisions on ratings. When I was working on it recently, I thought I would do a little update to show how it looks so far this year.

T5W - Favorite Character Names

Often when a new characters is introduced, one of the first things we learn is their name. A name is essential for my vision of a character and sets up my feelings about the character from the moment they are introduced. Character names are a lot like book covers. You shouldn't judge a character by their name, but I do. This week on Top Five Wednesday we are talking about our favorite character names and I don't have reasoning behind this list. I can't even rank them. So there is no rhyme or reason behind these. I just like the names. They are all strong ladies, but that was unintentional. 

Puck Connolly (The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater)

Inej (Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo)

September (The Fairyland Series by Catherynne M. Valente)

Alexia Tarabotti (Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger)

Maura and Blue Sargent (The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater) 

Let it be known I tried not to pick two Maggie Stiefavter books for this topic, but it was impossible not to name those three ladies. 

My Last T5W ---> Top Five Books I Read in Summer 2015

Eight Reasons I Love Retellings

One of my favorite types of stories or favorite genres is the retelling. I focus on two types of rellings for the most part. I read a lot of fairytale retellings and Jane Austen retellings. These two types of books account for a large number of the books on my shelves and on my TBR list. Today for Top Ten Tuesday (from the Broke and the Bookish) I thought I'd try to tell the world why I love them so much.

1) Retellings answer what if questions - Any retelling explores different paths than the original story. For example, what if Beauty and the Beast was set in the future? What if Persuasion was set in space?

2) Retellings can be very close to the original stories or loosely based on the original story -  Both are fun to read and it is exciting to find out an upcoming release is a retelling. I like having that frame for the story.

3) A high percentage of retellings have great covers.

    

4) Retellings are familiar stories with interesting twists - I like following a story I know while also coming across the unexpected.

5) Compared to original stories retellings have more characters and more character development - Many fairy tales are short and simplistic. There are often many more characters with much more depth than those original stories.

6) Sometimes retellings are like published fanfiction and give you all your dreams - I think this is especially true of Jane Austen retellings and continuations. In these stories authors often explore what happens after the end of the original story or the moments inbetween scenes.

7) They are usually fun and fast reads!

8) They introduce me to new classics and fairy tales - If I hear a book is a retelling of something, I often will check out the original thing before I read the retelling. This has led me to many interesting books.

Happy Reading!

My Last Top Ten Tuesday ---> Ten Books I Want to Read by the Beach

May Book Haul (NYC Edition)

This month I took a trip to see Maggie Stiefvater in New York City! It didn't work out like I wanted it to, but I still had a lot of fun with my friends. Plus I bought some fun books!

Books Mentioned:

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oats

Dreamstrider by Lindsay Smith

Trace Evidence by Kathy and Brendan Reichs

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

#TomeTopple TBR!!

There is a new readathon in town and I'm ready to start reading! This time I'm participating in the Tome Topple Readathon which was created by Sam at ThoughtsonTomes. I love Sam's channel and this idea is fantastic. During this readathon the focus is on page numbers rather than a total number of books and you are supposed to read the large books on your shelves. I'm excited to focus on larger books for once and tackle some of the chunkier books sitting on my shelves. Check out what I've pick for my TBR!