"Seraphina" by Rachel Hartman

I must admit this book was a total surprise to me. I had seen it in bookstores but never really considered picking it up. Since it is usually displayed with children's books, I thought it was just another dragon story written for middle graders. Boy, was I wrong! What finally prompted me to read the book is the fact that I received an advanced reader copy of the sequel called Shadow Scale. I read the synopsis and it sparked my interest. The rest, as they say, is history.

Seraphina is an amazing high fantasy novel. The writing is beautiful and the characters are interesting and complex. I also really liked the world building in this book. It reads more like a fairy tale or an epic ballad. Perhaps it also felt this way because of all the musical references (which I really enjoyed). In this world, dragons can take the shape of humans and the two races live side by side trying to learn from one another but also never completely trusting each other since in the past, dragons and humans were at war. The main heroine - Seraphina - has a secret that she hides from everyone: she is half dragon, an abomination feared and detested by both dragons and humans alike. We follow her on her journey from self-loathing to self-discovery and finally acceptance of who she is. Along the way, she makes friends, falls in love and discovers unexpected gifts in herself that might just save both humans and dragons from plunging into another war.

I enjoyed every second of reading this book. The writing is magical and the story is unique and captivating. I cannot wait to start on the sequel, and that review will be coming up very soon. The sequel is coming out on March 10, 2015, so I will try to have a review up soon after that date. Seraphina is now available for $1.99 in an e-book version (I just checked today), so now is a good time to get it if you are curious about it.