"Tess of the Road" by Rachel Hartman

Tess of the Road is the third book by Rachel Hartman that I've read so far. It is set in the same world as Seraphina and Shadow Scale, but you do not necessarily have to have read those two books in order to read this new one. In fact, it is not marketed as Seraphina No. 3.

Rachel Hartman to me is an author who creates a unique world with strong female characters, but also someone who is not afraid to introduce difficult subjects into a fantasy novel targeting young readers. In this book, she deals with such themes as teen pregnancy, sexual education (or the perils of having none), dogmatic conservative upbringing and rebellion against it, suicidal tendencies, depression, grief, date rape, abandonment, and coming to terms with your own sexuality and body image. She also more broadly deals with the issue of female empowerment and breaking down gender biases.

The main character of the novel is a seventeen-year-old Tess, who by all accounts (or at lease according to her mother) is a sinner with no prospects of a future and definitely no way of getting to Heaven. Unlike her twin sister Jeanne or her famous half-sister and half-dragon Seraphina, Tess is a troublemaker. At 6, she is curious about where kids come from. At 13, she starts sneaking out of the house to attend public lectures on philosophy, fauna and geology. At 14, she gets pregnant and has a child out of wedlock...

By the standards of Goredd, the medieval-like country Tess lives in, she is utterly and hopelessly ruined. But her mighty downfall does not end there. At 17, driven by grief and despair, she makes a spectacle of herself at her twin sister's wedding, thus losing any prospects of a respectable future. Her family resolves to send her to a nunnery.

Tess, however, is not ready to dedicate her life to a Saint she is not even sure she believes in. Instead, she runs away and embarks on a quest for mysterious World Serpents, whose very existence is denied by the wisest human and dragon scholars.  Tess does not travel alone. She is joined on her quest by a childhood friend Pathka, who is a quigutl, a subspecies of a dragon that is looked down upon by humans and dragons alike.

On the road, Tess realizes many things about her past. Every day she resolves to keep walking on and living on. She faces her demons and slowly, painfully begins to heal. Thus, Tess is not just on a quest for mysterious creatures, she is also on the road to self-discovery and self-love.

Tess of the Road is a wonderful book about coming to terms with who you are, getting rid of harmful labels and guilt, and rediscovering joy, hope and trust in beings surrounding you. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. It ends in such a way that a sequel is highly likely. It is hard to say if or when the next installment will come into being, but I for one would definitely pick it up.

I received an advanced review copy of this novel from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review. The official publication date is February 27, 2018.