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Gods and Saints and Dragons


Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman is the much anticipated sequel to Seraphina. And it was well worth the wait. 

Seraphina is a half-dragon who has recently revealed her existence to Goredd. In doing so, she inadvertently creates a new war between dragon-kind and human-kind. Now, at the suggestion of her uncle, she's going to try to rally other half-dragons to help win the war for Goredd. 

I enjoyed Seraphina, but Shadow Scale was phenomenal. Hartman manages to include just about every category of diversity without making it seem like she's checking off boxes on a list. These characters are realistic and have their strengths and flaws. I was so eager to meet each new person. 

In Seraphina, I felt like there was an enormous amount of exposition and then the end got exciting and had basically the entire climax in the last handful of pages. In Shadow Scale, Hartman manages to weave the plot more effortlessly. There are constant advances in the conflict instead of all of it occurring at the end. 

I loved how Hartman wrapped up the narrative, and I honestly hope that there isn't a third. This just ends so nicely. It was such a pleasure to read, and I will definitely be recommending it to other readers. 

Favorite Quotes: Necessity  and Chance, walked among the stars. What needed to be, was; what might be, sometimes was. 

Whatever you may find upon the road, you have a home and friends to come back to.

[This] is how the world runs, pulling us apart over and over again.

Even an indisputable fact must be chosen as the place to start reasoning, given weight by the mind that believed in its worth. 

There are worlds within worlds.

We are none of us just one thing.

           


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