Week 9 Reviews: The Audition, Seraphina, Shadow Scale

From Goodreads:
The Audition is a free prequel to Seraphina available online. It takes place a few weeks prior to Seraphina, covering Seraphina Dombegh's audition to become Viridius's assistant and thus Glisselda's music tutor.

From Goodreads:
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

From Goodreads:
Seraphina took the literary world by storm with 8 starred reviews and numerous "Best of" lists. At last, her eagerly awaited sequel has arrived—and with it comes an epic battle between humans and dragons.

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?

My first review of The Audition, Seraphina, Shadow Scale
My second review of Seraphina, Shadow Scale

My third review of Seraphina

My Review:
Well of course I really enjoyed reading these books again! I absolutely love this series, and now that the 2nd book in the Tess of the Road series is now out, I had to read this series again! I love spending this time here, and it has been 3 years since I last read them! 

Seraphina is such a fantastic character, I love her voice and I love her sarcasm and the way that she thinks! I just love a quick wit, and her banter with Kiggs, and their debates on theology are fantastic to read, even if I have no idea what the heck is going on.

I love how the world learns about half dragons in the first book, and are dragged into a dragon civil war. And then in the second learns that the saints that they love, were actually half dragons and some of them just hated their origins so much that they used their influence to prevent future half dragon babies. Not that they were the most successful. So this dragon-fearing culture got two pretty massive shocks back to back, and I just love this story. Especially since Seraphina was so closed up because of it, and having these secrets come to life really opening things up for her, and I love that for her!

I forgot a lot about the geography of this world-and I think that it's going to play a part in In a Serpent's Wake. Like the Porphyrians are just the edge of a group of trading cities-and we've never visited that continent with those other trading partners. And In a Serpent's Wake is going to take place on a boat, so I'm hoping we'll see more of the world!

This is such a great series, and I enjoyed spending this time with these characters again! 

Author: Rachel Hartman
Series: Seraphina #0.5, 1, 2, Southlands #0.5, 1, 2
First Read: July 11th, 2012, April 29th, 2012, February 11th, 2015
Second Read: January 21st, 2018, January 11th, 2013, January 22nd, 2018
Third Read: January 21st, 2018

Read: February 26th, 26th, 27th, 2022
Source: Free, Own
Reason Why: Rereading! And they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books, and Shadow Scale is a End of Series 2022 Book!
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: June 19th 2012, July 10th 2012, March 10th 2015

The Audition:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Seraphina:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Shadow Scale:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars