settingshadow reviewed Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Review of 'Seraphina' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I'm having trouble squaring the goodreads reviews with the book I just read, and I've concluded that speculative fiction has come a long way in the last decade. Seraphina, to me, is derivative of every high fantasy novel ever written, with a vaguely Middle Ages European setting with saints and whatnot and a Strong Female Main Character who has really no defining characteristics except her Dark Secret and her Cunning Intellect like...every other fantasy novel ever written in the 2010s. I found the novel poorly paced and all of the twists utterly predictable. It was fine overall. I think my ten year old who is young enough to have not read every fantasy novel ever written will enjoy it, but mostly for me, it helped remind me how amazing, diverse and creative the field is now, and I'm thrilled we're free of the 2010s.
