Seraphina - Rachel Hartman

I received this book from a friend at a New Years book exchange party we had.  I think I had seen it briefly here and there, but had so much on my reading list that I never got around to picking it up. 

I really enjoyed this book.  It pulled me in immediately.  I kind of like the fact that the author treats the reader like they are part of the universe and instead of using blatant exposition to explain her world, she lets the reader learn as they go.  It was almost as fun when I finally understood the role of the saints played in this world.  I really like when a book doesn't beat one over the head explanations. 

The basic story is a girl who is half dragon and half human.  She doesn't fit in either world, and her heritage is a secret because it is illegal in both the dragon world and the human world.  She sees herself as a monster, and is uncomfortable in her own skin.  It doesn't help that the one person who really loves Seraphina for the person she is, can't show her because he, Orma, is a dragon and the dragons are breathing down his neck about showing excessive emotions.  It is a fascinating struggle, but the love is obvious in the care that he shows Seraphina and the lengths he goes to hide that love just so the dragons won't excise his memories of her and her mother. 

Seraphina struggles to find her place in the world, amidst an uneasy treaty between dragons and humans, and deep horrible prejudice on both sides.  She learns and grows and something I like to see, other character's grow as well.  To many books fall into the trap of having their character's remain stagnant, which makes them just unfleshed out shells of the people the author really wants them to be.  Seraphina and the other cast members are nicely fleshed out, and I look forward to seeing them fleshed out in the coming sequel.