Recommended by Ellesfena: https://everyday-offershub.com/2021/05/tess-of-the-road-ellesfena/%3C/p%3E
This makes for an interesting book to review. Yes, I think it’s a three star book even though I enjoyed it quite a bit and will definitely continue to read the second book in the duology (and then read the third book, which is in the same world but a different set of characters? Not entirely certain how they connect, and I don’t want to figure out because, ofc, spoilers).
My main gripe is that I was very into the world and politics of human/dragon relations, the saint-based religion, and the struggle of Seraphina to maintain her secret. I was very meh on the “dashing” Prince Lucien, with an emphasis on the “dashing” because we all know what it means when a character of the opposite gender shows up who is “dashing” you know. Like he’s dangerously percpetive–and “dashing”–am I being clear enough there is a romance subplot which I felt was a bit shoehorned in.
It took a little bit to get into the world of this book as well, but once I did I was so very into it. The mind palace that Seraphina needs to tend to nightly in order to keep her dragon emotions in check! The feeling of despair that you’ll never be able to convince all the humans/dragons to trust their counterparts! The ability for dragons to take human forms and try and blend into humanity, despite the fact that humans have no ability to the do the same in return. This isn’t a standalone, but it’s the next best thing in a world full of “the first in a thrilling new series” type books–two books, that are already published, so you can read them at your leisure. Seraphina makes for a good heroine, and I’m interested to see where she goes next.