Series: Serafina #2
Published by Disney Hyperion on July 12th 2016
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animals, General, Horror, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Serafina's defeat of the Man in the Black Cloak has brought her out of the shadows and into the daylight realm of her home, Biltmore Estate. Every night she visits her mother in the forest, eager to learn the ways of the catamount. But Serafina finds herself caught between her two worlds: she's too wild for Biltmore's beautifully dressed ladies and formal customs, and too human to fully join her kin.
When a mysterious series of attacks test Serafina's role as Biltmore's protector, she finds herself torn from the side of her best friend and only ally, Braeden Vanderbilt. Heartbroken, she flees.
Deep in the forest, Serafina comes face-to-face with the evil infecting Biltmore-and discovers its reach is far greater than she'd ever imagined. All the humans and creatures of the Blue Ridge Mountains are in terrible danger. For Serafina to defeat this new evil before it engulfs her beloved home, she must search deep inside herself and embrace the destiny that has always awaited her.
Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.
Content Review:
Christian or Secular: Secular.
Profanity: None
Sex&Violence: Mild violence.
Trigger Warnings: Some of the suspense and violence may be frightening to some younger readers.
Disclosure: This book includes shapeshifters and other paranormal elements that some Christians may feel uncomfortable with.
This book was so good! I honestly wasn’t sure what to think about the Serafina books because they’re written for middle-graders and I’m in my thirties. But, that doesn’t even matter. I have enjoyed this series immensely so far!
I’m from the Blue Ridge Mountains— only an hour from the Biltmore Estate which is the setting for the Serafina series. So, I love seeing my home state and Southern Idioms represented in this work of art. While many of today’s youth are unfamiliar with Appalachian English (or what my grandma called Appalachia), I can remember my grandparents using many of Serafina’s colloquialisms.
Most of all, I love this series because I feel like Serafina is someone my children can look up to. She’s different from other children and that is something they can relate to. Though, unlike Serafina, they look average, their bodies are anything not. I feel like Serafina is a positive role model for children with invisible disabilities. Much as Serafina feels she doesn’t fit in with the lions, she also doesn’t fit in with the humans. Children with invisible illness and disabilities also feel like this. They often feel they don’t fit in with the children with more visible illness but they also don’t fit in with typical children. Serafina is someone they can identify with.
There’s no real cons to this book for me. As an adult, I chalk up any rushed plot lines or predictability to this book being meant for middle grade children.
As a parent of a middle grade child, I can vouch for the fact that this series is nothing but enjoyable for her. In fact, my teens are rather fond of the series as well. I would suggest this to any family that enjoys clean paranormal/fantasy.
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in anywhere? Did you overcome these feelings or do you still struggle knowing where your place is in the world? What advice do you have for a child struggling to fit in?
About Robert Beatty
Robert Beatty is the author of the #1 New York Times best selling Serafina series published by Disney Hyperion, a spooky mystery-thriller about a brave and unusual girl who lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate.
Serafina and the Black Cloak was a #1 New York Times best seller, has been on the list for more than 59 weeks, and won the prestigious 2016 Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize. The second book in the series, Serafina and the Twisted Staff, became a #1 New York Times best seller in the first week of its launch and earned a “Starred Review” from Kirkus Reviews, which said, “Even better than its predecessor, a sequel that delivers nonstop thrills from beginning to end.” Enjoyed by both young readers and adults, the books are being taught in over a thousand classrooms nationwide. When the third book, Serafina and the Splintered Heart, came out in July 2017, it earned a Starred Review from Kirkus Reviews and propelled the Serafina Series onto the New York Times Best Selling Series List.
Robert Beatty lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and three daughters, who help create and refine his stories. He loves to explore Biltmore Estate and the darkened forest trails where his novels take place. He writes full-time now, but in his past lives, Robert was one of the early pioneers of cloud computing, the founder/CEO of Plex Systems, and the chairman/CTO of Narrative Magazine. In 2007, he was named an Entrepreneur of the Year.
Great review!! I often don’t feel like I don’t fit in anywhere, but since I discovered the book community I definitely have something to belong to now :)
Same here! The wonderful thing about booklovers is that you fit in with people even if they read a different genre than you! Readers seem to stick together ❤️
Yes and they’re always so nice to one another :)
My husband doesn’t understand how I’m so selectively social until we go to a bookstore. Then I stop and talk to everyone ?
haha yes I am very anti-social unless it comes to other bookworms