I've been wanting to read Seraphina for a very long time, mainly because I like dragon books. When Netgalley recently offered Shadow Scale the sequel as an E-Arc I decided the moment presented itself and I should go ahead and take the plunge. Seraphina, the main character covets a secret, she's a half breed, with a dragon mother and a human father. In this time, where dragons are the enemy and only a peace treaty keeps them from attacking humans, interbreeding is illegal. All of her life, Seraphina's father has kept her origin as secret, for fear of what her fate would be if anyone discovered her secrets. He's begged her to lay low and stay out of the public eye. But despite all these precautions, at the prince's funeral she is noticed after playing a beautiful moving, musical piece. The royal family asks her to become a music assistant. Against her father's wishes, she agrees. Things take off from here. The story is set in a fantasy world, in the distant past. Pacing is slow to moderate, picking up near the end where we encounter an involved battle scene. This book is told in a first person narrative in the voice of our brave heroine, Seraphina. In this book, there a so many characters to keep track of, not unlike most fantasies. So, I'm only going to touch on a very select few. Seraphina Dombegh, the main character, is a brave and heroic young lady. She spends her life trying not to be noticed, while at the same time hating herself for it. She is embarrassed of who she is, believing if anyone were to discover her secret she would be repulsed. With a musical talent, its difficult to fly under the radar. Plus, she's been schooled about dragon lore by both her Uncle and her father. So, its very difficult to not have a strong opinion. One thing Seraphina isn't very good at is holding her tongue. Her greatest strengths are her fearless nature and compassion for all creatures. Prince Lucian Kiggs, Captain of the Queen's guard is an intelligent, perceptive young man. He investigates anything puzzling to him and usually is able to work out people's thought processes. Also, by being a bastard, he is very sensitive to others. He becomes enchanted with Seraphina as they slowly become unexpected allies in uncovering who is behind the recent death of Prince Rufus, who's death is suspected to be at the hand of a dragon. Princess Glisselda, second in line to the thone, is a fifteen year old girl who Seraphina ends up giving music lessons too. Glisselda is wiser than her age and becomes a good friend and confidant to Seraphina. The caveat is she's engaged to Prince Kiggs. Of course there are many, many other characters. These three are very integral to the story. This story covers many years of Seraphina's life. Its primary focus is when she's in her later teens. It does touch on her birth and also details a scene where she first finds out she's a half breed. One very different part to this story is what Seraphina refers to as her "garden". Seraphina is plauged with visions. The only way she can control them is to reach out to the creatures who haunt her, which she refers to as "her grotesques" and find a spot for them to reside happily in her mind. This was a unique concept and is continued to be developed as the story progresses. It will also play a much larger part in the sequel. Romance is present in this story. Its more of a forbidden romance. There are not any love triangles which I could see forming. Throughout the book both the mystery of the Prince's death and the continued concern Seraphina's secret would be revealed kept me turning pages. As she and the Prince become closer, you keep hoping she will find a way tell him and of course that he will be able to accept her. The ending was action packed and very powerful. It involves an incredible life or death battle between two dragons. I felt the conclusion was solid with a definite resting point. This book sets the stage very nicely for the next book, where the heroine will need to accomplish new goals which will involve an exciting quest in the anticipated conclusion to the series. I would recommend this book to readers who like dragons and love fantasies. Also, those who like to read about strong female characters will also find a lot to like about this book.