Shadow Scale had a much more complex feel to it then the first book Seraphina. I personally consider these books to be adult fantasy with crossover young adult appeal. Not because they have adult content - they don't. But because while Seraphina is young she is for all intents and purposes an adult. The first book was closer to being a YA novel with a simpler plot while Shadow Scale toed the line for me towards epic fantasy with its much slower build and deeper world building as well as a broader scope to the plot. It pulled in several nations, peoples, cultures, religions and really tried to give you a "bigger picture" type of story rather then the one character focused story that the first book did. 
 Enough characters to fill a box of chocolates 
 Shadow Scale has a ton of new characters. Much of the slow build during the first half of the book is Seraphina gathering these characters together. She sets off on a quest of sorts wanting to gather the other half dragons like herself and bring them back to her country to hopefully assist in the war that has just started. While I found each new character interesting this section of the book as I mentioned is very slow but still very rich in world building. Readers that enjoy savoring epic fantasy would likely enjoy this novel as a lighter epic fantasy. 
 Hooray romance takes the back burner for once 
 I was so pleasantly surprised by how the romance wasn't the central focus of this book, it wasn't even a secondary focus but more like an extra plot point. It made it so much more refreshing to read. I enjoyed the romance between the characters in the first book but I liked how here it didn't get in the way of the serious things that Seraphina and Prince Lucien both needed to do. Indeed I have to say that the way it ended really surprised me. I do so enjoy being surprised. 
 Bringing it all together 
 As there were various subplots going on there was still a central antagonist going up against Seraphina and it was very personal. This part of the plot was both a positive and a negative for me. I'm curious to see how other fans will take to that part of the story. In the end the author did a great job of pulling everything together and wrapping everything up for me. 
 Thoughts on the audio narration 
 This one was dual narrated by Mandy Williams and W. Morgan Sheppard. Mandy Williams was also one of the narrators of the first book Seraphina. I definitely enjoyed the addition of W. Morgan Sheppard who wasn't the second narrator in Seraphina. They both did an excellent job here with the narration especially considering the number of characters. The narration was smooth and the voice acting superb. I did like the narration on this book more so then the first but still recommend both.