Hartman, Rachel Tess of the Road, 536 pages. Random House,
2018. $19.00. Language: G ( 0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature content: PG-13; Violence:
PG.
In this sequel to Seraphina, Tess, a seventeen-year-old
Goredd, runs away from home on the eve of her twin’s wedding. Her childhood
hero, Dozerius, the pirate, gave her the idea and the courage to escape a life
of puritanical life. Along the way, she meets up with a childhood girlfriend,
Pathka. This lizard friend is in search of the World Serpents, who are like
God’s to their race. Tess enjoys her
freedom and eventually she and Pathka find Anathuthia, the first of seven world
serpents. Tess continues to travel her road of self-discovery.
Although Tess is independent, teachable, and truly wants to
find herself and her vocation, I found her character lacking great purpose like
you would expect of a heroine. I really
wanted to like Tess but couldn’t. There
was too much talk of sex and minimal on-page sex that took the plot off course
too often and gave it the PG-13 rating. Some violent and bloody scenes could
disturb young readers, including Tess’s first violent sexual encounter. Hartman
breathed life into the Goredd world. She
created a fun and believable world. Her
prose is vivid. But, the story fell flat for me as the plot line did not
resolve adequately.
HS-OPTIONAL Reviewer, MOMMAC
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment