![]() ![]() Shadow Scale, however, is a bit more ambitious, and that’s a problem. Seraphina had a pretty trite plot, but it was neat and well-formed and moved the action on – that’s why pretty trite plots are used, and why they become clichés. There are also some really effective elements here – particularly the oozing menace of mind control.Īnd yet, Shadow Scale isn’t as good as Seraphina, in my opinion, and seemingly in that of others too. As she is, I suppose for finding the only vaguely acceptable solution to the irritating love triangle element, even if she doesn’t handle it particularly well. It’s also really striking in just how much it diverges from the first book, into something really quite unexpected, and the author is to be congratulated for that courage. In fact, looking at it sensibly, Shadow Scale is clearly a more ambitious and more complicated novel. ![]() ![]() And also, to be fair, the incredibly creepiness of the romance has been toned down too, mostly by keeping the love interest off screen and silent as much as possible. Most of what was bad about Seraphina is still bad about Shadow Scale, though thankfully the valorised self-harm body-image thread has been set to one side. Most of what was good about Seraphina is still good about Shadow Scale. It was a fresh, attractively written novel, albeit one with some real irritations about it. ![]() I read the first novel in this duology, Seraphina, and rather liked it, despite myself. ![]()
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