Serafina and the Splintered Heart
By Robert Beatty
Hi! Do you feel scared sometimes? Well, this is how Serafina felt at the very beginning of this book. Just to warn you: all of the beginning and most of the middle is pretty scary, but if you stick with the book, you’ll be okay! This is the third book in the Serafina Series. You may want to read the first two books before you read this one. But this was my first book to read in this series, and I still liked it. It kind of reminded me of the Percy Jackson books.
It starts when Serafina, a protector of Biltmore, wakes up. She’s in a place - a dark, cramped place - and she can’t see. She realizes that she is in a coffin. She digs out frantically. She realizes that she is now a spirit. She has two enemies named Rowena and Uriah. She sees many dangers. Her greatest enemy, Uriah, a sorcerer, is causing them. He is also the greatest enemy to Biltmore. She tries to talk to her best friend, Braeden, but he can’t hear her since she’s now a spirit.
Serafina went on a journey. She found Rowena in a cave. Rowena, a sorceress, had recently gotten some new powers. She could now speak to the living, dead, and in-between. (You’ll find out what “in-between” means at the end of the book.) Rowena’s father, Uriah, tried to kill Rowena. Serafina rushed to help her. Rowena promised that she was going to be on Serafina’s side from now on. She could speak to Serafina because she had learned how to speak to spirits. They rushed back to Biltmore and found Braeden. Serafina talked to Rowena and Rowena talked to Braeden so that the message that Serafina was saying could get to Braeden. At first, Braeden didn’t believe Rowena. But then, when he asked to hear something that only Serafina would say, Rowena told him and he believed her.
Next, they went to see Serafina’s old friend, Waysa. The same thing went on that happened with Braeden, except it was sort of like Waysa was Braeden – they did the same thing. But Uriah had already attacked Biltmore. So, they made a plan and went to fight Uriah. Will they succeed or will Biltmore suffer the punishments of Uriah? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who can take scariness and who will stick to the book; no matter what happens, they’ll read it to the very end and then decide what they think about it.
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
As I already told you, from the beginning to some of the middle, there are scary parts. Actually, it’s one big scary part. But not too scary.
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
There was no yucky-lovey stuff in this book. There were a few hugs, but I don’t think that counts.
I give this book 4 wands.
It was a little scary at times, but easy to get over. And if there were just a little less scary parts, I would have given it 5 wands. But if there were NO scary parts, it would have 3 wands. As my mama or anybody who knows me will tell you, I think that every good book needs a scary part.
Source: Review Copy
