Customer Reviews

Seraph of Sorrow (Jennifer Scales, Book 4)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

4th book in the Jennifer Scales series co-written by husband/wife team Anthony Alongi and Maryjanice Davidson, initially targeted to a YA audience.

Unlike the prior 3 books, this 4th book is somewhat darker and doesn't stick to just following Jennifer Scales, the 15 year-old half-breed dragon/beaststalker who is an ambassador, trying to create peace between the dragons, arachnids and beaststalkers; all who are enemies.

Picking up where the last book ended, the story moves forward, but in small pieces.

It's split up into sections, telling the story from the point of view of a number of different people (dragons, arachnids and beaststalkers) starting with each at the age of 15. It takes us through their perspective of the events taking place in the prior books as well as events that took place before the first book. We learn what events shaped their lives, what and why they've become the people they have. Each person showcased brings us to the present and carries the story forward just slightly beyond where the prior person brought us.

I found it very aggravating to get to the present, experiencing something new, and then beginning all over again with the growth of yet another character. By the time you finish the book, you have a much better perspective of the entire picture, from many different angles - and I can honestly say at that point, I liked the book. If asked while I was in the middle of it, I couldn't have said that.

There is an actual story to this book beyond going back and learning everyone's histories, and the authors do a good job of interweaving people and events together. But because most of the book is missing Jennifer's voice, we also seem to be missing MJD's witty observations and sarcasm that were prevalent in the prior books.

I'm not sure what to say on this review other than DONT START reading the Jennifer Scales books at this one. Dear god does her hubby suck as a writer. Too many story lines and too many "typical" sci fi writer threads - alternate universe, alternate kids and alternate plots but don't worry you wont be able to follow them. It hard to follow the characters or keep anyone's story straight. This is the book to give you all the backstory of everyone ever introduced in the Jennifer Scales series and did I mention that they drill into you how important the age 15 is to everyone. I love Mary Janice Davidson's writing style but the whit and dialogue were SO LACKING on this one that I have to say don't bother with the read.

Questions are still unanswered but there are more children from illegitimate matings than colors of M&M's... and half the time they're dating each other....

I simply expect more from her - the hubby may want to go back to teaching.

This is an excellent, well written book that gives the backstories of the main characters in the previous three books of the Jennifer Scales series. It answers questions that I had as to why things happened the way they did in the other books and gives insight into the motivation of the characters. It is strong on character development and complements the rest of the series well. But because it is dependent on the other three books, I would not recommend it to anyone until they have read the first three.

When Jennifer cries over the death of an enemy, the legend of the seraph is activated. With help from the legendary Smoky Coils, Jennifer valiantly tries to bring peace between the two warring sides. A little help from her friends and family doesn't hurt either. But how can you bring peace when there is so much hate?

Gloria Seabright led an unusual childhood. When she was a teenager, her life changed irrevocably. She watched her father die in a burning inferno when dragons attacked their town. When the same dragon turned to breathe its deathly fire upon Gloria, she remained unscathed. The townspeople were in awe and quickly let the young woman lead them and train their young in the ways of a beaststalker. Gloria despised all dragons and made it her mission in life to destroy all the monsters she could.

When she was a young woman in college she fell in love with a wonderful man. He taught her many things, including chess. However, he also shared his gift of sight with her. At the time she learned his gift, she was several months pregnant with their child. When she turned her newly gifted eyes upon him, she saw the creature lurking within and was horrified. She killed him, but not before he ripped their unborn child from her womb and cursed her. She was not to kill anything ever again or it would somehow be taken back upon herself.

Jennifer Scales in the Ambassador between the Blaze and the Beaststalkers. When her father renounces all his ties to the Blaze, she is stunned. Now the youngest elder of her clan, she is sent to learn a lost elder skill from one of the oldest dragons in the world. When she returns from her lessons, she learns of an attack being planned for Gloria and the town of Winoka. She quickly gathers her friends and family and rushes to warn Gloria, the town's mayor, of the upcoming attack. She arrives safely, but the arachnid clan has beaten her to Gloria with a jam-packed action ending that will leave you stunned.

This fourth installment of the Jennifer Scales adventures was loaded with information of several key characters. Highlighting certain points of their past brings new light to new and present events. The emotional growth and confidence of Jennifer and her friends brings surprising strength to the storyline. With a twisting plot and backdrops full of detail, SERAPH OF SORROW is action-packed and full of heart. I couldn't put it down as I absolutely loved it!

*Courtesy of Romance Junkies

This book was not as sprited as the other 3 books. It did answer alot of questions even to ones that had not been asked. The ending was very good and I hope that this means that there will be another because they left us hanging on what will happen to everyone in the town. And what about Skip, Andi, and Susan.

"Seraph of Sorrow" is a strange book. Not a bad book, by any means. Its just not often that a book completely changes both focus and narration in mid-series. Up to this point in the tale of Jennifer Scales, its beeen all told through the eyes of, well, Jennifer Scales. With Jennifer, we went along for the ride as she changed into weredragon for the first time. We discovered the wonders of Crescent Valley as she did. We watched her romance with Skip Wilson blossom and fail. We were right in the middle of the action with her, the weredragons, beaststalkers and arachnids. We struggled with her as she discovered some ugly truths about her past, and those of her parents. Suddenly she is designated to a background character that mostly is discussed by others but not really in many scenes. "Seraph of Sorrow" is split into different sections. Each section is narrated by a different character and tells their story from the time that character was fifteen and ends in the present day. This all is strange but it was still interesting and provided insight into these side characters and their motivations. I have one serious complaint. Woven into these character sections is a new plot. Jennifer must learn a nearly forgotten weredragon magical act from a solitary elder dragon. Meanwhile, the arachnids are planning to meet with Gloria Seabright, esteemed mayor and leader of the beaststalkers. The new plot could've been told in fifty pages by itself. I wondered to myself if maybe the book ended up being so short that the authors and editors had to add in all the back stories just so they had a book. Also the whole two dimension thing feels like a cop out. How very easy it is to resolve a conflict by blaming it on something that actually happened in 'the other dimension'. Far too convienant and not at all believable even for fantasy. This book was a great recap of the series though and since it was awhile since I'd read the third book I appreciated that. It has prepared me for the fifth book which is released next month. I can only hope to see more Jennifer Scales herself in this one.