This book was undeniably well crafted in its writing structure and prose. Hartman does an excellent job at creating a world and allowing the reader to become fully immersed in it and its characters. Unfortunately, the story left a lot to be desired, and as I expect more fleshed out plot from a fantasy novel, this was disappointing to me. I did enjoy the book well enough due to its lovely narrative style, and therefore I still think it deserves a 3 star rating from me.

*Thank you Netgalley for providing this free book in exchange for an honest review*

I have been reading this book in fits and starts for over a month and I still can't tell if I even like it or would ever recommend it to a student. That being said I can tell you that I have loved both of Rachel Hartman's other books and recommended them over and over again. So to say I am conflicted is an understatement. I love the writing and I think my biggest problem with the book may be Tess herself. I also find myself wondering if my problem is that I want my fantasy to be simple.... people/creatures/aliens are either good or bad, kind or cruel, funny or not. What I am having a problem with may be the fact that Tess has issues and to be honest I don't have a lot of patience with issues. Especially when they are hinted at over and over without actually explaining them. So there you have it. Not my favorite but it could be yours!

Let me start by saying that this is the first book that I have read by Rachel Hartman. I did not read her previous book that it seems also took place in this world. Therefore, I did not know exactly what to expect besides my previous experience with the YA fantasy genre.

This book started off slow. After reading the first few chapters and then seeing the length of the book, I did not know if this was one that I would want to finish.

The story is told from the point of view of Tess, someone who is not well liked and has endured pain and trial in her life. In the beginning she is difficult to like, but as you get to know her throughout the story she grows on you.

Not many major events happen in the story and it seems to plod along at a pretty steady pace. But by the end you realize that this the book is more about the journey than the story itself. A journey of self-discovery, revenge, bitterness, guilt and pain. This made the last part of the book my favorite.

This is definitely a longer book and could have been a little shorter. It is nothing like most of the YA fantasy that I have read to date, but I enjoyed it and would say it is probably worth a read. It also deals with some mature themes, so I would recommend that you read it before giving it to a preteen so that you can talk about it together.

Rachel Hartman's new novel, "Tess of the Road," brings us back to the world she created in "Seraphina." Our story this time is with Serphina's other half siblings, twins Jeanne and Tess. There are predjudices in this world around dragons (saars), quigotls and half human/half dragon hybrids. Tess is the oldest of the twins and has responsibilities to uphold to her family. She also has a penchant for trouble. She says the wrong things, is adventurous, and curious about the world. These all lead her to shame in the eyes of her family. After a most embarrassing moment at an important family gathering, Tess is faced with the prospect of being sent to a convent. She makes a bold decision without much planning and heads out on the road of life with little to her name but a few supplies and some sturdy new boots. Over the course of the book, Tess learns many life lessons and has many hard decisions to make about where she is headed. One of my favorite quotes from the book during this journey, "There is no pain-free path, sweet girl. Choosing is what makes life bearable," stuck with me throughout. Life is full of pain but the pain makes us who we are and it is how we embrace that pain which can make us stronger or destroy us. Tess must learn to live with her pain or it will truly destroy as we travel with her on the road. There are many other tender moments throughout this book where Tess has to make decisions about her life ahead and whether she will continue on her journey. This novel was such a delight and quick read for me. I couldn't put it down in the last half of the book until the last page. There are more journeys beyond this one for Tess as there are for all of us on the road of life.

DNF @ 40%. I loved Seraphina and Shadow Scale, but I just couldn't make it through this one. After two months, I haven't even managed to get halfway through this story. Rachel Hartman was clearly setting up some interesting themes and plot points. Unfortunately, I just can't bring myself to care. I want to like this book and Tess, but ultimately I just felt bored.

Hartman is great at clever prose and deep characters. This book started out much more accessible than the Seraphina books which was very exciting. Still great world building but much faster moving.
Until it wasn’t.
Tess had only been on the road for a few days when her self-hatred and mental illness (which to this point had been subtle and deftly portrayed) became tedious and melodramatic for me. It became clear this would be one of those plot-takes-a-back-seat to emotional growth and episodic meaningful experiences. Ug.
Slogging through the Seraphina plots was bad enough. I refuse to take a ride to nowhere with an emotional wreck drowning in her own uselessness.
(Thanks NetGalley for this copy.)

Full review to be posted on my blog.

For some reason, it took me awhile to sit down and write this review. I'm not sure if that was because I liked it so much or if it was because there was so much that was crammed into this novel that I didn't know where to start. I think it was the latter, although I did enjoy this novel immensely.

Hartman is the author of Seraphina which I did not read before I read Tess of the Road. There are parts where Seraphina makes an appearance in the novel and I found it interesting enough that I want to look into the first book, to see what Seraphina's life was like. The world building was a bit hard to follow in the beginning but I was able to easily pick up on it. If I had read Seraphina first I'm sure I would have understood it right away.

There is a mention of rape in this book so for those who are triggered by that, please be aware.

This novel also deals with gender identity, something that I found really refreshing to read about since most authors don't tend to write about it. Tess' old friend, a quigutl -a subspecies of a dragon-, was female when Tess knew her as a child and then transitioned to a male when Tess sees him again in the novel.

Throughout the journey that Tess takes, she doesn't really have a distinct purpose, other than to get away from her parents, until she meets her friend. That's when the plot beings to pick up and she has a distinct purpose. (Much like in The Grisha series when one doesn't know the real plot until the second book with the different amplifiers that there are.) 

This novel is a bit of a slow burn because of the large quantity of events that happen, not all of then filled with action. However, this novel is jam-packed with different adventures and quests that Tess goes on and I can only assume that in a second installment of the series, we will see Tess once again braving a new adventure on her quest to find something. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for allowing me to read this novel!

Sadly, this book is not for me. It greatly lacked the spark and magic of Seraphina. All this book makes me feel is bored.

This book is a DNF for me. I just couldn't get through it and at 23% I had to call it a day. I absolutely did not connect with this book. I felt nothing but frustration for the main character, who at first is told to be a lively child but then years later is portrayed in my opinion as a rather weak alcoholic with rebellious tendencies, who at the tender age of 17, has pretty much given up on life. But not totally, so she decides to rebel once more and goes on a journey at which point I gave up. The part I read is well written, but even the writing couldn't hold my attention.

***ARC received in order to provide a review***

4.5 stars

I read part of Seraphina (and then the ending was spoiled for me so I didn't finish it). But at around 80% of Tess I grabbed Seraphina to read it again. Rachel Hartman is that good.

So you can read this if you haven't read Seraphina (or Shadow Scale). However, it helps to orientate yourself in Hartman's world. Because - yes - there is serious, glorious world-building going on here, and you are going to want to revel in ever minute.

This is a book written with the art of the true story-teller. The beginning seems wandering, uncomfortable and unnecessary. Tess goes through a lot - at her own hand and at her family's. But by the end of the book everything ties together - and you realize that your struggle was as necessary as Tess's.

This is a young woman's quest - the road is a metaphor for the distance Tess must travel to heal - from her imposing mother, a man who took advantage and in the process took everything, and Tess's blindingly perfect twin sister Jeanne. And the road is also the literal road beneath Tess's feet - each step taking her away from her wreckage and toward...what? More wreckage? Salvation? Tess's journey seemed like wandering until suddenly it didn't.

<b>"'We fulfill our parents' direst prophecies, then curl around our own pain until we can't see beyond ourselves. You want to walk on? Walk out of that shadow. Walk, girl.'"</b>

Tess meets amazing people on her journey. Has big adventures. She's Huck Finn with a lizard-person sidekick and a drinking problem. And the ending (not quite an ending - but I'm not complaining at all) brought everything full-circle in a way that was satisfying but left me desperate for more.

<b>"She still held sorrows, but she was not made of them. Her life was not a tragedy. It was history, and it was hers."</b>

I am thrilled thrilled thrilled for the next book in this series and delighted that I got to experience this one. I cried a little. Highlighted a lot. And basked in Hartman's excellent writing and dazzling imagination.

<a href="http://www.alleskelle.com/"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1471716947r/20097901.jpg?v=1471716951482"width="400"></a>

Having read Hartman's previous works set in the world of Seraphina I was hesitant to expect much from a character I had not found particularly interesting in the past. I was wrong. Tess is not 'special' in the way of Seraphina, who by circumstances of birth is set apart. Tess is both extraordinary and ordinary but has been through great trauma and dealt poorly with the aftermath- something I think many can understand. This book gently introduces the reader to methods to deal with trauma, the idea that recovery can be quick or slow depending upon the person, and that personal responsibility can be hard to define. All through this we are exposed to an entrancing adventure which reveals more about a rich world that Hartman has created. We knew from the first two books how Queens and Dragon-kind behaved and interacted, now we get to see the 'regular' people and how the world works for them. Subjects like sexuality, assault, and familial expectations are tackled in a way which teens will find relatable and helpful. Absolutely loved it.

I would like to first point out that YA is young adult not early teens or middle teens but young adult. There is some confusion for some people that this is too graphic for twelve year olds and that age group would be middle grade books not YA. With that out there let's get to the review.
This is a great continuation of Seraphina. I was pleasantly surprised and liked the route this book took about Tess. I think there is a lot of undesirable traits some might enjoy but I think there are a lot of people who would find relatable and inspiring. I like also the family dynamics and how it affects the character, Tess, and her role throughout the story. There is some back story that takes place in the book so you don't have to read the two previous books on Seraphina, but I personally hate to read a book out of sync. If it doesn't bother you then dive right in, you won't be disappointed or confused. It definitely approached some internal conflicts and who you are as an individual, which I found appropriate for this age bracket. The characters are well rounded and give you plenty of emotional depth that makes the characters realistic and easy to build on one's mind. The story of Tess and her struggles will make you root for her and feel sympathetic to her fight.

Tess Dombergh is stubborn, a troublemaker, a disappointment to her family, and destined for life in a nunnery. After making a scene at her sister’s wedding, Tess pulls up her boots and runs away, setting out on a journey across the Southlands, alone and pretending to be a boy.
The plot of the book is aimless, the goal of Tess’s journey, to find a fabled World Serpent, Anathuthia, takes a back seat for most of the book. This isn’t an easy book to go through – Tess has serious baggage (I would not recommend this book to many younger readers), and in the end, her story is not about finding Anathuthia, but learning how to live within her own skin and to just keep going.
While I greatly enjoyed this book, and would recommend reading it, I will warn you: you might not like this book. Not everyone is going to like it, and if you look at other reviews, many have talked about how much they don’t like it. But, in the end, like Tess, this is not a story that needs to be liked. It needs to be heard.

If I could give feedback on the writing style alone this would be a solid 5 stars because it is written so beautifully that immediately I was drawn into this world and eager to follow Tess wherever she went, but unfortunately the more I read the less I cared to the point that this was almost a DNF as the prose itself wasn’t enough to save it.

I liked Tess a lot from the moment we are introduced to her as a child orchestrating a fake marriage in order to learn more about the world of women, she was smart and witty and I liked seeing her go off on this adventure like a character out of her favorite pirate books in order to better evolve and work through her issues instead of just accepting her fate but I don’t know if it was just me but not a lot happens or at least nothing too exciting or like we were leading up to something it was pretty stagnant all the way through.

I’ve never read the Seraphina books so I can’t speak to them, but I was excited to see this world and hopefully transfer over to that series but I think I might hold off for a bit, however I think those who read the former first might enjoy this book even if it focuses on a different sister and far less about dragons.

**thank you to netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

--Review will be posted to my blog [ https://thebookshelfcorner.wordpress.com/ ] and my Goodreads page around mid-February. --

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers for providing me with an e-ARC to read and review. Tess of the Road is set to be released February 27, 2018.

I have conflicting feelings about this book; more meh than good. I was sort of underwhelmed by the whole of it. There wasn't enough action or action that made a statement or not enough suspense. Not to mention there were one too many flashbacks. And herein lies the crux of my diametrically opposed feelings.

Tess of the Road is a story of self-exploration and redemption. It exudes the questions: how can one pick themselves back up when they feel they've fallen lower than the dirt they walk upon? how does one move forward when weighted down by the unforgiving chains of the past?

The beginning was bold but cringe-worthy as readers see a "small" sample of the kind of life Tess has lived up to this point in her life. It's sad and you feel for her, and part of you may or may not want to root for her. But Tess embodies an undeniable strength, one she has yet to realize.

Tess is someone people can relate to and respect. She's made countless detrimental mistakes either in the eyes of her very strict and religious mothers or in those around her. Or more importantly the detrimental flaws and mistakes Tess sees within herself. It's enough to make even the strongest of us crumble and never find ourselves again. But Tess's journey on the road offers much food for thought as - through flashbacks and interactions with various folks - she struggles to come to terms with where her life has gone and where it can go next.

As much as I admire the concept of the story and Tess's character, I was lost more often than not because of terms and language used. I either stumbled over or couldn't understand couldn't. I'm all for inventing new language and meaning in fiction but in this novel was too obscure. I think it would have been helpful to have included a glossary at the end.

My favorite parts of the story didn't come until 3/4 of the way through where we get the road crew scenes. These scenes were unexpectedly hilarious and highly endearing. I kind of wished the entire novel was sprinkled with such humor.

I feel that Tess of the Road has a lot to offer readers; it just wasn't the book for me.

Tess of the Road was full of surprises. When I was sent the ARC, I honestly didn't realize it was written in the world of Seraphina, which was fairly popular when it came out. I read Seraphina, but not its sequel, and I had hoped this book wouldn't rely too much on that world since I barely remember the plot. Not that Seraphina was a bad book, mind you.

A quick-and-dirty summary: Tess is living in a courtly society where she is expected to be virtuous, quiet, well-mannered and pretty so that she can find a rich husband and settle down to have many babies. Tess is the kind of girl who wants a life of adventure, though, much to her mother's dismay. She finds herself in a spot of trouble and ends up becoming her own sister's maidservant at court. Don't worry, though, she doesn't stay at court for long -- and you'll soon be introduced to a world of humans, dragons and giant mythical serpents.

Which brings me to a quick comment on Rachel Hartman's writing style. I saw a lot of comments online about how Tess of the Road seemed slow-going, or how it was "anti-climactic." If you actually think about Hartman's plot, this isn't true -- she just doesn't write melodrama. Not that every other author does, but still. Hartman's writing style is a bit detached, a bit matter-of-fact, though Tess's story is more emotional than Seraphina (in my opinion). I personally enjoyed this writing style, as it was a little off-the-beaten-path for me.

As far as characters: Tess is, in my opinion, one of those main characters that people either love or absolutely despise. A lot of reviewers called her "unlikable" and complained about her thought process and about how she did or didn't deal with family, friends, or herself. I actually liked Tess. I don't necessarily agree with everything she did or said, but I really enjoyed her story and I thought she was fairly well-written. There was only one point in the story when I was like, "Wait... what? Why is she pretending this didn't just happen?" But then my issue was addressed, and it was all smoothed over.

The secondary characters were all pretty good, too -- one of them comes back at the end in a way I never would have guessed. Tess's childhood friend is another well-developed character, and even the smallest characters along Tess's journey were memorable.

This book toes the line between a carefree story about a young woman on an adventure and an emotional story about trauma and finding oneself. Tess has a grim backstory, and it went even further than I originally suspected, but the full brunt of it isn't revealed in one go. It's hinted at often, but peeled back in short bursts, as so not to make the story too heavy. This works well overall, though sometimes the heavy hinting and little emotional outbursts from Tess are a bit much.

If you're wondering whether you have to have read Seraphina in order to understand the book, the answer is no. It would help you understand how the world works, how human-Dragon interactions work, how the government operates, and what the Quigtl are, but it isn't absolutely necessary.

Overall, I'm giving Tess of the Road four out of five stars. I'd give it four and a half if we gave out half-stars, but we don't.  I truly enjoyed reading this story, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys adventure stories, coming-of-age stories, trauma survivor stories, fantasy in general, or stories with strong female main characters.

I really liked this book. I was anxious to keep reading it to find out what happened. But the main character lacked a focus and a purpose. Other than that, I loved it. The friend quigutl was amazing ---I loved it. Very creative characters and species. It would be very enticing to live in a world in which you could solve interpersonal disputes by biting one another!

It is well worth the read and I will go back and read Seraphina as I enjoyed this a lot.

Rachel Hartman scores another home run with "Tess of the Road," another story set in the world of Seraphina. Young readers will identify with Tess and her adventures, and it doesn't hurt that the book is excellently written.

DNF @ 12 percent

Ugh, glad I stopped. This was, honestly, really slow and I’m ~65 pages in and there’s still…. no dragons that are a main part of the plot. If books are going to be over five hundred pages I prefer for them to be fast-paced?? I think this story will work well for other readers, but I was bored.

I enjoyed the feminist aspects of it, especially in a fantasy world based off medieval times – and the world-building was awesome, but besides that,,,,,,,, bleh. There were also times when the characters used some modern day slang, like <i>”suck it up”</i> and other terms.

I would recommend this for those who don’t mind slowly-paced high fantasies.

After being bitterly disappointed by Shadow Scale, I was tentatively optimistic to read Tess of the Road. A friend reviewed it quite highly so I decided to go for it. And I'm really glad I did. It's a book about journeys, but not just the walking kind - there are emotional journeys contained within it. Those emotional arcs kept me invested in the core of the story, even as the outlandish adventures kept things rolling plot-wise. It's a book about how love doesn't have to stay the same to remain worth it; about the ways we view ourselves in relationship to others, and how those views can change; about the baggage of emotional and physical trauma, and how to lighten that load; and most of all, a book about Tess's relationship with herself, and how she walks her way into understanding and freedom. It's a meaty book, but one that's well worth the effort.