RATING = 3.5 STARS

Rachel Hartman’s In the Serpent’s Wake is another powerful young adult fantasy read. Educational, entertaining, and thought-provoking - this book is not for the faint of heart or those looking for a light fun read. Events pick up immediately after the ending of the first book Tess of the Road, and it’s just as action-packed.

From the very start, the book was entertaining. I appreciate the recap that was provided in the prologue (and how it was written in verse). Coming up with that many rhymes must have been tiring. Ms. Hartman’s writing style throughout the book was quite engaging and interesting; it was fun to piece the different viewpoints together. As an avid fantasy reader, the expanded worldbuilding was another highlight of In the Serpent’s Wake (it’s always an adventure to get to travel off the edges of the map, in a sense). There were times when the main plot (finding the Polar Serpent) got lost in the numerous subplots, but it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book too much.

Tess’ story continues to be one of resilience and determination. She’s had so much go wrong in her life, but she continues to persist and keep moving forward. There’s no doubt she’s deeply flawed and that her past trauma (rape and infant loss) has colored her experiences but I think the author handled things well. There were some very emotional moments in the book (i.e. when a certain ex reappears), but it felt like most of her character arc was covered in the first book.

Another issue that Ms. Hartman tackled in this book is gender identity. A particularly powerful quote from the book on this subject was “One shouldn’t have to change for anyone else’s comfort; to demand such was tyranny.” Gender fluid and non-binary characters are also embraced in this world (to an extent), as the quigutls and dragons are known for using the gender-neutral pronoun ko and gender transitions are not uncommon for not quigutls. For example, the dragon scholar Spira is non-binary and Pathka transitioned from female to male.

Altogether, In the Serpent’s Wake is another fantastic fantasy novel by Rachel Hartman. It’s unclear whether this will be the end of Tess’ storyline (the ending seemed to wrap things up nicely, but the author seemed to leave some threads open for future stories), but I would happily read any stories set in this world in the future. I think a spin-off based on Countess Marga and her adventures would be a great addition.

Thank you to the author, Random House Books for Young Readers, the team at TBR and Beyond Tours, and NetGalley for my complimentary review copy of the book. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review In the Serpent’s Wake immensely. Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed In the Serpent’s Wake. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape, Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Underage Drinking, Sex Shaming, Drunkenness, Infant Loss, Gaslighting

I read a book by this author or rather tried to one other time a while ago and it had its strong points and positives, but this other book, Seraphina was. a bit slow and didn't hold my interest. Suffice it to say that this book had similar issues for me as the previous book, Seraphina did. This book also seemed to be a bit slow and didn't keep me engaged and I had a hard time with it, and as others have stated, if I had known it was a sequel then I would have read the previous book first since it likely would have helped my reading experience with this one. If you've liked and read her previous books such as Seraphina, then you'll likely enjoy this one also, but as has been mentioned and I also discovered, make sure to at least read the previous book before this one to help with not getting confused or lost with what is going on in the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Random House Books for Young Readers for letting me have the chance to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This fantasy novel is a sequel to Tess of the Road, and also set in the same world as Hartman’s Seraphina duology - a complex medieval-ish world with intelligent dragons that can shape shift into humans, and smaller dragons called quigutl, plus a complex geopolitical world of different countries with different cultures.

I love all of Hartman’s previous books, so I was excited for this one, but was rightly concerned that it had been almost 4 years since Tess of the Road came out and even longer since the Seraphina books. I actually remembered the vibe of the world quite well, but the plot details were quite lost to the mists of time in my memory. Indeed, even though the book starts with a poem intended to remind you of the events of the previous book, it wasn’t enough, and I had to go Google and read a detailed plot summary of the previous book to refresh my memory. Once I got into the book, however, I really enjoyed it.

If you’re looking for a steamy romantic fantasy like ACOTAR, this is not it - it’s a deep and complex book about all kinds of topics like trauma and recovery, colonialization and oppression, gender identity, and the power of stories. But if you are interested in a more intellectual (though still quite emotional) story with terrific characters in world building, I definitely recommend. Don’t start with this one though - you could theoretically start with Tess of the Road but I’d actually recommend going back to Seraphina and starting there.

DNF'd at 50%. Perhaps if I'd read the first book, or this book didn't feel kind of bleak. There was a part of me that wondered if there wasn't supposed to be a Deeper Message about the people inhabiting the islands and the way they were being treated, but ultimately it didn't really matter.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Source: DRC via NetGalley (Random House Children’s/Random House Books for Young Readers)
Pub. Date: Feb 1, 2022
Synopsis: Goodreads

Why did I choose to read this book?

Four years ago I read Tess of the Road, a follow up to Hartman’s Seraphina and Shadow Scale books. TotR is one of those books that I would just shove in anyone’s face, unable to explain why I loved it and imploring you to just TRUST ME and read it. I do recommend reading Seraphina if you haven’t already, because it gives a better idea of the politics and religions that govern this universe. But the reason I chose to read In the Serpent’s Wake (a.k.a. Tess of the Sea) is because I loved Tess of the Road so much, I had to see what happened next.

What is notable about the story?

Tess of the Road was all about addressing Tess’ trauma and allowing her to come to terms with her past and face her present as a whole woman (again, she’s like 16, but you can read this as if she’s older because her age hardly ever comes up). Tess of the Sea (I’m sorry, this should have been the title) shows us Tess facing injustices that are done to the people and creatures of the world and how different people from different walks of life navigate those injustices. Whose motives are best? When is the answer no answer at all? Tess is growing out of herself and into a knowledge of the world (politics/religion/dedication/ethics) that is moving around her, and possibly finding her place in all the chaos. I love that these books truly mirror how an older teen might need to consume their environments in order to define themselves and what they believe in. Hartman’s writing lays out this emotional and intellectual journey flawlessly.

Was anything not so great?

My main complaint with this series is that there is SO MUCH TIME between books. Tess of the Road came out FOUR YEARS AGO. Was I passionate and excited about that book? Absolutely. Do I remember the specifics of what was going on in it? I did not. There is a cute little poem at the beginning of In the Serpent’s Wake that tries to catch you up on what happened, but it just wasn’t enough. I had to rely on my terrible memory and context clues to catch up as I read. This series already had the hang up that you couldn’t really read Tess of the Road without at least reading Seraphina, and I fear that this book suffers doubly for the dire need of character and world context. This is not a series you can just jump into, which is a shame because everything about each book is so good.

What’s the verdict?

I went with 4 stars on Goodreads because of the issues discussed above. It’s still an exemplary story that you should consider adding to your TBR, just know that you might want to read the other books that preceded it first before you dive in.

‘In The Serpent’s Wake,’ was unlike any fantasy novel I’ve read so far. And I honestly don’t know what to say. It starts off slow with lots of explicit descriptions and intriguing philosophies, that one might think is boring to read so. But that’s SO not true. The book was more focused on our protagonist, Tess’s character development and her dynamics than the fantasy elements of her world. But it’s a truly unforgettable ride. As someone who enjoys more plot-driven books than character-driven ones, I have to say this one’s left a mark on me. Side characters like Pathka, Kikiu, Jacomo, Marga, and even Spira have succeeded in finding a permanent spot in my heart. Along with Tess, these characters also get a beautiful and complete arc. It also ventured through more subplots and storylines but above all, in this book, Tess Domebg’s inspiring and life-changing journey continues.

It is no surprise that Rachel Hartman has arisen as my new favorite author. Her writing is vivid and deeply impactful. She takes it gradually but with so much grace and passion that you can’t help but give your entire heart to her words. For instance, this book opens with a poem that covers the events of ‘Tess of the Road‘. And ngl, I cried (just a lil bit) when I read it. I was overcome by this unknown feeling of such raw happiness thinking how our little Tess has come such a long way, from a traumatized young girl who was done so horribly wrong by people to this new strong woman – glowing, healing, and living life on her own terms. Finding her way through the world and leaving her mark on it. I am so proud. (and so emotional). I also love the symbolism of the book based on ‘it is the journey, not the destination that matters.’ and how beautifully it was portrayed.

I admire the author for incorporating sensitive but alarming and hard-hitting issues such as sexual abuse and rape, making our protagonist a sexual assault survivor. The vulnerability and emotional trauma Tess suffered through were heart-wrenchingly portrayed and the societal response was cruelly precise. Tess’s arc is something I completely, truly cherished. Her journey on the road is raw and just fucking powerful. She also integrates themes of racial discrimination, colonialism, and genocide. All the more while tackling sexism, geological issues, and greed corrupted politics.

So long story short, go read it. It’s definitely worth it.✨

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I really enjoyed the writing and found myself quite engrossed in the story. I love that the "Good" guys still had so much to learn and not every ending was a perfectly tidy bow. I think I'll take sidekick the world as my new battle cry.

Tess has already survived an adventure, but it is not time for her to rest. She is now on a ship with a world-changing mission, but some don’t want the mission to succeed. The world is in turmoil and they believe that finding the World Serpent will put them on the path of peace, but what tragedies will they need to overcome to make it to their destination?

In the Serpent’s Wake is the second book in the Tess of the Road duology. This novel picks up shortly after the last novel and Hartman has written a poem that tells readers of the main events of the first book. This book was full of adventures with lots of side stories to keep the reader wondering where the main plot was going. This was a very “inclusive” world and I found that at times the varied people and relationships were trying too hard. Otherwise, it was a great second book to close out this duology.

In The Serpent’s Wake

Review to come closer to my tour stop!

From the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Seraphina comes a piercing new fantasy adventure that champions our resilience and humility.

MIND OF THE WORLD,
OPEN YOUR EYES.

At the bottom of the world lies a Serpent, the last of its kind.
Finding the Serpent will change lives.

Tess is a girl on a mission to save a friend.
Spira is a dragon seeking a new identity.
Marga is an explorer staking her claim on a man’s world.
Jacomo is a priest searching for his soul.

There are those who would give their lives to keep it hidden.
And those who would destroy it.

But the only people who will truly find the Serpent are those who have awakened to the world around them—with eyes open to the wondrous, the terrible, and the just.

Discover more critically-acclaimed YA from Rachel Hartman!
Seraphina
Shadow Scale
Tess of the Road

This is book 2 about Seraphina's younger sister Tess.

Tess is still "on the road" - but sailing south to help her friend get to the pole serpent, having adventures and meeting new people.

Tess's journey continues. This is a coming-of-age series. Tess is maturing, and as we mature our world grows bigger. This extends to noticing consequences of our actions, unintended consequences, and learning to think through larger complex issues and what to do about them - or it should! perception of the bigger world and how it works includes noticing and processing our place within it and how our actions from that place affect others. While the first book was about finding freedom, this one is a bit more about how to be free in the world in a good way.

The story includes parts narrated from other points of view, so we get to see how Tess comes across to others.

I'm looking forward to the next book.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the atmosphere, but I was completely lost for most of the story. I guess this is a sequel and I think maybe if I had read the first one I would have known what was going on a bit better, I think it is definitely worth a read but suggest you check out the first book to make it easier to follow.

In the Serpent's Wake is the long awaited sequel to 2018's Tess of the Road (My review here) by Rachel Hartman, one of my favorite books of the last 5 years. The story, a spin-off from Hartman's Seraphina duology (which I didn't read before reading Tess) featured its protagonist, 17-year old Tess, escaping a family who treated her as a shame due to a childhood pregnancy (caused by rape), and going on an adventure on the Road alongside a childhood friend to find a mythological creature, encountering others suffering and thriving alongside the road, and both finding and not finding a way to overcome her own trauma, as well as a purpose for her in life. The story doesn't provide easy answers, and makes it clear that one can heal and not heal at the same time, and worked perfectly as a stand-alone, even as it promised a further adventure.

But In the Serpent's Wake is a VERY different book from its predecessor, not just in expanding its viewpoint to other characters, but in moving the plot beyond Tess dealing with her own trauma into Tess trying to discover the traumas and pains of others in the world - especially those suffering from the evils of colonization in a fantasy archipelago. Pairing Tess with a Countess who at her heart knows what her people are doing is wrong but insists upon staying neutral and not doing anything because of her own perilous standing as a woman, the story takes on not just the evils of colonization, and all of its horrors, but both the white liberal and the white savior tropes/phenomena. Like its predecessor, In the Serpent's Wake offers no easy answers, and the answers it offers are often contradictory, but it works, even if not quite as well put together as Tess of the Road.

TRIGGER WARNING: As you should expect from the first story, Rape is part of Tess's backstory, and that plays a role here as well. Meanwhile this story deals heavily with the evils of colonization, particularly of Island peoples (by essentially a European stand-in), complete with torture, brutality, religious and cultural oppression, racism - both explicit and implicit. This is all handled well, but it may not be for all readers.

Note: I do not think you can read this book without reading Tess of the Road first, but the book includes a recap of that book (amazingly, in verse), so if you've read the first book, you will not need to reread it to jump right into this book.



---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------------
Tess healed on the road, and has resolved to do better for others, and to try and make restitution for her mistakes - most notably her revealing of the World Serpent to scholars who immediately went and killed it, harming her quigutl friend Pathka who had connected with the Serpent. And so, Tess accepted a quest from her sister Seraphina and Seraphina's lover, the Queen Glisselda - to join an expedition by a Ninysh explorer - the famed Countess Margarethe, ostensibly to search out the second World Serpent in the Antarctic, to make it up for and to heal Pathka, and to prevent anyone else - human or dragon - from killing it. But the Queen also asked Tess to keep her eyes open for what the country of Ninys is doing in this area of the world, the southern archipelago, where it is suspected that the Ninysh are making war on and slaughtering the native peoples.

But what Tess finds is far worse than she could have imagined - for the Ninysh are indeed colonizing and oppressing the island peoples, and doing so without even a thought that doing so could be wrong. And while some of Countess Marga's crew understands this to be wrong, and is actively repulsed, the Countess insists on an approach of utter neutrality, and not making any waves or speaking up as to how things are wrong, no matter how outrageous or cruel the behavior she observes is. And to make it worse, the Countess has a connection to the worst part of Tess' past, resulting in the reappearance of her rapist, her ex-boyfriend Will.

And so Tess finds herself not just desperate to get Pathka - whose condition is deteriorating - to the World Serpent, but also to do something - anything - to help these peoples. But what can she do as one person to help these others....especially when the alternative of calling in her people's own navy just results in trading one invading army for another, and would make them the monsters instead of the Ninysh?
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Tess of the Road was largely Tess' story, and was told entirely from her own perspective. By contrast, while Tess it the guiding character in this book, this story is not really centered around her, and the book expands to reflect that: roughly every other chapter is told from a different other character's point of view (some characters get featured more than others), with these chapters generally featuring an unknown narrator (which gradually comes to be explained) dictating events to the "Mind of the World". These chapters often give us glimpses of other stories, some of which work really well, such as that of the disabled scholar dragon Spira, who struggles with others expectations of their own gender, and the love they begin to feel for the mysterious Lord Hami - who also struggles because Hami's own quest requires him to destroy Spira's own quest for the good of his people.

But these side aspects are really the side to the main dish of this story, which is the impact of colonialism on the people of the Southern Archipelagos. It should be noted that this theme could be done poorly as this is written by a white author, but it very much avoids the dangerous tropes to tell a powerful story. The Nynish behave very much the way Europeans did in our world - treating the indigenous people there as if they were all one people, acting like they were stupider or less valuable, like their own brilliant contributions couldn't possibly have been deliberately created by them, etc. And they enslave and oppress them all, slaughter them when a few begin to act out, and refuse to accept their guidance as anything worth listening to - brutally punishing them to warp their culture to what they think it should be.

Tess is wise enough to see immediately what is happening when she encounters it, and to be horrified, but she is even more horrified by the actions of the Nynish around her. Oh some are okay, like the Countess' uncle who tries his best within the system to fight for the oppressed...and yet even he refuses to see that very system will only bend so far and not nearly enough to actually reverse or provide restitution for its oppression. But then there are the obnoxious secret police or nobles who deliberately refuse to stop performing horrors, or who invent sciences to justify such horrors.

And even worse there are people like Marga, who admit to themselves that these things are wrong, but refuse to actually hear people when they tell her to do something about it and that "neutrality" is merely taking the side of the oppressor. Marga is absolutely the worst for much of the book - refusing to see what is in front of her, and refusing to listen to those who tell her things that she does not want to hear, demanding impossible amounts of proof to change her mind. She's essentially the characterization of the White Liberal Lady who strove for herself and for other white women, but refuses to acknowledge those who didn't even have the possibility of making such strives because they are not White. It takes a long time of being hit around the head, and lots of horrifying ignorance for her to realize that she needs to actually do something.

And then she, as well as Father Jacomo and Tess herself to a lesser extent - need to realize that what they need to do is to support the oppressed people and to provide what they need, and to ASK what those people need, rather than to try to play the role of the hero or protagonist. Tess is better about this, and realizes quite simply the idea of simply calling in the Goreddi navy will only be replacing one group of invaders for another, but at the same time she stumbles with what she can do, especially once her rapist returns as part of the oppressors (for a thankfully short part of the book, but his impact is still felt thereafter in her psyche). And Tess also has that same temptation as Marga - the quest to save Pathka by getting to the world serpent - which constantly tempts her to try to do anything to move forward even if it means turning a blind eye. Unlike Marga, Tess isn't able to do that, but the competing ambitions make it hard for Tess to do the right thing, or even to figure out what the right thing is, and as a magical creature tells her - it becomes all too easy for her to take the easy path out, even if that path doesn't look easy on the surface. It's an emotional journey for Tess, as the oppressed people come together to fight back in the end for a better future around her - without her direct help, that should be clear inspiration for many of us today who are more well off than those who have suffered for generations due to colonization.

Not all of this works super well. The power of the horrifying focus on colonization is really well done, although the ending of the conflict at the end of this book seems a bit optimistic, perhaps wrapping things up in a way that didn't quite sell me on things not immediately getting worse from re-invasion. And Tess' own emotional and character journey sometimes gets lost in the greater story - so for example occasional parts of it and the final part of it turn on Tess avoiding going back to her pregnant sister who definitely needs her, but the book seems to forget about this for large segments at a time. Similarly, the book seems to tease potential romantic or just platonic character relations with Tess and two other characters, but they're not really developed and so when they're mentioned again and Tess gets jealous at one point, it's hard to feel anything for them.

Still, In the Serpent's Wake is a very good tale of the impact of colonization and the limits of what one person or even a nation can do to try and make things better, as well as the importance of centering the oppressed and their needs and wants in any efforts to try to help. It's a problem in our world too that can only be handled by teaching the future generations about it and helping them ensure it isn't repeated again, and that restitution is necessary, and this book illustrates that incredibly well, through characters and prose and verse very very well done.

Oh and I should point out that this book deals with a lot of other themes too, besides the aforementioned ones, such as the difficulties of language and how any translation puts in something of the translator, the various ways stories can be interpreted and how those change based upon the listener - and what duty the storyteller has when telling stories, etc. There's a lot here, and it's mostly done very very well.

So yeah, recommended.

I read this book directly after finishing Tess of the Road, and I'm pleased to report that it picked up right where the previous book left off. In the Serpent's Wake is another rousing adventure in which Tess is on the move pretty much the entire time. This tale had a slightly broader range of characters, and we get to follow some bits of the story from the perspective of a couple others. I really enjoyed getting to see things through the eyes of swashbuckling countess Marga, troubled saar Spira, and existential-crisised Jacomo. I would have loved at least one chapter from the perspective of our beloved quigutl Pathka as well, but alas we did not get one of those.

Anyway, this was another tale full of awful villains, misunderstandings, and connections between people. Not only did I get to witness Tess continue untangling her own personal struggles, but I got to experience this for multiples others. I think Hartman does a great job is examining how one person's truth can be different from someone else's. How we can be blinded by our own biases and upbringings and educations, and that can become a shortcoming when interacting with others (whether we intend it or not). I was surprised -- based on what I knew of them from the previous book -- by how much I connected with Spira. I really appreciated the representation of disability and chronic illness here, and how that can be so easily dismissed by others.

While I did enjoy this book very much, I don't think I liked it quite as much as Tess of the Road. I was expecting this to be a duology, but the ending left me a bit uncertain on if there will be a third book in the series. There were some questions left unanswered and I wasn't. clear on if that was intentional or not.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This picks up where book #1 leaves off, so there's not a lot of time that's passed or things to be caught up on in these characters' lives. There's a... poem? Song? Something in verse at the beginning that summarizes the first book so the reader gets a nice review of what happened in the first book. Hartman doesn't shy away from tough subjects; she tackles genocide, colonialism, racism, and identity through these characters and their struggles. What I like most about this story is that these characters mess up, over and over, despite their intentions, despite their sincerity, and we see them struggle with the consequences of their actions. We see characters grow and learn and fail and come to very difficult conclusions about themselves and their world. I've always been a firm believer that reading teaches empathy, and in this instance, readers don't just learn empathy towards others, but readers can also learn empathy toward themselves as they learn and grow and come to new understandings alongside these characters.

I wasn't aware this was a sequel until a decent way through the book which explained why I felt a little lost on some of the characters. That said, it's a good book with big ideas but some of them may not have been enough justice because the author is white and may not have done enough work to really show how the issues in the book are really affecting the characters.

There are white savior themes, colonization, racism and how different races in the book benefit, fight against. One character is embedded as a spy to show the atrocities being committed by a ruling party and there are a lot of characters. The writing gets flowery, purple prose and long sentences that could have been shortened.

Now here's where my issue comes in. We've got a biracial character who is brown. I think she's read as brown and there's some subtext I feel backs that up. However, even if she's not brown, her very being, being biracial, means she will have a seriously different view of the racism and colonization taking place in the book. Instead of standing against it to keep her family's rule of neutrality, she, well, stays neutral. But if I, as a biracial woman, witnessed half of my people being subjected to atrocities (and I do. Being Black in America is a struggle on so many terrifying levels) I would suffer so much internally. This character doesn't seem to. She doesn't seem to struggle with the violence being perpetrated. She can keep to her family's rule of neutrality but it's going to hurt her. Unless she views herself as one race and not the other in which case, her views would be different. But we don't really get that heavy deep dive into her character and I would have appreciated that over the flowery words and sentences that dragged on. She does eventually realize she's been burying it for a long time but...I wanted more. More introspection. I mean the chapters aren't short at all so it wasn't like there wasn't room for it.

There is also a character who has issues with their gender. A dragon. I will say I love the mix of humans and dragons. It's always refreshing to see them as more than just hoarding beasts who fly and can't speak or are mindless beasts. Some tropes are tired. And seeing the character work through their identity was nice, I liked that.

Then there's Tess and Jacomo and everything going on with them. Their relationship and his inability to actually help her while respecting her boundaries in a way that doesn't lead to him overstepping. Add in the femenism aspects, this book has a lot going on and the length of it shows it.

I wasn't aware it was a sequel, as I said and I'm not sure I'll end up reading the first one but it was a good book if not for some things that made me feel a little...iffy. Three (3) stars.

Thanks to NEtgalley and the publisher I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I had hoped that, even though I had a hard time keeping up with Tess Of The Road, this book would be better and easier to follow. There are so many characters. There were so many things that are over explained when they need not be. And there were so many things under explained. I felt confused the majority of the time reading.

I don't think this series is for me.

I have a very complicated relationship with this book. I just barely managed to keep track of Tess of the Road, and while this book was more my speed in terms of the concept, it was harder to follow. I did like the characters that I could recognize and understand (Spira, Marga, Hami, Kikiu, Pathka, Jacomo, etc.) but there were so many that were so new and I could even remember when they were introduced.
If I knew about 75% of the characters, I knew 40% of the plot, TOPS. I understood the basics: Tess is here to act as a Goreddi spy on a Ninysh expedition to the polar region to find the Polar Serpent and see if the Goreddi should interfere with Ninyah colonization. Everything beyond that was a mystery. “This man is evil” Okay but WHO IS THIS MAN??? There was just so much to keep track of, and I could not, no matter how hard I tried.
I didn’t find the book itself unpleasant, but the lack of understandable plot to me hindered my enjoyment of it. I also do understand the lack of romance, but just a minor plot line would’ve made it better for me because while I loved the platonic relationships of this book, the overwhelming world and character building made me need something to grasp onto.
Overall, I liked this one less than the first book, but I didn’t hate it. I’m giving it this rating simply because I didn’t find it that readable, but it’s more like a 2.5 or a 2.75 at most if NetGalley gave us the possibility.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My actual rating of this book is 4.5 stars. In the Serpent's Wake is such a fun continuation of Tess Dombegh's story. For all of her personal growth in Tess of the Road, it was clear that she still had some maturing to do. What I didn't expect was for this story to go in so many different directions. At first I wasn't too excited about the chapters from various characters' points of view, but ultimately the other povs did grow on me (especially Spira). I really enjoyed the way that this story broadened the view of the magical world that these books are set in. While I loved the dragon-centered Seraphina books, it was interesting to learn that there is much more to this world than just dragons.

Ultimately I had a really fun time with this book and with realizing, like the characters are realizing, that not all journeys go as planned.

Rachel Hartman has the market cornered on emotionally difficult second books. Poignant and painful, In the Serpant's Wake tackles questions and issues just as if not more tough than Tess of the Road. I personally had a very hard time reading a lot of this, as it deals heavily with themes of sexual assault and questioning and disbelief of survivors. Hartman deals gracefully and sensitively with these issues, but the resolution is a long time coming, similar to my problems with the sequel to Seraphina "Shadow Scale", which left me in distress for much of the story. While I'm glad to have read this once, I don't know if I'll be able to make it through again, and re-read value is an important part of stories for me.

There was, though, some really excellent commentary on colonialism and white saviorism, and though Tess accidentally finds herself somewhat complicit the novel is up to the task of pointing out her failings. Tess has always been a complicated, flawed protagonist and I liked how this sequel took the time to point out where she needed to work on her relationships with others, while the first was more about rebuilding her relationship with herself.