Serafina and the Twisted Staff (a Serafina Novel)

I really enjoyed the first book as a fun look at a girl with an odd history who tries to stop a cloaked villain. With this one, I wanted to have an expansion n the lore of this world, and have a new, fun adventure for Sarafina to go on. Thankfully, We got both of these things, but that does not mean everything is perfect.

One of the best elements of this book is the fantasy powers that we see. We see Sarafina come into her own, in this book, and we also find an explanation of who she is and some expansion on the lore of this world. It was also interesting to see how Biltmore fit into the story, as the history of its construction directly affects the plot. The mystery was good, not as good as what came before it, but still good nonetheless.

Sadly, this book is one that seems to drag throughout the plot. This novel is 370 pages long, almost 50 pages longer than the first novel, and it feels like it. I think this is due to a few things. Firstly, we have Serafina off on her own through most of the novel. This means that her interactions with Braeden, one of the strongest characters in the series so far is, is not as prevalent here, and this novel suffers for it as a result.

Also, this novel contained some things that, to me, were just too easy in terms of writing style. One is the classic cliche of a character who is dying just being able to gasp out the words “[Pronoun] isn't who [matching pronoun] seems!”

Then there is the problem that I managed to guess half of the ‘twists' that occur in this novel. Maybe it is because I have read far more than the average middle school student, or that Beatty just isn't that good a writer, but it seemed a little to predictable for my taste.

So, for me, I would give this book a three out of five. It was good to expand on the lore, but the novels slow pace hurt the text more than it helped.