Serafina e a Capa Preta

Fun and sweet.

Enjoyed the Biltmore details. Other than that, fairly standard middle grade supernatural fantasy. Plodded along at points, especially in the cave scenes which were meant to be climactic.d

I loved the Appalachian feel and the details of the Biltmore. It really made me feel like I was there . The story is an interesting look at middle grade horror. It might be a little aspirational in the relationship between servants and masters though.

For some reason I read more and more Middle Grade books this year, not like that is an issue. This one was a bit of a weird one, though, so I guess that makes a bit of a difference. Not gonna lie, at some point I wasn't really sure who were the target audience and to me that wasn't one of the absolutely positive things about it. Lets just take it little by little. Serafina is a weird little girl who lives in the basement of a grand estate with her dad, who is responsible for keeping the machines working. For some reason he is hiding her as she does her things like catching rats and sneaking around, up until kids start to disappear and Serafina has to find a friend in the loner nephew of the estate's owner to find out what is happening to all the children around them. First thing first, I kinda liked the prose. It was pretty sweet at some point, which is something I really appreciate when an author is writing for children. Some, it can be a bit of a challenge for the young ones, but it's something I would encourage if I had any kids; it can be pretty rewarding. At some places I felt the sentences structures were a bit repetitive and some synonyms could have been used in places, but all in all it had good vocabulary and it was a pleasant reading experience. With the plots and the characters things go a bit less than stellar. I understand that this is a short book, really. Still, I felt that the characters weren't particularly deep. Serafina felt plain quirky sometimes with her extraordinary skills and all. When we get an explanation... it's not really that surprising, you could see the parallels between her and some other.... creatures. Could have been done in a slightly more mysterious way. The same goes for the plot. We see that the world of the novel has some interesting things, hidden ideas and creatures, magic all around. We don't see much of it. It's a series, so it can be opened up, but by the end the lack of exploring the world leads to a certain solution of the issue that felt really abrupt. Serafina comes up with a plan that was absolutely bonkers from the beginning with almost no way of working, but of course you just knew that nothing really bad is going to happen to her. It made no sense, because it wasn't properly built up. The villain is the same; you find out ridiculously soon who is behind all and it took a lot of fun out of it for me. For a light read this was fine, I had no negative feelings about it, but it also wasn't absolutely brilliant. Somehow it got pretty bizarre in places and it wasn't really too deep. Was this for kids with rotting, disintegrating humans? Was it for teens with its lack of complex characters and proper story? I don't even know. It was fine. I didn't give it 3 stars because it was bad in any way, more like it lacked in certain ways. With an additional 100 pages or so it could have been coloured in a bit more, it could have been given something more special and more formed. I am not saying I am not reading any more of the series, I just think I would recommend [b:Greenglass House 18222716 Greenglass House (Greenglass House, #1) Kate Milford https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379952488s/18222716.jpg 25656381] before this one, even [b:The Blackthorn Key 23270216 The Blackthorn Key (The Blackthorn Key, #1) Kevin Sands https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433428562s/23270216.jpg 42810383]. Good night and keep your eyes on the overdressed people!

“Só porque alguma coisa é diferente, não quer dizer que você simplesmente tenha o direito de jogar fora.” (p. 49) É com esse trecho (que se você parar para prestar atenção, perceberá que quer dizer muita coisa) que abro as portas da resenha desse livro que ainda não sei como contar o quanto me surpreendeu de uma forma muito boa.
Vou começar dizendo o que esperava dessa história: quando li a sinopse imaginei que teríamos mais uma garota curiosa que se encontra no meio de uma encrenca enorme e acaba por descobrir alguma coisa muito importante sobre o seu passado. Ou seja, espero por tramas que sejam ótimas para entreter, mas que não tenham nada de novo sob o sol – e geralmente espero que neste “nada novo” haja, no mínimo, um estilo de escrita bom, uma construção de personagens adequada ao mundo proposto e cenas capazes de prender a atenção.
O que encontramos aqui: uma história bem amarrada do início ao fim, com enigmas e surpresas nos lugares certos [e desenvolvimentos inesperados],.personagens bem pensados (ainda que poucos capazes de totalmente ganharem nosso coração) e construídos de forma que cada um tenha suas características bem marcadas e distintivas, uma personagem principal singular cheia de princípios (e pensamentos) e com o coração no lugar certo. Ou seja, temos um instigante começo de série, com a introdução de personagens, temáticas e problemáticas feita de forma mais do que satisfatória. agora vamos aos pontos específicos.
Confesso que demorei um pouco para me afeiçoar ao estilo de narrar de Beatty, principalmente porque suas cenas iniciais são cheias de descrições sobre a mansão Biltmore e seus moradores, mas conforme a história progrediu, suas linhas nos fazem ficar afeiçoados a Sera e Breaden, seu mais novo [e único?] amigo. Me pareceu que sua forma de contar a história vai ganhando força e encorpando conforme Sera vai criando coragem para fazer o que precisa e descobrir o que deve. E isso faz muito sentido porque Serafina é uma personagem ótima: ela pensa criticamente (como podemos ver na primeira linha desta resenha), ela questiona, ela pensa, ela encontra soluções, ela entende e então volta a questionar – e ela lê muito [principalmente como uma forma de conhecer o mundo, mas veja como há um papel importante para a leitura aqui]. Nada está gravado em pedra para essa menina de doze anos.
A trama possui um senso de amizade, amor familiar e apreciação pela individualidade de cada um que eu não esperava – e teve espaço suficiente para ação, drama e humor. Gostei muito da forma como o autor trabalhou a questão de “pertencer” a um lugar ou a alguma coisa, é um tema importante para a idade-alvo da história e perpassa toda a trama sem fazer escândalo, é tratado naturalmente. Ainda que o começo seja devagar, de forma geral é uma história adorável e de leitura fácil. Depois de certo ponto, voamos pelas páginas para descobrirmos tudo o que Beatty planejou para Sera. Ansiedade é uma coisa real nessa leitura. E então, quando a última linha é lida, fica aquele sentimento de felicidade e coração aquecido pela esperança do que pode vir para Sera, seu pai (que eu realmente não me comentei sobre, mas que vale falar que é um persoangem interessante) e seus amigos. São nas últimas linhas também que temos a impressão de que o narrador está falando as linhas finais de um filme épico, que te deixa com uma sensação boa.
O enredo de Serafina e a Capa Preta possui uma simplicidade cativante, a atmosfera de busca pelo Homem da Capa Preta (que me lembrou muito, em alguns aspectos, o Homem do Saco que os pais avisavam aos filhos para tomar cuidado) que permeia todas as páginas fez com que a trama fosse sinistra, encantadora, misteriosa, fascinante, um pouco estranha e de arrepiar (pelo menos os mais jovens, porque esta leitora que vos fala ficou mais ansiosa do que arrepiada) – e agora eu entendo totalmente porque me disseram para não ler na praia [hahaha ooooie, Carina!].
Serafina é o tipo de livro que eu gostaria de utilizar em sala de aula para despertar nos leitores mais novos um sentimento de que cada um tem seu “lugar no mundo”.

As far as books go, this was one that first attracted me based on its cover alone. Even though I got this from the library, and it had a protected covering over the front of the book, I saw this at Barnes and Noble, and it looked amazing. It was bright and colorful, with an interesting design that felt unique as I held it. So when I actually began to read the book, I was wondering if the actual story managed to hold all the promise that the cover suggested.I am glad to say that this is a promising trilogy that can be a fun ride for middle school readers.

The story features a girl named Serafina, who lives in the Vanderbilt Estate, called Biltmore, in North Carolina. She lives her life away from the pretty guests and owners of the estate, preferring to live in secret in the basement with her father, wearing his old clothes, and chasing rats by night, as Biltmore's official CRC, Chief Rat Catcher. She stays out of sight of the other people in the house until one day she spies a man in a black cloak magically taking a girl away in the middle of the night. Thinking it strange, she comes to find that the same girl she saw disappear turns up missing the next morning. Eventually, she becomes friends with the estate's owner's nephew, Braeden Vanderbilt, who wants to know more about this girl who chases rats in the dark, and whom the guests have never seen before. Eventually, she and Braeden go out searching for the man in the black cloak, who continues to steal more and more children. This is a story that is filled with a mystery of just why Serafina has to remain unknown to the people of the Biltmore Estate, and who the man in the black cloak is. But can she and Braeden figure out who he is and stop him before they both go missing?

This novel was one that was very fun to read. You truly get a sense of scoap of the home as Sarafina moves throughout the home. It reminded me in many ways of the homes built during the Victorian period, with it's cavernous walls and hidden passageways. Beatty has a talent for making the most of a setting, and this building feels like a good house for people to be in, and can offer a sufficiently creepy setting for the first installment. Beatty also knows how to describe characters well, going for times where we are being shown, instead of told, about developing relationships, which I always improve of.

I loved the relationship between Serafina and Braeden. They both seemed to be excellent characters who could grow up to be friends, and maybe even a couple. They are excellent characters for each other, as Serafina is a girl who is so unusual that it is difficult not to become enamored with who she is and where she came from. Braeden is someone who the reader can sympathize with, as he is the only survivor of a house fire that killed his entire family. Yet, he is not the bitter young man we would expect, but a kind, and caring individual who would often care for Serafina in such a way that I could not help but find charming. These two were worth the read as I saw their relationship develope. The author managed to sell it to me wholesale that these two would become friends.

I do, however, have a few issues with the book. One would be that there is a slight pacing issue around the 50% mark. I won't spoil how, but Serafina manages to get herself lost in the woods, and it slows down during this point dramatically. What bugs me more about this fact is that the scene that leads her to get lost in the woods feels forced and contrived. Even if this scene comes back into play later, it honestly feels as though Beatty's editor told him he was short a word count, and he wrote this scene as a result. There were also a few cliche lines here and there that made me want the author to take another pass at the dialogue. Still, nothing too major in terms of problems, just something I noticed while reading.

This novel was a fun first installment in a series that I hope I come to enjoy. I can only hope that this series improves from here. I give this book a four out of five.