Sometimes you gotta pick up that random book that looks interesting in the library, such as this one. Spoilers ahead.
In the late 19th century in at a large mansion, a girl named Serafina lives in cellars of a large estate in North Carolina. Being different from other girls and raised by her single father, she was always instructed in staying hidden. But when more and more kids start going missing on the estate grounds and a mysterious figure wearing a black cloak seems to be involved, Serafina and her new friend Braeden set out on finding out who the culprit is and saving the kids.
I liked this book quite a lot, but it also had a few flaws that held me back from really enjoying it. It's a good read and I do recommend it if it sounds interesting to you, but I'm not a huge fan or anything.
The story itself moved rather slowly. The plot itself was interesting, I liked the mystery of finding out who the black-cloaked man was and what happened to the children. I especially liked the scenes where Serafina and Braeden were just building their friendship (they're one another's first real friends and their friendship is written well and believable) and also the ones where Serafina explored the woods and got to know more about her true self this way. Those genuinely were the best parts and honestly I was quite often more interested in these aspects than the mystery itself because it's so slow-paced.
Also, the characters. They're too basic for me. I don't actively dislike Serafina or Braeden or anything, but they're simply too cookie-cutter without many distinctions or flaws to them. Serafina is interesting in concept, with her being half-feline (it makes sense if you've read the story), but personality and character-wise I didn't find her that interesting. Braeden is also just kind of there. I feel like the author may be implying that he's neurodivergent due to him having a hard time making connections with some people and being "different" (it's kept very vague what exactly makes him different), but of course the book doesn't outright confirm it or anything. And even then, I just don't find him that interesting a character. The other characters were mostly pretty standard as well and I wasn't that invested in the final villain reveal (I could tell who the cloaked man's identity was in the first scene the character got introduced).
It's still a pretty good book though. It has its good moments, most notably Serafina's relationships with her father and Braeden and her looking for her identity, who and what she is. And the mystery and final reveal of the cloak (not the cloaked man) was pretty good, too, but quite slow-paced and I put together the pieces a bit too easily for me to stay thoroughly invested.
Overall pretty good, and I will be checking out the other books. I'm just not in a huge hurry to.
Rating: 3.5/5
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