Book Review: In the Serpent's Wake by Rachel Hartman

  • Source: I received an advance copy of this book on NetGalley

  • My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (see my review on Goodreads)

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.

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