Review: Tess of the Road

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I tried to like this book. I really did. It's the first that I've read by bestselling author Hartman and sad to say, it might have poisoned the well for me. First, I was surprised to find that the Seraphina of the bestselling duology was actually not a dragon dragon but a cryptid half-dragon called an ityasaari, child of a full dragon that can take human form (Linn, a saarantras). No problem, since I read (and enjoy) an entire series based on the idea of cryptid animals and there are shape changing cryptids in that, too. But since Seraphina is only on the fringes of this story, here's no great dragon in this book, despite its beautiful cover. We do have Pathka, a sex-changing quigutl which is like a small, human-sized dragon that seems sort of like a large bipedal worm, and their child, Kikiu. But beyond these interesting creatures, the setting of the story- a medieval fantasy world in which religiosity seems to plague Tessie's family and penance involves the frequent beatings of children- didn't appeal to me. Added to this, Tess felt was almost contrived in her bullishness and bad behavior, driving corporal punishment from her mother. Tess has an interest in dragons and a curious mindset but I just didn't like her much. Tess runs away to find herself and a new life, like Viola in Twelfth Night, finding her safety in pretending to be a male. She sees many things on her journey, and some of them are awful or surprisingly undeveloped. I just couldn't relate to her much. In fact, I didn't feel an attachment to any of the characters, which posed a problem for me, especially since the book is 360 pages long.

I think one could have lively debates about some aspects of this book for a YA novel. Drinking, unwed motherhood, sexual assault, prostitution, and running away are all things that are real issues in young adult life. On the other hand, the way we discuss these things in a book are part of what differentiates the book from an adult fiction to a young adult fiction novel. I'd have to say that one of the reasons I enjoy YA fiction is that the impact of things like sexual assault or unwed parenting is not just glossed over as mere events but are rendered three-dimensional with emotions and... impact. The way some of these things (little exploration of say, sexual exploitation of servants) are handled in this book makes it feel more adult in tone. "Yes, these things happen. Oh, well..." I still might have stuck with it if I felt that Tessie's journey of finding herself didn't feel like it dragged on, if it gave us a more likable, relatable central character and secondary characters along the way. Alas, that didn't happen for me.

I received a Digital Review Copy from Net Galley and a paper review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews