Added to this is the intense harrowing events that keep the reader flipping pages to see what happens next. How dark, forbidding, and dangerous the forest can be gives the story an eery feel.
He does an excellent job of describing the house and the surrounding land and forest.
Braeden's character is not as defined or nuanced as Serafina, but he has an interesting backstory and serves his purpose in the book well.īeatty beautifully sets the scene for Serafina's tale. Both children are loners and so their friendship is not as unrealistic as it otherwise might be for a barely servant and member of the family to have. I liked how the relationship between her and Braeden developed. She is desperate to understand who she is and where she comes from, but is also afraid of the answers she might find.
She wants to fit in but knows she doesn't. The story focuses on the mystery of the cloak, who is wielding it, and what exactly it does, but through this we also get to see Serafina's inner struggles. Serafina is a bold and decisive heroine who doesn't always follow directions, but does what she believes to be right and good. To do so, she must face the evil that is stalking them and confront the truths about herself and her mysterious past. They know Braeden is the next victim and Serafina is determined to keep him, the only friend she has ever had, safe. The two children investigate the matter together. In a daring move, Serafina decides to investigate the matter herself and meets the young nephew of the Vanderbilts, Braeden. She soon learns that the young Clara is not the first person to go missing. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleeing from a cloaked predator who seems to consume her whole in his cloak before Serafina eyes. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. Serafina knows she if different and strange. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this.
Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899.
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