I was anticipating a book filled with dragons, adventure, and haunting secrets. What I got was lizard-creatures, a lot of walking, no adventure, and a whole lot of "why am I bothering to read this?"

In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons get to be whomever they want. Tess, despite societal, religious, and parental pressures, is too curious and independent to properly fit into the mold everyone is trying to stuff her in. After her latest incident (almost ruining her sister's wedding by breaking an in-law's nose) her parents have had enough and arrange to have her admitted to a nunnery. Before it can come to pass, Tess yanks on her boots and sets out on a long road where she happens upon a childhood friend, a quigutl, who gives her both a purpose and protection on the road.

DNF @ 60%.

I confess to not having read Seraphina before picking up Tess of the Road. While I don't believe it was necessary since it follows her half-sister, I may have missed some world-building that explains how dragons/quigotl/humans fit together in society. I got the gist but it may have helped me see quigutl's as sub-species of dragons rather than the lizard-creatures I could only imagine them as. The beautiful cover SCREAMS normal dragons and I can't help but feel slightly lied to because of it.

When I started, I liked Tess. She always tried to do right by her family but always managed to somehow "screw things up" because, no matter how much her parents tried, she just can't fit the mold they wanted to stuff her in. There was always ongoing tension between her and them.

"She'd always known she was particularly flawed - it was the fabric of her life - but she hadn't been bad on purpose."

However, as the book progressed, I became frustrated at the breadcrumb reveals for her "tumultuous past" and the "memories [that] threaten[ed] to expose her to the world in more ways than one." They were timed extremely weird and came way too slow.

In fact, the entire pacing of the story was grueling. I kept wondering when the action was going to happen, why we kept flashing back to a relationship that DIDN'T MATTER to me, and why I was being fed piecemeal breadcrumbs of her past...only to be GOBSMACKED when (at 55%!) I figure out this isn't supposed to be an adventure to find the World Serpents...it's all about Tess learning to be at peace with herself (not the version of her that everyone tells her she should be).

"The hated innocent becomes hateful. Goodness withers when it is continuously ground underfoot. We fulfill our parents' direst prophesies, then curl around our own pain until we can't see beyond ourselves. You want to walk on? Walk out of that shadow. Walk, girl."


If I'd gone into this expecting the plot to be about Tess working through the various societal, religious, and parental pressures that have been placed on her but never seem to fit in order to find that she actually wasn't broken, or flawed, or inherently bad (despite everyone telling her so her whole life) then I would have had a completely different rate. I would have been able to focus on her growth and each of the scars that she had to tear open to heal and accept herself.

"Your credo goes further than you realized: walk on, yes, but don't walk past people who need you. Uncurl yourself, so you can see them and respond."

Recommended for coming-of-age enthusiasts and Seraphina lovers. Not recommended for adventure enthusiasts because, despite appearances, it isn't one.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't realize this was a book with predecessors. Usually I try not to enter a book world on the third book--but this book was phenomenal despite my lack of knowledge. Rachel Hartman writes a coming of age story that touches on depression, anxiety, what friendship means, rape, teen pregnancy, religion, and how your experiences change you.

The main character, Tess is infuriating and unlikable at first. She's a drunken, depressed teen who treats everyone badly--yet she's entirely engaging and lovable by the end of the story. Tess's past experiences influence who she is and help her become the strong, smart, wonderful character that we want to follow in more books...hopefully there are more books?

I can't wait to read SERAPHINA and SHADOWSCALE. If you like fantasy and dragons and action that is not only plot based, but character driven, you'll love this book!

First of all, let it be clear that I immediately found myself completely won over by Hartman's choice to give voice to a heroine (and a YA heroine at that!) with such a past. I think that alone held a lot of promise as regards the development of the plot, and above all, the character. I was disappointed, however, by the actual unfolding of the events, partly the world building, and basically everything else. The plot is terribly boring, the characters the very opposite of compelling, and I had to struggle with the world building, since this was the first book I've read by Hartman and didn't know the knowledge of the Seraphina duology was, if not necessary, then very useful. I disliked the episodic structure, the tendency to wander off, although the writing style is very rich and luscious, and I also, to my inexpressible regret, I also disliked the heroine.
I am sorry, but Tess of the Road is a no for me.

Finally, all of the hard work Tess had put into finding her sister a good match was coming to fruition. Perhaps after this, her family would leave her alone to do as she liked.

Once the wedding came up, however, she finds out she's wrong. Ever since she made the mistake of falling in love and having a child (that unfortunately died at birth), her family considered her ruined. They preferred she ended up far out of their hair and in a place where they could hide their embarrassment--preferably in a remote nunnery. After all, no one would marry her.

Tess has other ideas. She seeks refuge with her half-dragon sister (another family embarrassment, but at least even half-dragons are considered saints), who gifts her with a pair of traveling boots that fairly beg to be on the road. Tess decides to answer the call, and heads toward a remote city where she might be able to earn a living as a seamstress. On the way, she stumbles upon an old friend--one of lizard-kind, who wants to find one of the fabled World-Serpents revered by his kind. Tess is eager for an adventure.

Tess of the Road is an interesting road-tale of a young woman figuring out for herself what she wants of life, finding it in herself to heal, and deciding what's important to her. It's got solid world building and characters, and made for a good read.

I was under the impression that you didn't need to have read the author's previous books to read this one. Maybe you don't have to, but I think it would have helped. I have not read anything else by this author. I don't think that impacted my overall enjoyment of the book, but I think I would have understood things better if I were already familiar with this world.

I was under the impression that this was a middle grade book. Now I'm not sure. The writing seemed middle grade appropriate, but some of the topics, and a lot of the premise seemed a bit mature to me. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I also didn't really enjoy it. I don't think I liked a single character. But what really killed it was the writing. Bland, long, and dull. I did not have fun with this one. Presumably people who are already invested in the previous series will enjoy it more.

A really wonderful fantasy book for all ages. This is the first book that I have read from this author and I was definitely impressed with its originality and strong storyline.  While I have not read the other books in the previous series, I  didn't feel like I was missing anything so it can be read as a stand alone.

"Tess of the Road" is entertaining and full of great world building, adding depth to the world we were introduced to in the Seraphina duology. It is also a deeply personal story, built more around character then action. When we first meet Tess (introduced briefly in the previous books as Seraphina's younger half-sister), she is both depressed and extremely angry. She's not entirely likeable in this phase, since she has a tendency to lash out at everyone around her, especially those who the outside viewer can see are trying to offer help. After a particularly vicious emotional explosion at her sister's wedding, Tess's family plan to send her away to a nunnery. At this point Tess runs away instead, and the story really begins.

Tess suffered through some horribly traumatic events a few years before this book begins, and she has never really been encouraged or allowed to deal with her emotions (hence her emotional state at the beginning of the story). Alone on the road is the first time Tess has the space to even begin to sort through her memories and discover how she feels about herself, and how those feelings have been warped by how she is seen by the rest of her family. At its heart, this is a book about healing. Tess's story unfolds throughout the book, and while I was at first frustrated by the lack of details it becomes clear that this slow unfolding is completely deliberate. We learn about Tess's past as she is able to face each piece and learns to see events and emotions more clearly then she has in the past. I don't want to give away too many details because I think that it's best for the reader to discover the story slowly.

Don't go into this book thinking that you know what it is. The summary talks about a quest, and while there is a quest it is not really the driving force of the book. The summary also mentions that Tess disguises herself as a boy in order to travel alone. I've seen a few people comment that this makes them wary of the book since they're tired of the "girl dresses as a boy" trope, or because they feel like we need girls who can be heroines as themselves. Don't worry that this is a rehash of a tired fantasy idea. There are strong reasons for Tess to disguise herself as she does. It is very true to her character as established, and is an integral part of her healing process.

There's a lot more that I could talk about in this book, but most other things delve into the realm of spoilers. If you liked Seraphina, then definitely pick up Tess of the Road as soon as you can. If you haven't read Seraphina then I would recommend reading it first since that's where most of the world building details are established (you can probably read this as a standalone, but would be somewhat confused about certain things). This book presents a fantastically accurate and sometimes heart wrenching account of healing from emotional trauma, including the ways that different people around you can help and hinder attempts at healing. Ultimately, Tess's healing takes time, patience, and distance from her former life. It is a journey well worth taking and I hope that other readers enjoy this book as much as I did.

I'm going to admit straight away that I hadn't read any of the previous books set in this world, but I wanted to.They had kind of flickered on my radar, but you know bookish life...so many distractions, so little time. I was first drawn to this book entirely by the cover; I love a dragon story, and the blues (my favorite color) of the beast looking down at the main character was very memorable. So I requested this on Netgalley, and hoped. Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for fulfilling that hope!

Still though, this was a chunk of a book for me, not least because I tried reading it in between shifts and while doing other things, so I settled in last night and determined to finish it. Nearly midnight, and finally, the last pages. But I was hooked, and it just took time for me to fall in love with this world.

Speaking of, the world is obviously vast and you probably do benefit from reading the other books first if you can. There are mentions and hints I found very frustrating, but this just means I'll have to hunt down the other books. The vastness means there is always something else to be discovered, some new character you didn't realize you needed in your life to come along. I felt both sweptup and confused, but it was a good confused.

If you like your heroines impulsive, a little broken but still good, and utterly lost this book might be for you. I don't want to give away any spoilers on the plot since the release date is so far ahead, but suffice to say I loved it and can't wait for more. Four stars!

I didn't realize going into this that Tess of the Road is a companion novel to Hartman's Seraphina books, but it is! If you loved the world she created there, you will love this. But if you have not read those books, you can still read and thoroughly enjoy Tess of the Road. It stands alone and covers new ground. With impeccable world-building and a complicated main character you will root for every step of the way, it's a wonderful addition to YA fantasy.

While I loved Rachel Hartman's other books, this one worked less well for me. The characters, including the main one, were all pretty unlikable. It was understandable based on in-story information that they were unpleasant, but still, I didn't enjoy spending my reading time with them.

It's possible I wasn't the right audience for this book. As much as I loved the Seraphina books, maybe this one would work better for a younger reader.

I'd still recommend people try it. Hartman's other books are worth not taking my word on this one. Hopefully it will work better for you!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. I absolutely loved this world and all of the characters in it. I haven't previously read anything by this author and this book is set in the same world as her other book Seraphina but I was able to follow along quite well. Tess is a misfit who gets in trouble no matter which way she turns and when she is faced with a life as a governess or a nun she decides to make her own fate and goes wherever the road takes her. She meets her old friend Pathka (gender fluid lizard) along the way and they head on an adventure to find the great world serpents. They run into all kinds of trouble along the way and meet all kinds of different people. Anyone who loves fantasy or YA would absolutely love this book. This book is in my top favorites of the year!

I really enjoyed Seraphina and its sequel, Shadow Scale, but this was continuation set in the same world with related characters was even more striking. While those books dealt with real human problems and emotions through a fantasy metaphor, this book ditches the metaphors and deals with pain, trauma, and rage directly while keeping the fantasy setting and situations. I'm only upset it's not a standalone, because now I have to wait for the sequel!

The latest foray into the kingdom of Goredd (previously seen in Amy Unbounded, Serephina, and Shadow Scale) is perhaps Hartman's best effort yet.

Tess of the Road dances on the fine line of what makes a book adult and young adult. That is if you can forgive Tess' age. It is, by and large, a coming of age story that is ripe with adult situations (Tess is 16 at the start of this story). The book launches where Shadow Scale left off - with Seraphina living with the Royal family, but focuses on a new strong female MC, Tess Dombegh, Seraphina's half sister.

Tess reminds me a bit of Tess Of d'Ubervilles although the author has said that this wasn't her intention. Both protagonists were vilified for having premarital sex and getting pregnant. Both are born into societies where the woman is at fault and the man has zero responsibility. Although headstrong Tess Dombegh makes the most of her situation and tries to absolve her guilt by giving her soul and happiness to see her sister successfully married. Tess is flawed and sometimes impetuous but this makes her even more relatable. Tess hits a breaking point at the wedding and this launches us into story.

Told through flashbacks and through Tess' experience on the road south, Hartman unravels Tess past while also helping her find herself. Through nature, hard work and with the help of an old friend, Tess forgives herself and finds strength, compassion and courage to face the future on her own. For anyone who hasn't read the Seraphina duo logy you will love Hartman's world building, prose and humor - Tess in spite of losing everything has not lost her sense of humor.

All your failures and hope, your suffering and striving, the great coils seemed to say, are inconsequential, compared with this. They are nothing. You are nothing.

It was a relief to be nothing; it felt deep and beautiful and true.

Hartman uses something of colossal beauty to ground Tess. I compare this to hiking up a mountain and feeling catharsis after for having conquered not only the height but your owns troubles.

Tess of the Road will connect with anyone who has felt overwhelmed by circumstances. As a daughter of Russian immigrants, my family puts family obligations above all else. You are considered selfish if you put personal needs ahead of family. My mother is far more forward-thinking than my grandparents and has helped me with my feelings but I can relate with Tess' guilt. Although I never quite had to sacrifice my future for my family, I have felt overwhelmed by family obligations, career and personal happiness. As I've gotten older I have learned to say "no" but it took years and still takes time to not feel guilty.

5/5 stars. I cannot wait for the next book!

Tess of the Road follows Tess through a fantasy world where her half-sister is a Saint and a dragon. Her twin is about to be married, and Tess has ruined it all with a lover and a pregnancy. The book has many interesting parts, but it gets very weighed down with the constant badgering of the religious virtues and requirements of the day. Too much emphasis on the "sex" of the story - not that it was graphic, but that it kept coming back to it over and over again. We got it. She made a mistake. It belabored the point so much that the story which started great really fell flat.

"Tess of the Road" is a YA philosophical fantasy. It's not humorous. It's set in the same world as the author's previous novels and involved characters from those novels. The world-building depended largely on calling common fantasy elements by weird names, though the quigutl were unique. Also, the author assumed the reader had read the previous novels so didn't bother to give much background on things and events described in those books. Unfortunately, I haven't read those books.

Tess was curious about sex even as a child, and reading novels inspired her to want romantic love. Bad decisions, naivety, and romantic ideas led to her "ruin" (though that was not her intent), and she's no longer allowed to marry. She's utterly miserable and determined to stay miserable. She finally runs away and takes on a male identity (or two). Still, she considers suicide to end the pain. Then she comes across an old friend with a quest. Her new traveling companion is a dragon-like creature that was female when Tess first met her but is now male. He has an ongoing guilt/hate relationship with his daughter from a rape.

Tess describes her journey as "I’m just walking the road, looking for reasons to keep walking" and feels that "It matters less where you go than that you keep moving." Her mother's religion is very harsh and Tess had "never seen any divine plan, unless the plan was to saddle her with guilt and self-loathing." However, when her companion's quest leads to an awe-inspiring religious moment, she feels like "nothing." "For someone who was nothing, anything was possible. The pressure was off" and "She had permission to let her body do and be and have what it wanted." Which, apparently, is sex. But actions still have consequences. Anyway, this book ended with Tess starting a more traditional fantasy adventure.

The sex scenes were described in vague terms (rather than graphically). There was occasional use of bad language. As the story was more about finding a reason to live and forming her own religion rather than a typical adventure, I didn't care for it.

Tess is the family screw up. “The one most likely to get spanked”. Her whole family thinks it, she reiterates it with her actions and she’s internalised her role to her bones. Due to screwing up her own chances through a series of ‘mistakes’ Tess has to help her sister get married and be the respectable one. After that Tess has two choices – live with her sister and her in-laws and help them raise the babies, or go to a convent.

Tess chooses to pull on a pair of boots and walk away instead.

Along the way she picks up a quest to find out whether the great world serpents she had heard about as a child exist. The real quest of this book, though, is mostly internal.

Full disclosure: I hadn’t read Seraphina before reading this. Good news? It’s not necessary. The world was easily comprehensible even if you hadn’t encountered it before. Did I not quite get what it was Seraphina had done, why she was important, and how she was linked to the royal family? Yes. Did I not get the minor shout outs to previous books in the background? Yes. Did it stop me from understanding the world as it applied to Tess or understanding Tess’s story? Not even slightly.

I enjoyed this book and Tess’s journey, despite the significant subject matter it deals with. Straight up – this book deals with the emotional consequences of rape culture and entrenched societal ideas about the role, abilities and nature of women, and it does it unflinchingly. The themes of control and rigid rules about who gets to have sex and when and how and what the consequences are if you do it wrong are loud and contemporary. Note to readers: Sexual assault is covered here, but it is not gratuitous or the necessary turning point for Tess’s journey. Tess is the catalyst for her journey; her experiences are just part of that.

Across the course of her walk Tess does something remarkable. She has the space and time – unhooked from her society, family and all the expectations and baggage that go with it – to figure some stuff out. Like why was she so unfairly treated after her ‘mistake’? Is she inherently bad? Does she not deserve pity or a way out, but only to suffer forever for her ‘mistakes’? What crap has her family – and particularly her mother – burdened her with and stated as fact about her? Is it true? And does she have to accept it?

Hartman uses metaphor and allegory wonderfully all through this book. The reader goes through the healing process alongside Tess – it’s masterful show don’t tell of a character’s emotional coming of age.

Tess has a whole pile of self loathing and lack of emotional maturity to work through here. Seeing her make incorrect decisions, be bad at things, try new things, and slowly let go of the things instilled inside her that tell her she can’t or she shouldn’t – this is all important. It’s all part of seeing her figure out how to deal with emotionally bad things when your whole support structure acts and treats you as if you deserve to experience these things.

There is a point where, like Tess, most young women have to pull on their boots, run out the door without a plan, and just figure it out. This is an excellent book about doing that. It also has dragons, which is a bonus.

And it’s not all grim! Tess’s story also covers positive and negative sexual and interpersonal relationships, body acceptance, and a host of wise tips from female characters of all walks of life on how to get along and deal with the blows dealt you by a world that doesn’t want any of them to do what they’re doing – which is exactly whatever the hell they want to.

I did feel that, while Tess’s internal journey was magnificent and covering emotional ground in great depth and realness, it could have done with a little more external conflict. I get the themes that were resonating at different levels across the narrative – quests to delve into the heart of something and find the great mysteries there, to unearth things bigger than yourself, and to deal with varying layers of how family relationships can hurt along the way. But I felt the first third to a half of this was slow and could have done with a bigger external hook pulling us through along with Tess’s internal, emotional unwrapping. I never got to the point where I would have put the book down, but the pacing was such that I did forget it for a few days because it wasn’t pulling me in that way. It’s very readable and I ended up loving the story, but I needed it to have a bit more ‘oomph’ to the quest. The ending also shifted pace and tone – necessarily if it’s setting up a sequel – but it made the whole feel still more uneven for me.

Those things are minor, though. This is an important book. This is a book worthy of your time.

I'm not quite sure where I stand. I didn't not read Seraphina, the first book in this universe, but I don't feel that was an issue. Some sections I enjoyed and everything flowed and the story progressed. But others just dragged and felt so forced. Then we hit another good bit. The first third I just couldn't get into. A 17 year old girl who spends her time drink and thinking about the baby she bore at 14. You'd think I would feel sympathy for her, but until much later in the book, Tess mostly just annoyed me. Maybe that was the intent to some degree because I felt about her much like those around her. Eventually I grew to like her more. The book just felt twice as long as it needed to be and I'm not sure I will seek out the third book that I assume will follow.

I had such high hopes for this book. Don't let that deter you from reading this book. Tess of the Road was good. However, it just wasn't for me.

The beginning started off strong. The readers get a sense of Tess' character. She's rebellious, stubborn, and thoughtful. She is thrown into a world unknown and is faced with tasks that seem impossible. There's humor, adventure, and, of course, dragons! What more could one wish for?

The pacing of the book was one of my biggest issues with the book. The story wasn't progressing at a suitable pace to keep me interested. However, Hartman does touch on a few controversial topics such as religion and sexism. I find myself being slowly dragged back in, but only for a short moment.

Tess of the Road is a story of self-discovery and will leave you with questions that you might even want to ponder yourself.

I haven't read [book:Seraphina|19549841] or [book:Shadow Scale|16085457] yet, but after reading this I definitely want to! That being said, I was able to follow this book just fine since it follows Seraphina's half-sister, Tess, and Seraphina is only a side character. I do think I maybe missed some world-building that explains how dragons and humans and quigotl fit together in the society, but not so much that it decreased my enjoyment of the story.

Tess is a problem child. She drinks too much. She isn't the innocent, virginal daughter that her extremely religious mother wants (unlike her twin sister, who can do no wrong). She's too curious. Too independent. And much to the shame of her family, she had a child at age 14, potentially ruining her future prospects.

Women in this society do not have much freedom, so Tess, unable to tolerate the idea of spending her life as caretaker of her sister's future children, chops off her hair, steals some boy's clothes, and sets off on the road with her childhood best friend, a quigotl (lizard person?) who is searching for the legendary World Serpents. She doesn't care what they're looking for as long as she can go where she wants, do what she wants, and not have to answer to anyone but herself.

And along the way, Tess learns who she is and what she wants out of life. I will definitely read the next book if there is one and plan to go back and read the two books about Seraphina.

Maybe I'm hyper-aware of these issues because they've been in the media so much lately, but I'm always glad to have real life issues turn up in fantasy novels. This book deals with gender identity (the quigotl change gender several times in their lives..Tess's best friend was female when they met, but he's male now, and may be female again in the future) and rape culture.

Note: I read this as a free eARC from Netgalley