Serafina, Braeden, and the rest of the Vanderbilt family are back in this second adventure. In the last book, Serafina destroyed the Black Cloak in the Angel Garden, using the Angel's sword to tear it to pieces, but she can feel the evil again, it's back. The Biltmore Estate is once again being threatened by unknown forces. She also knows that she is a catamount, the daughter of a mountain lion, who she visits regularly in the forest surrounding the estate. She is unable to change into her cat persona having been raised by humans. When she is in the forest one night, she encounters a strange and terrifying figure in the forest, and is attacked by the vicious wolfhounds that seem to be under his control. She is able to escape, but is sure that he is not alone, and that someone staying at the grand home is an accomplice. When an event occurs that causes the Vanderbilts to lose their trust in her, she flees into the surrounding mountains looking for a place to call home. She encounters a boy that looks like he lives wild in the mountains and they become friends, but she misses Braeden. The evil grows and all the animals are fleeing before they get caught up in the strangers power. Can Serafina destroy this new evil and find her way back to Biltmore?

Since reading the first book, I have visited Asheville, North Carolina and the Biltmore Estate. Although the area surrounding it is now developed and not a wild forest like it was back in 1899 when this book is set, it gave me an idea of what the home really looked like. This book has shape shifting, mountain folklore, magic and fantasy and evil, lots of evil. The old man of the mountain is now a strong sorcerer of the dark arts and wants the mountains and forest back at all costs. He uses the animals, putting them under his control to get rid of the humans and catamounts. There are characters that are not who they seem and those who are Serafina's allies. Braeden also finds out that he has powers he didn't know he had. With several epic battles, smart moves by Serafina and her allies, magic and some luck, Biltmore survives another day.

I don’t quite know what it was about this book, but I had a hard time getting into it. It would be super exciting for a time, and then super slow and I had a hard time getting through the slow parts. The exciting parts were great though! And I have to say that I did not see either of the big ending twists coming at all! I was shocked! Once I got to those reveals, I couldn’t put the book down! The plot did come together nicely in the end, and it did leave me excited for the next one!

Spooky ambience. Awesome description. I'll admit the whole catamount idea was very odd to me at first and I am a fantasy reader.

I need to create a spooky shelf. Did I put the first Serafina in historical? Can't remember. And while not quite ya not really juvenile, either. Definitely middle school material. And some fifth graders. Maybe fourth. Don't think many younger would "get" it, no matter how advanced they might be.


A twist I did not see coming! Wow.

There were some things about this book that I really liked and some that I liked less, but all in all averaged out to liking the book and thinking that I should read the first book in the series, too. Serafina is a strong female character who rises to the occasion to protect what is dear to her.

Another fantastic installment in this incredible middle grade series: the kind of series I wish were bursting from the shelves. Serafina captivates readers and keeps them wanting to know what happens next.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to download this title before it was archived

The adventures continue for Serafina and Braedan. Something dark and sinister has come to the woods surrounding the Biltmore house on the Vanderbilt estate. There is a detective who wants to question Braedan and Serafina about the disappearance of Mr. Thorne. Lady Rowena has come to visit, she and Braedan are becoming friends, is Serafina jealous? Can Braedan and Serafina figure out the mystery before it's too late?

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1941612700

I really enjoyed the first book, so was excited to read the second. And while the second is a strong story, it wasn't quite as delightful as the first. I found myself getting annoyed at the overly "purple prose" and hyperbolic emotions and rationality of the main character. Maybe that's because I'm not ten, or maybe it's because I have taught writing and would cation against such devices, but either way, it was distracting.

Despite those distractions, I did end up enjoying the story--but I'm not sure I'd read another adventure with Serafina.

It's only been a few weeks since Serafina and Braeden defeated the man with the black cloak. Serafina is now welcomed at Biltmore and no longer has to hide, but she still feels torn between her animal side and her human side. She spends her nights roaming the woods and sleeps during the day. Then one night she is attacked by some wolfhounds and barely escapes with her life. It becomes evident that there is a new evil threatening Biltmore, in the form of a man who can control animals. Together Serafina and Braeden try to find out who is controlling the animals and keep their home safe.

Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty is an exciting sequel to Serafina and the Black Cloak. Although Serafina now knows she is part human, part catamount, she is still unable to transform as her mother does and she wonders if she ever will. The threat to Biltmore is an unusual one that will keep readers guessing. I highly recommend it!

From the start, I did not care for this book. I found it exceedingly dark and at times genuinely frightening. I know darkness is a popular genre of late, but I do not find it appealing. Furthermore, I found Serafina and the Twisted Staff to be repetitively redundant, both in plot and in language. How many times must a girl wander in the darkness and be attacked by various baddies before she begins to understand that perhaps wandering in the darkness is not a good idea? While it is a great idea to present a young, strong, brave heroine to give real girls a role model, I think real girls need more examples of evil to defeat than men in black clothes. Real life has plenty of different evils, and it does a great disservice to society to consistently paint men as evil and most adults as unreliable and unsafe.

Having said all of that, I did enjoy the historical fiction aspect of the novel. I’ve been to the Biltmore estate, and it and its people were well described. I’m glad that Serafina enjoyed pretty gowns. Many times, femininity is downplayed and even disparaged in modern literature.
However, I would not recommend this novel overall because of its darkness.

I received this book for free as an eARC from the author, publisher, and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

I was a little less than enthusiastic in my review of the first book in this series (<a href="http://lookingforagoodbook.com/2016/02/29/serafina-and-the-black-cloak-robert-beatty/" target="_blank">Serafina and the Black Cloak</a>) because the heart of the story came out of nowhere and took the reader by surprise very late in the book. This second volume in the series doesn't wait for the adventure, but puts the reader right into the middle of some action.

It is 1899 and twelve-year-old Serafina works as a rat catcher on the Biltmore Estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Serafina's mother is shape-shifting mountain lion. Her father, she believes, is a handy-man at the estate.

Early in the book Serafina spies a dark figure wandering the woods around the estate, and despite her stealth he manages to know she's there and he sends his hounds out after her. It is only through the intervention of another shape-shifter that she is able to get away. But the presence of the dark figure doesn't bode well for anyone on the estate. Serafina may be the only person who is able to stop the dark figure and save Biltmore, but only if she had the trust and confidence of someone in the Estate and her friendship with Braeden Vanderbilt is currently not at its best (in large part thanks to the new guest, Rowena).

When Serafina learns that the dark figure has the ability to control all animals in and around the estate, she knows she's in for a battle that she can't possibly see winning. But when she discovers the most likely identity of the dark figure, she knows exactly what he's after and her focus shifts to protecting the Estate at all costs.

Author Robert Beatty has written a real spell-binding thriller. Although written for a younger reading audience any adult who enjoys fantasy should get caught up in this book as well.

There are moments in which the introduction of a new character or two doesn't really pan out. I highly suspect that we are meeting some people merely as introduction so that they might be used in a later book. The shape-changing boy, for instance, is really interesting, and we get to learn a fair amount about him, and he does make more than one appearance, but despite what he does here, he still feels unnecessary in this particular book. But I can definitely see him coming back in future volumes.

Beatty's writing is crisp and easy and he makes everything very real. Sometimes uncomfortably so. I'm not squeamish or easily moved, but there were times that I was nervous for our characters.

You will want to read the first book to understand these people a little better, but this book is recommended.

Looking for a good book? <em>Serafina and the Twisted Staff</em> by Robert Beatty is a thrilling historical fantasy that will draw you in and have you turning pages rapidly to what comes next.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.