Serafina and the Twisted Staff - book review

Hi! Some of you may remember my admittedly raging review about Serafina and the Black Cloak. It was a bit furious, I know. But I picked up the sequel, just to see if the writing would get better. I mean, I reasoned the author must be a newbie. Maybe he would improve in his next book. And Serafina and the Twisted Staff doesn't disappoint. It picks up two straight weeks later after Serafina defeats the Black Cloak, and takes us on another adventure with another object.

Serafina and the Twisted Staff is infinitely better than its predecessor. The pacing of the plot is perfect, and I actually began to like Serafina as a character. I mean, she's still a bit special-snowflake-y, and sort of terrible when it comes to making decisions, but she grew as a character. I cared about her, which in the other book I didn't. She had actual development and a journey, and I really loved that.

I wish the Twisted Staff had more story, because it's actually in the title. It just seemed to be this stick that can coincidentally control animals and has a cool name. I mean, it definitely sounds better than the generic "Black Cloak" but it doesn't have much backstory, other than the Black Cloak.

This book is so much better than Serafina and the Black Cloak. I know I've already said this, but whatever. The villains were better. The twists were better. The whole lore of the forest still isn't completely explored, but in this case, I'm fine with that. You know why? Because the entire blurb of the first book focused on the forest. This one focuses on many things.

This compelled me to pick up the sequel, and I'm definitely doing that!