I don't want to say too much, because I'd like this review to be reasonably spoiler free. So here's a short list of what I loved about this book (followed by a shorter list of what I didn't love so much):1. Seraphina herself is amazingly realistic, for such a fantastic character, and amazingly likeable, for someone so prickly.2. Plus there are three other characters who are just as great.3. And even the peripheral characters are interesting.4. Plus, what a great villian! The whole conflict is astonishing, gripping, and builds to a great denoument.5. Finally, I loved the setting, the fantastic elements (such as Seraphina's garden -- deeply creepy, yet logical -- and therefore rather "dragonlike!"), and I adored the music! I want a companion CD, with melodies, harmonies, and sheet music downloads, please!I was not as delighted with the prose style. But that may be just because it was a little modern for my taste. (There was one point, when I was reading a conversation, when I started to ask myself, "OK, how would they really have phrased that...?" ) Also, the book is well written, and carries you right along, and I loved the glossary -- but was sometimes annoyed by how necessary it was. And I'm pretty good at keeping strange names, etc. straight! Also, some of the grotesque elements got a bit much at times (at least for me) -- but I loved the humor.Will you like it as much as I did? Well, I think you will love it if you love music. And I think it may appeal to you if you like:[b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|24213|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|Lewis Carroll|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872220s/24213.jpg|2375385][b:The Tears of the Salamander|289574|The Tears of the Salamander|Peter Dickinson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173449352s/289574.jpg|2997053][b:The Dream Merchant|659399|The Dream Merchant|Isabel Hoving|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1176843895s/659399.jpg|645479][b:Tiger Moon|7031745|Tiger Moon|Antonia Michaelis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328812904s/7031745.jpg|3799168]Or, of course, a classic dragon tale, such as [b:The Farthest Shore|13667|The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle #3)|Ursula K. Le Guin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349049659s/13667.jpg|1322014] or [b:Dragon's Keep|626096|Dragon's Keep|Janet Lee Carey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328876064s/626096.jpg|612447].(PS 4.5 stars would have been the perfect rating for me, but I always want to rate books I enjoy too high, rather than too low.)
