Book Review: Seraphina

As I mentioned, Runaway Ralph is too short and kiddie to rate a review here. I went right on to one of my birthday books, Rachel Hartman's debut, for my first read about dragons in...OK, less than half a year.

( Cut for length )

For something very different, I have chosen Lavie Tidhar's The Violent Century. It is definitely not for children or teens.

They'll Always Have Paris

An American, Rick, in Morocco
Owns a nightclub and gambling den.
He appears to be perfectly neutral,
Till he meets his ex-lover again.

Now her husband, who leads a resistance,
Is pursued by the wicked Third Reich.
Rick’s acquired two letters of transit
That could help them escape if he likes.

Rick’s unwilling at first, as he’s bitter
At the way she walked out of his life.
She explains she had thought herself widowed;
Then she learned that she still was a wife.

Soon her husband requests, for her safety,
That she fly off to Lisbon with Rick.
But our hero is sure she’d regret it,
And that feeling is certain to stick.

When a major arrives to detain them,
There’s a shootout and Rick leaves him dead.
Though the witnessing captain’s corrupted,
He blames “usual suspects” instead.

It’s a bittersweet end to the movie,
As a beautiful friendship begins
But the lovers are parted forever.
(Now we know that the Allied side wins.)