What Exactly Does the Black Cloak Do?

Serafina is the Chief Rat Catcher at the Biltmore Estate, residence of the Vanderbilt family. Only no one knows that she and her father live there in the basement. Serafina doesn’t have any friends, but she is very close to her father. She's never been outside and has been warned to never, ever go in the woods. Serafina spends the nights prowling. She knows the estate well from years of hiding in the shadows and creeping around. But one night, while out catching rats, she hears crying. When Serafina investigates, she sees a man in a black cloak trying to catch a young girl. He keeps saying he won’t hurt her, but she's clearly terrified, and Serafina vows to help her escape. With a swish of his cloak, the girl disappears. Serafina manages to get away. The next day, during an encounter with Braeden Vanderbilt (the owner’s nephew who lives there), she learns that other children have recently gone missing. The adults are starting to worry and search parties begin to form. Together Braeden and Serafina embark on a wild journey to see if they can uncover who is wearing the black cloak and figure out what he's doing with the children. Will they be able to piece together the clues? What does the cloak do? What happens to the children enveloped in its folds? Why isn’t Serafina supposed to go in the woods? You’ll have to check out this chilling tale to find out!

I have had Serafina and the Black Cloak on my TBR list since I first read about it on another blog. It’s taken me a while to get to it, and I really did not know what to expect. I liked the fact that Serafina was braver than she thought. When she met Braeden they became fast friends, but it made sense based on the disappearing children and the fact that neither of them had any friends. The black cloak was crazy, and I was very curious about the person behind it. I wondered what it did and what happened to the people who were swept up in it. Thankfully all those questions were wrapped up in the end. Serafina’s father seemed to be a gentle soul and I was happy she had him in her life. After reading the book, I was curious and had to look up the real Biltmore Estate since so much of the book took place there. Wow! It's easy to see how, with a house that size, someone could live in the basement and never be discovered. This book is a nice mix of realistic fiction and fantasy for those who enjoy a little bit of spooky. I’d recommend it to anyone in fourth grade and up who likes slightly creepy reads. It looks like there are a few more books in the series, too!

Has anyone else read Serafina and the Black Cloak? Or another book by Robert Beatty? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!
~L