Serpent & Dove – Spoiler Free Backlist Review

I’m back again with a backlist review! This time I’m talking about Serpent & Dove, which I read early this year. I’m excited to read Blood & Honey next month!

I honestly don’t know why I never reviewed Serpent & Dove when I finished it. I feel like I had enough to say about it. For the sake of transparency though, I did briefly abandon this book when I first started reading it… last year. But I picked it up again, and that’s all that matters.

Serpent and Dove

By Shelby Mahurin

Published 3 September 2019 by Harper Teen
fantasy | young adult | forbidden romance

My rating: ★★★★☆

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

What I Liked

I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers, so obviously I was living for that part of the book. I enjoyed the world it was set in. To be honest I thought it took place in actual ye-olde France, but it’s a whole fictional world. The writing was very descriptive, because even as I’m writing this, I can recall certain scenes in my head like they’re a movie, and I love it when that happens.

I liked the characters, but I’m hoping for a little more in Blood & Honey. I loved reading about Reid, because he’s so awkward around Lou, it’s hilarious. And of course Lou has absolutely no regard for proper etiquette. And then there’s Ansel of course, who must be protected at all times. Plus, I loved the relationship between Lou and Coco. I’m sad Coco didn’t have a more substantial role in Serpent & Dove, and I’m hoping she gets the spotlight more in Blood & Honey.

What I Liked Less

I haven’t talked about plot yet. That’s not to say that I didn’t like that plot at all, because I did. However, I thought too much of the story was shrouded in mystery for my tastes. I had many questions about where Lou came from, why she fled her coven, et cetera. I wanted answers to these questions, but the story didn’t make me want to turn the pages quickly to find out.

That is to say, I thought the first two thirds of the book were a little too slow. Hence why I abandoned it for a while. Not much went on in terms of plot, and I only started to enjoy it more when the relationship between Lou and Reid started to develop more. It wasn’t until the last few chapters that I was actively speeding through it. That said, Blood & Honey is definitely on my “to buy” list for next month.

And that’s it for my backlist review of Serpent & Dove! Shorter than normal, because I can’t remember that many details. Anyway, I hope to get Blood & Honey asap, and review it as quickly as possible, too!

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