Book Review: Serpent and Dove
- Rudi
- Feb 22, 2021
- 3 min read
Details
Name: Serpent and Dove
Series: Serpent and Dove #1
Author: Shelby Mahurin
My Rating: 3.5/5
Date of Release: 3rd September 2019
Synopsis
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.
Review
Serpent and Dove for me was the one book that you've wanted to read for ages but never got about to actually reading it. Finally, now that the second book Blood and Honey is out and even the third book Gods and Monsters is releasing later this year I decided to stop making excuses and finally read it.
Can I just say that I absolutely love the setting of the book. It is a perfect mix of the academia aesthetic and the dark fairycore aesthetic. And neither of the two are overwhelming. As a lover of dark academia I enjoyed the little details of the church and the theatre. While the fairycore was far more subtle and more urbanised than what I've previously read it was and interesting perspective.
I really liked the concept and the story. The idea of our heroine being in an imminent danger that we do not actually learn till the end of the book is definitely a nice cliched touch. Also can we take a moment to appreciate the detail of the side plots please. They are absolutely wonderful (I'm trying really hard here to not give away any spoilers y'all... like REALLY HARD). One thing I did find however is that the story goes way too much into detail halfway through and the ending really seems slightly rushed.
Can I just say that Lou is a queen. I just want to put it out there- she is the most badass, don't-give-a-care-but-I'll-still-win-your-heart-over-without-you-knowing sweetheart I have met in all my reading life. She sure won me over. I completely understand why Reid fell in love with her, seriously she's just amazing!
Coco seems to be a lot like Lou although we don't see a lot of her character in this book although it is made very eminent that she values friendship over anything in this world when she refuses to leave Lou alone in the face of danger.
Finally we have Reid. I'm going to say it outright- he was a stuck up goody two shoes in the beginning. As he loosens up and we get to see the real him and he seems like a decent guy. By God! that guy loves his morals more than anything, that is, until Lou comes along and shows him that life and love hold way more value than anything else. Although I did seem to have a little confusion with his 'anger issues' part. He only seems to short tempered with Lou really(feel free to let me know if I'm the only one who thinks so in the comments).
Being a sucker for any sort of action, I was a tiny bit disappointed with the the lack of it in Serpent and Dove. Overall though this is a great book and if you're looking for Young Adult Fantasy Romance then this is it.
"Maybe men can learn a thing or two from women."
-Lou (Serpent and Dove)
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