Serpent & Dove // Okay, I get it now

Author: Shelby Mahurin
Published On: September 3, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Fiction, YA Fantasy, Romance
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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.

Well. I kinda get the hype now?

I’ve been hearing about this book for FOREVER, and I finally deigned to pick it up since the sequel is coming out in less than a month. I was already excited when I received it in the mail because that cover is SO gorgeous, but I’m actually really glad that I picked this one up!

What I liked:

• Our favorite baddie witch, Lou: From the moment we were introduced to Lou, I liked her. She’s a take no shit, sarcastic, hard-edged female protagonist who has gone through it. I loved her almost resigned attitude towards life and how she’s willing to make the dangerous choice even if it means risking her safety. Her banter with Reid was probably my favorite part of this story, and while I can understand why he’d want to strangle her most of the time, I really loved watching her tease and taunt him into eventual mutual affection.

• Coco, Ansel, Beau, Madame Labelle: A POWER team. Truly. I loved watching this rag-tag group team up and get stuff done, even if it was chaotic and messily thrown together. I hope the next book really develops Coco and Ansel (together….? *wink*) and we learn a bit more about Beau’s backstory and watch him become a competent prince.

• The cool magic system: In this story, nature demands balance. So, when a witch changes some fundamental element of nature, such as breaking a person’s bone, they must repay to balance the scales, usually in the form of some sort of self-sacrifice. This was so cool! I’d never heard of any sort of system like this, but it definitely keeps the scale of the magic to a certain degree, humanizes it a bit.

• The angst, the smut, and the rooftop™ scene: Need I say more? The sexual tension in this was built up SO well, I was just dying for these two to finally get together!! I hope we get a lot more of their ~couple dynamic~ in book two.

What I disliked:

• The copy-cat feel: In all honesty, I felt like throughout this book I was constantly comparing it to other popular YA fantasy. A lot of people have pitched this as Nina-Matthias fanfic, and it definitely holds those sorts of vibes! I think that the magic system is unique enough that it does stand on it’s own as a great fantasy, but it’ll definitely remind you of other elements of YA fantasy you’ve read as you progress through the story.

• Reid was kind of bland? Don’t get me wrong, in the moment I was like “jesus I’m in love with this large, grumpy sweetheart” but after reading I couldn’t really tell you why I love him. Like yes he definitely goes through some *ch-ch-ch-cha-changes* in this book, but when I think about why I loved it, I think about how much I loved Lou! I think this will be addressed in the next book though, as I think he’ll have more of a pronounced arc based on that ending!

Overall:

I definitely see why this is a hugely popular book in the bookish community and I’ve already pre-ordered the sequel, which is set to release on September 1st! On the flip side, I do see where some readers are critiquing this as mostly smutty fantasy – it does focus a lot more on our two mains relationship over plot. BUT, regardless, I’d still recommend it and am happy to have finally gotten this one done! (:

Rating:

Have you read Serpent & Dove? Did you like it? Will you read Blood & Honey next month??

Thanks guys! xx