Serpent & Dove

5.0

4.0 (1)

235 0

Write Review Add to favorites

Author(s)

Shelby Mahurin

Publisher

Harper Teen

Genre(s)

Fantasy

Age Range

13+

Release Date

September 03, 2019

ISBN

B07H4YFCSQ

Buy This Book

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. As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage. Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Beautiful, Rich Read

September 17, 2019

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

N/A

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Lou is on the run from her family and she lives a thieving life with her friend Coco. Both of them are witches, but their magic is completely different from one another because they aren't from the same coven. When Lou finds herself in a sticky situation, she has no choice but to enter a marriage with the captain of the Chasseurs, Reid. The Chasseurs' sole purpose is to kill witches which means Lou is hiding in plain sight.

Reid is a man of morals and even though he doesn't like the idea of marrying Lou, he won't go against the Archbishop. So, he accepts the responsibility of being Lou's husband, even if it means having to be good to her. Lou is unlike any other women he's met. She's crass and doesn't have respect for the Archbishop. This strains their relationship even more because neither can see eye to eye, but they're both stuck with one another.

SERPENT & DOVE is an alluring debut that leaves me wanting more from Shelby Mahurin. She created Lou to be aggressive and she who will do anything to survive, but she also has a heart. Even though she seems reckless, she's actually a strong girl who just wants to live. Reid is a churchman who will kill any witch who crosses his path. It's how he was raised and he knows no different. Living with someone who wants your kind dead isn't the easiest thing to do. Even though they're married, Lou hides the biggest part of herself from Reid. Both characters are strong and I love the character development that unfolds throughout the book.

Final Verdict: This is a story of witches, churchmen, forbidden love, action, betrayal, and so much more. As I read, my heart dangled from a string, threatening to snap at any moment with all of the emotional tension between the lines. I would recommend SERPENT & DOVE to anyone who's looking for a unique read they won't be able to put down.

Bethany Wicker, Listings Manager & Staff Reviewer Top 10 Reviewer 858 reviews

Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0

User reviews

1 review

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0(1)

Characters

4.0(1)

Writing Style

4.0(1)

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A(0)

Already have an account? or Create an account

Great Start to a New Series

October 24, 2019

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

N/A

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

I’d been hearing about this book on Bookstagram, BookTube, and BookTwitter as an anticipated release for September 2019. And then the Barnes & Noble YA Book Club chose it as the book for the October 10, 2019 meeting. So of course, I picked up a copy as soon as I had the money. I’m definitely not sorry I did.

Serpent & Dove is Shelby Mahurin’s debut novel. As such, it does suffer a bit from “first book syndrome” where the story starts off rather slowly and takes a bit to get into. In fact, the only reason I stuck it out was because when I went in to purchase November’s YA book club book, the bookseller who was helping me with my purchase told me she’d read the book and that it should start getting better around page 125. It took me a little longer than that – I had to get to page 239 before I really to go that “I need to keep reading, I have to know what’s happening next” stage. But each reader is different.

Shelby Mahurin doesn’t use a flowery or pretty writing style. I noticed that while she uses descriptions, she doesn’t rely on them as much as other authors (Stephen King, I’m looking at you). I found that there was a perfect balance of descriptions, dialogue, and action.

As far as characters go, I love Lou and Reid. I can’t stand Morgane, Andre, or Grue. Jean Luc is OK, but I’d love to throttle him half of the time. I like Coco and Ansel a lot as well. I don’t want to get into too much detail because honestly, I feel like describing any of the characters would end up as a spoiler.

All in all, I gave the book four stars because the writing and characters are solid. The reason it doesn’t get a full five stars is that it does start out pretty slowly and a bit frustratingly as far as lack of backstory goes. While those things are revealed later, I found myself irritated that these things were being mentioned, but I had no clue what was going on.

I will say that as Shelby Mahurin has announced the title of the sequel to Serpent & Dove as being Blood & Honey, I am eagerly anticipating the second book’s release, whenever that may be.

Good Points

• Unique plotline!
• Easy to read writing style!