Book Review – Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Title: Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1)

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication date: September 3rd, 2019

513 pages

4/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis

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.

Review

“Wicked are the ways of women—and especially a witch. Their guile knows no bounds.”

Shelby Mahurin, Serpent & Dove

I am late to the Serpent & Dove party for sure but I see the hype now! I am nervous for the next two books because I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for the second and third books. But, I’m committed to see what happens to Lou and Reid throughout the series.

Lou is a witch in Cesarine, where witches are persecuted by the crown and the church through the Chasseurs (policemen) under the instruction of the Archbishop. Reid is a captain of the Chasseurs and his life goal is to kill as many witches as possible. But when Lou and Reid find themselves married and having to learn to work together, they can’t help but develop feelings for each other. But Reid doesn’t know Lou is a witch, and war is coming to a head.

It took me about 75-100 pages to get into this book. I kept putting it down and not feeling pulled to pick it back up. But thanks to a long care ride I was able to get more into it, and I flew through the rest of the book as events picked up. Hands down Ansel is my favorite character, which is funny because he’s a side character, but he’s so precious and pure and I just want to give him a huge. I was so nervous by the end that I wanted to pull a Joey and put the book in the freezer.

There were several surprises that I didn’t foresee, which really added extra pressure to the storyline. I like that there isn’t a huge cliffhanger at the end, though I do plan to read Blood & Honey next month and continue the series. I wish there was some more explanation into the magic system, but I loved that the Chasseurs really had no idea what was going on. The world-building is really something special.

Happy reading, folks!