Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Serpent & Dove

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

54 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

1.0

“There are some things that can't be changed with words. Some things have to be seen. They have to be felt.”

➽ Serpent & Dove was a massive letdown for me! Initially, I was excited to read it, as I love witchy stories and this was very popular when it came out. The story follows Louise, a young witch who has to hide her identity as her kind is prosecuted by witch hunters. She ends up having to marry Reid, a hunter of the church to cover up a scandal. Usually, I enjoy enemies-to-lovers romances, but not when they are written like that. I rarely give out 1-star ratings, but I had issues with every single aspect of this book. Apart from what I mentioned below, there were also some fatphobic and aphobic comments in the story.

➽ Worldbuilding: The magic system is lacklustre and the setting is shallow. The author wanted this to be a French-inspired world but it's obvious she didn't do proper research. Instead, she randomly uses French words/phrases whenever she likes (it's not even consistent in the story itself) but doesn't follow them up with anything else. It felt like she just translated what words she wanted and sprinkled them into the story. The idea of the different types of witches was interesting but didn't stand out to me at all. The whole world didn't feel cohesive, as the language is too modern but then the author keeps reminding us that this is supposed to be set circa. 15th century, so there's a ton of sexism and religious bigotry.

➽ Writing: The writing style didn't fit the story. Apart from the constant repetitions of some phrases (like 'my husband/wife'), the author used modern language in her medieval setting (I'm not sure what time period this is supposed to be set in, I think around the 15th century?). It was so jarring to encounter modern colloquialisms in the story at times, as no one would have spoken like that. Louise sings a song that starts with "Big Titty Liddy" multiple times throughout the story and apart from being cringey and vulgar, it didn't fit into the setting at all!

➽ Main Character: Louise was probably one of the least annoying things about this book. I liked that she's in hiding and trying to outrun her past, as she's sick of being seen as a sacrifice. In general, her feisty attitude and humor were endearing at first. I also liked her friend Coco, but she sadly didn't get enough page time. In the end, her vulgar song and language got on my nerves though. Her mindset was way too modern for the setting, but at the same time, she made SO many excuses for Reid's possessive and sexist behavior.

➽ Love Interest: Reid was a horrible character who never changed. He's a witch hunter and works for the church, so he despises witches but has no idea his new wife is one. Reid never makes an effort to unlearn his own bigotry and keeps treating witches like animals. His bloodlust and dehumanisation were unpleasant to read about. His possessive and aggressive behavior never changed and it often felt like it was Louise's task to 'fix' him. There was no nuance in their dynamic and obviously, Reid magically changes his opinion only in the very end via the 'power of love'. Even secondary characters like Ansel - a fellow hunter - slowly change, but Reid clings to the church's teachings, even when they become improbable.

When Reid finds out Lou is a witch, he overreacts as you would expect. There is no moment when he realises witches aren't as bad as he thought. The reason he changes his opinion is only because he loves Louise and not because he saw the error of his ways. Reid doesn't seem to care about all the witches he hunted, tortured and killed throughout the years. His whining about 'Lou's betrayal' annoyed me and I saw no real remorse from him.

➽ Romance: Reid and Louise's relationship was so offputting and unhealthy. The reason they have to marry is so fabricated and ridiculous, it didn't happen organically throughout the story. It's offputting from the beginning that he only marries her, as the city thinks he sexually assaulted Louise. This isn't true, but obviously, the church thinks that he has to 'save his image'. The church is full fo sexist attitudes and Reid isn't much better. He was controlling and possessive over Lou at times and definitely thought she was more like his property because she was his wife. Reid doesn't have any character development like I though and it's Lou who excuses his behavior and tries to fix him. Their relationship was just a big red flag for me!

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acogna's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

It was so close to being a good book by around the 75% mark,

what with the rescue plot

and interesting lore

(and the rule breaks thereof)

. But even praise like that won't save the book from being an asinine number of aggravating scenes strung up together in the semblance of Something Happening, its too-literal interpretations of the real-life Church in what amounts as a medieval fantasy France (where everyone speaks in modern slang, apparently), base-level engagement of gender dynamics and repression, and the lack of organic chemistry between its leads.

Horrific to go through. I was spending the last half checking to see how far I was away from the ending.

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katievallin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

bluebreex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It definitely did not live up to the hype for me and I didn't really love the romance in this book: it felt a bit forced and rushed. But, I did find the portrayal of witches and magic really interesting! The magical aspect was the main thing that kept me invested, as for me I did not get that invested in the plot until around Act 3.

I found Lou being the character I liked the most all in all - however that doesn't count for much in the end due to how I found almost all of the men in this book to be perverted and creepy. (Whether that was intentional or not).

Not sure if I will continue with this series or not.

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bzliz's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Can a witch and a witch hunter fall in love? Louise aka Lou has been on the run for a few years, doing whatever it takes to survive, though she never could have dreamed her survival meant marrying someone hellbent on destroying her and her kin. Reid was raised to believe in the wickedness of witches and to bring about their destruction above all else. His sense of righteousness leads him into a marriage with Lou despite his condemnation of her criminal ways.

The book is well paced and establishes stakes early on while continuing to drop bits of lore along the way to keep readers hooked. Lou is an endearing scamp and Reid is a very good boy learning that the world isn’t necessarily what he thought. They both grow to understand each other’s point of view as their relationship develops. A very fun read despite one of my least favorite tropes- closing out the book with a lead-in to the next which the audience has no context for but it feels like it’s supposed to be a mic drop moment.

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leticia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

what_karla_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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galdwayne's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book had the potential, and I really really liked the plot. It was unique but the execution was awful. I'm actually sad that I did not like it this much, especially since Ansel is my new found boy. It was also lacking in terms of Lou's magic, I know she's hiding, but I wanted to see more of her witch side. Aside from that, the book is way too long, I would have loved it if it were shorter. I still think that I would read the next books, and I just truly hope it gets better.

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cait's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

readabilitea's review against another edition

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adventurous relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this one, perhaps because I was expecting nothing special, but actually it ticked all my boxes: exciting plot, interesting and well-developed romance, witches. I found the coded-France setting to sometimes be a bit laboured and there were certainly similarities to other popular fantasy/romance series (e.g. From Blood and Ash) but I found this surpassed them because time was taken to develop the romance and it didn't fall into the instalove trap and there were some twists that I didn't see coming

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