Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Serpent & Dove

Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

33 reviews

alxisrae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

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kijatai's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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

I enjoyed it. The world building was good and the main character was interesting. I preferred the story towards the end. I won’t spoil but this is where I could finally feel what the characters were experiencing and I started rooting for them. I actually liked the change of the scenery.

I just recently started reading again and it’s been hard to get out of my reading slump but this book was easy to read for me and it was nice to just immersed myself in the story. The moment I could see myself pausing, something happened that hooked me back in.

On the other end, I guess I didn’t really like the heteronormative dynamics. There are depictions of violence against women. And graphic images of violence in general. So be aware to read these on your own terms. But I knew all that before hand. It’s a book about an arranged marriage between a man in a woman in a religious context where they are hunting witches. Just be sure to check the trigger warnings first. And the reason for them to be married is… questionable. Even though it’s explained more later on.

There are representations of relationships between women though. I just hope in the next book it will be explored more.

I liked the magic as well in this world.

I’m actually wondering how things will develop in the next book and if we will be able to see more on the side of the witches. I was honestly more interested in the political intrigue than the romance itself. Even if it was a great love story with all the tropes (guilty pleasures) that I enjoyed (the tall man that will do anything to protect his love for example).

In all, I had a nice time reading it on my kobo in my bed with my cats on a snowy snd stormy night. It felt like I was in the world itself since it’s set in Winter.

*about the content warnings
These are mentioned and described. The main characters are loving and caring to each other. it’s just the world around them and what happened to them that are ugly and triggering.

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imaginationindex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

“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.”

What I Loved:

Enemies-to-Lovers paired with a marriage of convenience with a sprinkling of sharing-one-bed and “that’s my wife”… 🙌🏻
I loved the two secs of witches, Dames Rouges and Dames Blanches. I’m curious to learn more about the Blood Magic as well as
how Reid was able to do magic when we should have been dying 😅
Ansel, you sweet boy! Coco, what a badass! I like how we flipped the script on traditional gender roles
This is a perfect example of new adult stories; our characters are adults who can make their own decisions and swear.

What can burn (this seems very aggressive but I was going for a theme 🧙‍♀️🔮✨)

While the fantasy world was a total vibe, there are some moments where the religion aspect of the anti-witch stance gets to be a bit much. That might just be me but the Archbishop needed to relax 95% of the book
I noticed a lot of re-explaining and telling. I get that we had the dual POV and catch up might have been needed, but I thought it was clearly shown so we could have saved ourselves a few pages.
Genuine question, when were we? The France inspired world was cool but we had swords and monarchy, but full theatres and working bathrooms

The building of tension was well paced and I will be continuing with the series with Blood and Honey up next ✨🩸🍯✨

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zia_c's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I think I'm in love with the fmc. Must be her "i-don't-give-a-fuck" attitude toward everything. As for the mmc, he's sweet but aside from that i don't see no personality.

The plot is good but it's kinda confusing for me. There's no time reference and not much detail about the world. I don't even know the mmc's age.. lol.

Either way, I enjoyed reading it. The ending wasn't satisfactory nor was the 3rd part of the book but anyway. I'm rating this book on fmc alone.

It's been a very long time since I've found a fmc with a spine and a impressive mouth( not like that).

I don't know if I'll continue the series. I've got what I wanted and I can kinda see where the story's going so imma put in down for now. Reason is the YA writing style. The writing is beautiful and engaging, no doubt, but I still kinda not completely connect with it.

The story is good and I think those who enjoy YA will really like it.

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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

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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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