Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Serpent & Dove

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

5 reviews

kijatai's review against another edition

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.

Content Warnings

kimmag92's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.75

I went into Serpent & Dove not knowing much about the plot and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting a vaguely 1700s French witch hunting book that is also a critique of Christian ideology but I'm here for it. Overall, I enjoyed this book especially Lou and Coco. I would have liked to see more build up to the romantic portion of Lou and Reid's relationship. I knew as soon as Reid was introduced he was our love interest but the shift from Lou and Reid barely tolerating each other to "I love you" still felt sudden and not well explained.

I do think Serpent & Dove falls into the category of YA that is written for adults and not teens as the characters late teen ages don't matter to the story. For much of the book they read much older and I think had the author aged up the characters to their mid-20s and marketed it as adult fantasy the story would have worked much better.

Content Warnings