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dezzyj's review against another edition
4.0
I will be honest and say that it took me quite a few days to get into this book. But once I was in, I was IN. I loved the main character Lou’s personality. She is blunt and crass. I have not read many books with a female protagonist quite like her. I do not normally read fantasy, so complex world-building tends to be the thing that steers me away from a book. But Mahurin set the rules early in the book and I was able to adapt quickly. I am interested in reading the two books that follow Serpent and Dove.
booksarethebesttherapy's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book. A witch marrying a witch hunter? Sign me up. Wish the religious aspect was a little more nuanced and less on the nose but overall a fun story
erinicole's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
clearskyzs's review against another edition
5.0
Yo this was so good that I just had a 10 hour reading session (I read slow
bibliore's review against another edition
3.0
WHY DOES GOODREADS EXPECT ME TO WRITE A REVIEW RIGHT AWAY???? AHHHHHHHHH
real rating: 3.5
uh, hello again, darling, uh
it was good but mid enjoyable not life changing. loved how the witches worked and stuff. the MMC is ginger.... uh im mean cool but i ain't into that and he also a good Christian boy (or was) also not into that. no shade
real rating: 3.5
uh, hello again, darling, uh
it was good but mid enjoyable not life changing. loved how the witches worked and stuff. the MMC is ginger.... uh im mean cool but i ain't into that and he also a good Christian boy (or was) also not into that. no shade
decayoflyre_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
lolsouth's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
emilye3's review against another edition
5.0
This book was such a unique gem of a read. I loved Lou and Reid’s characters and their slow burn relationship. I even found myself really enjoying getting to know most of the side characters. Even though this is a long book, I found myself flying through it and couldn’t put it down. I can’t even tell you how many times I laughed throughout this book, I loved it. I found myself able to picture certain scene as they played out in my mind. I highly recommend this book and I can’t wait for the next one in this series.
nivis's review against another edition
2.0
This book hooked me so fast with its initial chapters that I finished the entire thing in a night, but after I got to the end, I realized I didn't really like 85% of what I read and it was probably just to procrastinate doing my work LOL
-- spoilers --
Ok so first off, we start off pretty strong with the main character. I know people don't like Lou, the MC, because she's the stereotypical YA idgaf crass female lead. But I won't lie, I'm kind of a sucker for that. And she was cool (only for a little bit). I also LOVED Coco, and Ansel was pretty great. As for Reid, I feel like he could have benefitted from a personality...but whatever.
Now we have the romance, since that was pretty much the biggest part of this book. I do unapologetically love the enemies to lovers trope so I was intrigued by the whole witch x witch hunter thing. I mean, Reid (the ML) literally believes all of Lou's kind deserves death sooo how is this going to work?
Would Reid, throughout the story, eventually come around to realizing that witches are people with feelings and a right to live? And he eventually falls in love with her because of that? And will Lou, through seeing that humanity, also love him in turn?
Well, no. They just randomly fall in love with each other for no reason. It's like a switch flipped. But more than just disappointing, it was really jarring. Reid doesn't really ever come around when it comes to witches (maybe just barely in the last 10 pages). He continues to burn witches at the stake IN FRONT of Lou and she just...forgives him? Still loves him somehow? Because he's hot, or something? Meanwhile he thinks her entire species should die and personally sees to that end?
Huh?? What do you mean by that like actually what do you mean by that...he's literally the captain of the Chausseurs and has personally executed witches and is currently hunting your friend, he's the worst blue pig of them all lmfao. The whole thing about forgiving Reid, falling in love with him despite him not showing growth or empathy for witches EVER, and excusing it with "this is all he ever knew, it's not his fault." He's a grown man. He can take accountability for his actions. It lowkey also had a blue lives matter/not all cops undertone when I applied it to real life and I didn't enjoy that at all.
The worst part is bro didn't even care about whether she lived or died for a hot second after she revealed that she was a witch. Ansel, a side character, cared more about her than her literal love interest. And she still immediately forgave him after reuniting at the end of the book because she loves him? Have some fucking shame and dignity this man literally wants your entire race dead. And you're clinging to him talking about "he's different." Reminder that this book is touted as feminist...bruh.
Also we just ended any chance for future growth with Reid's relationship with witches because he was revealed to be one at the end. Now it's less about him recognizing that witches are still people and deserve the right to live and more about a self-acceptance journey. It's a lot easier to recognize witches are human when you turn into one. Boring.
More importantly I think "omg men can be witches too!" is weird as hell to write because it vastly took away from the power of the witches' lore and Angelica's story (they were hunted, tortured, oppressed by men because men were jealous and wanted witches' powers for themselves, but to no avail as only women could wield magic and thus held their own). Now some random dude can wield it because of the power of love. Reminder that this book is touted as feminist...bruh.
There are also a bunch of plot holes and generally things that didn't make sense. How did they not suspect Labelle was a witch? She is literally the WITCHIEST LOOKING PERSON in the book and was also EXTREMELY SUS like be serious. Why didn't Andre and Grue rat Lou out as a witch? Why wasn't Coco recognized as Brie? And the way Lou's confession to Reid (about being a witch) kept getting cut off by random occurrences was just so cliche and unrealistic. There's more but this is too long and I'm sleepy.
-- spoilers --
Ok so first off, we start off pretty strong with the main character. I know people don't like Lou, the MC, because she's the stereotypical YA idgaf crass female lead. But I won't lie, I'm kind of a sucker for that. And she was cool (only for a little bit). I also LOVED Coco, and Ansel was pretty great. As for Reid, I feel like he could have benefitted from a personality...but whatever.
Now we have the romance, since that was pretty much the biggest part of this book. I do unapologetically love the enemies to lovers trope so I was intrigued by the whole witch x witch hunter thing. I mean, Reid (the ML) literally believes all of Lou's kind deserves death sooo how is this going to work?
Would Reid, throughout the story, eventually come around to realizing that witches are people with feelings and a right to live? And he eventually falls in love with her because of that? And will Lou, through seeing that humanity, also love him in turn?
Well, no. They just randomly fall in love with each other for no reason. It's like a switch flipped. But more than just disappointing, it was really jarring. Reid doesn't really ever come around when it comes to witches (maybe just barely in the last 10 pages). He continues to burn witches at the stake IN FRONT of Lou and she just...forgives him? Still loves him somehow? Because he's hot, or something? Meanwhile he thinks her entire species should die and personally sees to that end?
Marrying a blue pig. I didn't think even you could stoop that low. Whatever Reid was, he wasn't a blue pig.
Huh?? What do you mean by that like actually what do you mean by that...he's literally the captain of the Chausseurs and has personally executed witches and is currently hunting your friend, he's the worst blue pig of them all lmfao. The whole thing about forgiving Reid, falling in love with him despite him not showing growth or empathy for witches EVER, and excusing it with "this is all he ever knew, it's not his fault." He's a grown man. He can take accountability for his actions. It lowkey also had a blue lives matter/not all cops undertone when I applied it to real life and I didn't enjoy that at all.
The worst part is bro didn't even care about whether she lived or died for a hot second after she revealed that she was a witch. Ansel, a side character, cared more about her than her literal love interest. And she still immediately forgave him after reuniting at the end of the book because she loves him? Have some fucking shame and dignity this man literally wants your entire race dead. And you're clinging to him talking about "he's different." Reminder that this book is touted as feminist...bruh.
Also we just ended any chance for future growth with Reid's relationship with witches because he was revealed to be one at the end. Now it's less about him recognizing that witches are still people and deserve the right to live and more about a self-acceptance journey. It's a lot easier to recognize witches are human when you turn into one. Boring.
More importantly I think "omg men can be witches too!" is weird as hell to write because it vastly took away from the power of the witches' lore and Angelica's story (they were hunted, tortured, oppressed by men because men were jealous and wanted witches' powers for themselves, but to no avail as only women could wield magic and thus held their own). Now some random dude can wield it because of the power of love. Reminder that this book is touted as feminist...bruh.
There are also a bunch of plot holes and generally things that didn't make sense. How did they not suspect Labelle was a witch? She is literally the WITCHIEST LOOKING PERSON in the book and was also EXTREMELY SUS like be serious. Why didn't Andre and Grue rat Lou out as a witch? Why wasn't Coco recognized as Brie? And the way Lou's confession to Reid (about being a witch) kept getting cut off by random occurrences was just so cliche and unrealistic. There's more but this is too long and I'm sleepy.