Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Heks & jager

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Heks & jager by Shelby Mahurin, Sandra Hessels

101 reviews

zia_c's review against another edition

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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zias'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

4.5

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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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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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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selestre's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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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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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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karelidz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

It was... quite unexpected, in a nice suprise type of way.
I bought this back in November and basically just knew it had an arranged marriage trope, so I went into it kinda blind, which was nice, and I really quite enjoyed it.
It took me a while to really understand and differentiate between both pov's, but once I got it, I was good to go. I really liked Lou's pov's a bit better.

Also, judging by the cover and title I kinda expected it to be spicy, but it actually wasn't? I'm not mad about it tho, I really enjoyed the plot without it.
This is one of those books where I want to keep being inside the world even after I finished it, so I'll read the next one, but I'm a bit scared to see where the plot goes, idk where it'll go but I guess I'll find out.

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meghansarmiento97's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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geb's review against another edition

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4.0

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