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kat1105's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Classism, Death of parent, Murder, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Kidnapping, Death, and Torture
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I recently have no luck with last books of book series (see Locklands or A Sky Beyond the Storm), and Gods & Monsters fits perfectly in this trend, sadly. This book was just too long and slow and didn’t make sense at many moments. It had some amazing scenes though which is the reason why I gave it still two stars.
The story takes place right after Blood & Honey: Our characters still have to deal with what happened at the end of this novel, while also figuring out how they can defeat Morgane and her allies. Lou additionally behaves weirdly, and we learn that she’s possessed by Nicholina for some reason. I believe this was hinted at at the ending of the last book, but I can’t remember . I first found this idea intriguing and kinda creepy, but it later only annoyed me since it almost takes one third of the story until she’s normal again .
Sadly, this is basically everything relevant happening in Gods & Monsters. We have so much random side-questing that barely makes any sense and just consists of our characters searching for other characters or some random objects. Scenes that were interesting and important, like when Lou goes in these holy waters to cast out Nicholina’s spirit , took too much time as well. I was hoping that we would now get more Reid x Lou after all those things, but then Reid randomly loses his memories which was one of the stupidest things I’ve read in a book in a long time and annoyed the hell out of me. This was just a lazy way to create the same dynamic between Reid and Lou from the first book where they hated each other and wanted to kill each other, but this time it’s just Reid hating Lou. I hated everything about since it stretched the plot unnecessarily and led to Reid just being annoying; it didn’t add anything worthwhile to the story .
Besides this, many things simply didn’t make sense and I didn’t understand what was happening. Characters randomly appear without many explanations, like Morgane when Lou is at the holy waters, or Coco’s mother which is a mermaid for some reasons ? On a similar note, many mythical creatures are randomly introduced, like dragons or mermaids, which was just a bit too much and felt too much like 2010s YA fantasy where many creatures are often lumped together as well. Other things that I didn’t understand were how Lou became the new Dame or why she wouldn’t tell Reid from the beginning how he could get his memories back .
But the last 15% aka the finale got randomly so amazing, and I wish the whole book would’ve been like this: Reid finally gets his memories back, right before Lou and him are captured and almost killed – their plan was bound to fail in the first place, but okay. It was such an epic moment how they were saved last minute and how the final fight then starts. This final fight was amazing as well and the scene where Lou and Célie together kill Morgane was so powerful .
Looking on the characters, I still like our main squad quite a lot, even though they all annoyed me at some points in the story. It was nice that Célie joined them (and that she gets her own story told in The Scarlet Veil), and that everyone’s alive in the end but the pairings especially annoyed me here. Coco x Beau came a bit out of the blue and they don’t really match in my opinion. Furthermore, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Reid x Lou here, since there was barely any romance between them. This is mainly caused by this stupid memory loss of Reid which causes all the chemistry between them to just disappear. Only in the last chapters, Lou and Reid are both back to their normal self, but this was just way too late .
All things considered, I honestly don’t know if the Serpent & Dove series is worth it or not. Like many other reviewers note, three books were not necessary and just dragged the story; a duology would’ve been fine but not a trilogy. Seprent & Dove perfectly works as a standalone and I probably would recommend reading it and then deciding if one is enough invested in the world and characters to continue with it – because otherwise, the second and third book are not interesting at all. This is all so sad since I think that the general setting and story had so much more potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, and Death
taliatalksbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin was a lovely and fulfilling end to her Serpent & Dove series. I am 100% in love with these characters. All of them. There isn’t a single character I don’t like (that I’m not supposed to). I don’t want to give away anything since this is the finale, but it’s 100% worth the read. It’s fun, spicy, heartbreaking, and comedic. Truly a page-turner from start to finish. If you haven’t started this series, I’m begging you to go get a copy!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Blood and Child death
anklesock's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
shelbibroeking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a good conclusion to the series, which is hard to do. I wasn’t upset with the pacing—it was just right. The sentimentality and character growth was wonderful, as well. I love this world Shelby has brought us into with Lou and am sad to have to leave it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Child death and Emotional abuse
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-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
4.25
Was this my favorite book ever? No.
Did it deliver on all its promises and provide a satisfying conclusion? In my opinion, yes.
It’s slow and rambly at times, and the unnecessary sex scenes are eye-roll-inducing, but I recognize that it takes a lot of skill to make readers root for such a variety of characters, from the most crass and cantankerous to the prissy, holier-than-though types. The entire last 20% is an edge-of-your-seat, heart-in-your-throat roller coaster.
Content warnings: fire, death, near-drowning
Did it deliver on all its promises and provide a satisfying conclusion? In my opinion, yes.
It’s slow and rambly at times, and the unnecessary sex scenes are eye-roll-inducing, but I recognize that it takes a lot of skill to make readers root for such a variety of characters, from the most crass and cantankerous to the prissy, holier-than-though types. The entire last 20% is an edge-of-your-seat, heart-in-your-throat roller coaster.
Content warnings: fire, death, near-drowning
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Torture
golden_like_dior's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
Graphic: Torture, Animal cruelty, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Genocide, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Violence, War, Abandonment, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Murder
nadiaherondale's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A satisfying end to the saga, although I have to admit I was a bit bored at the middle of the book as Iwasn't a big fan of the amnesia. Nevertheless the final battle was amazing and I really loved how they gave some side characters a bigger role like Celie or Angelica
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and War
alyssasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Grief, Confinement, and Self harm
taylor_annotates's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment