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A review by magpie4
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
2.0
I had heard great things about this book and everybody was talking about how good it was, but I didn’t under stand the hype. I had my own issues with the book, but I watched some reviews and realized there were a lot of problematic elements within the book.
•World Building
The world had the potential to be good. The magic system was cool with the different types of witches, but it became really inconsistent. Dame Blanches had to pay a price for their magic and Louise always had to give something in return, but it seemed liked other Dame Blanches never had to pay a price, which really confused me and inconsistent. I think the book was set in medieval France, but there was modern slang thrown in there every now and it just put me out of the story.
•Characters
I did not really like any of the characters in this book. Louise was super annoying in my opinion. She is your typical YA “I’m not like other girls” trope , which I hate. She disliked any girl who had feminine characteristics which is inherently problematic. Reid was ok. I like how he respected Louise as and individual and his wife at the same time. He respected women and that was something I appreciated About his character. Although, sometimes he would say things that made me rethink his characters. He was really possessive of Louise which was a little weird. The antagonist was very 2 dimensional. She just felt like a cardboard cutout, not a human. What I liked about both Reid and Louise is that they were both in the morally gray area. They had both done questionable things and they are both struggling with what is right and wrong.
•The Romance
In the beginning the romance was slow burning and I really liked it. I assumed it was going to be insta lovey, so I’m glad I was wrong, but all the sudden in the middle of the book they suddenly became infatuated with each other. When that flip switched it was really disappointing because it had the potential to be a great slow YA romance book, but nope.
•The Writing
This was by far my biggest issue with the book. I just found it really hard to mesh with the writing style. It really pulled me out of the story. It felt like she didn’t know how to write a complete sentence. The author really likes to describe things with one word sentences and that really bothered me. It felt like none of the sentences were grammatically correct. This happened consistently throughout the story and it just did not mesh with me. I also felt like it was a lot of tell and now show. We were told that they were feeling sad or happy and that he went here or did this, we were not shown it. When major things happened, such as Reid using magic to bring Louise back from the dead, it was often ignored for several chapters or the characters knew, but chose to not say anything. Reid just used magic, and he is boy!!!!! Why was no one freaking out, because I sure was?!
•Problematic Issues
I realized how bad people of color were treated in the book. Not only were they lacking in this book, but they way they were described compared to white people was ridiculous. When a white character was introduced their appearance was described with lots of detail such as their jawline, eye color, body hair etc, but any person of color is only described with their hair and skin color. It is basically assumed that people are white, unless told other wise. The way plus sized people were portrayed was horrible.
Overall I disliked this book mainly because of the writing style. I’m unsure if I will pick of the sequel.
•World Building
The world had the potential to be good. The magic system was cool with the different types of witches, but it became really inconsistent. Dame Blanches had to pay a price for their magic and Louise always had to give something in return, but it seemed liked other Dame Blanches never had to pay a price, which really confused me and inconsistent. I think the book was set in medieval France, but there was modern slang thrown in there every now and it just put me out of the story.
•Characters
I did not really like any of the characters in this book. Louise was super annoying in my opinion. She is your typical YA “I’m not like other girls” trope , which I hate. She disliked any girl who had feminine characteristics which is inherently problematic. Reid was ok. I like how he respected Louise as and individual and his wife at the same time. He respected women and that was something I appreciated About his character. Although, sometimes he would say things that made me rethink his characters. He was really possessive of Louise which was a little weird. The antagonist was very 2 dimensional. She just felt like a cardboard cutout, not a human. What I liked about both Reid and Louise is that they were both in the morally gray area. They had both done questionable things and they are both struggling with what is right and wrong.
•The Romance
In the beginning the romance was slow burning and I really liked it. I assumed it was going to be insta lovey, so I’m glad I was wrong, but all the sudden in the middle of the book they suddenly became infatuated with each other. When that flip switched it was really disappointing because it had the potential to be a great slow YA romance book, but nope.
•The Writing
This was by far my biggest issue with the book. I just found it really hard to mesh with the writing style. It really pulled me out of the story. It felt like she didn’t know how to write a complete sentence. The author really likes to describe things with one word sentences and that really bothered me. It felt like none of the sentences were grammatically correct. This happened consistently throughout the story and it just did not mesh with me. I also felt like it was a lot of tell and now show. We were told that they were feeling sad or happy and that he went here or did this, we were not shown it. When major things happened, such as Reid using magic to bring Louise back from the dead, it was often ignored for several chapters or the characters knew, but chose to not say anything. Reid just used magic, and he is boy!!!!! Why was no one freaking out, because I sure was?!
•Problematic Issues
I realized how bad people of color were treated in the book. Not only were they lacking in this book, but they way they were described compared to white people was ridiculous. When a white character was introduced their appearance was described with lots of detail such as their jawline, eye color, body hair etc, but any person of color is only described with their hair and skin color. It is basically assumed that people are white, unless told other wise. The way plus sized people were portrayed was horrible.
Overall I disliked this book mainly because of the writing style. I’m unsure if I will pick of the sequel.