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A review by kala_b_reviews
Serpentine Valentine by Giana Darling
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.75
YES!!! Finally! I have been looking for a good sapphic novel and never really got around to finding a good one. When Giana mentioned that she wrote a sapphic novel I was so excited! Excited for her for writing something different, excited that I would have (what I felt) would be a great book to read knowing how much I LOVE her writing. I’ve said this in previous posts and I will continue saying it in case this is your first time reading my reviews but I adore Giana Darling’s writing. She has such a wonderful way of writing books. It always feels so poetic when she writes. The ways that she sets the scenes or the way that she writes how the character feels…you really feel like you’re there in the setting or you feel how the character feels.
Ok, review time. Unfortunately, this review will contain spoilers. So reader beware. I’m sorry but I really wanna talk about it!
I said it previously but, I genuinely adore this book. I know it’s a weird thing to say about such a book that is a Medusa retelling-iykyk-but really, I adore it so much because of the way that Giana wrote the story and these characters. I’ve read so other books that have graphic SA in them and with this one, I felt like she wrote just enough detail to get the point across but not to much for me that I have to step away and come back to it. Because while the SA is talked about throughout the book, it’s really not the main theme of the book. Giana really puts us through a roller coaster of emotions, a lot of it rage and I really felt that especially because of Mina’s utter betrayal, the endless days with Lex having to live through the rumors about her every day, the way the students talked about her and spread so much gossip about her.
Then it was revenge and this was really the longest running theme of the book I think and it’s mainly revenge on Morgan and Mina. For the majority of the book, I really full heartedly, sided with Lex on getting any and ALL types of revenge she could possible get on these two. UGH oh how I hated these two. On the theme of revenge, my favorite is the Man Eater Crew. Victims forced to become the scary things that go bump in the night for all the awful predators that took what they wanted from them. My least favorite (but also my other favorite bc of the end result) was revenge on Mina by going for her daughter.
Leading me to the last emotion I want to mention, because this is quickly becoming an essay (sorry), love. I just love that Lex really brought out the best in Luna and in return, it brought out the best in Lex without her even noticing til it slapped her in the face. First off..that initial meeting in the library?!?!?!?? HOT!!! They barely did anything but my gosh!!! The fact that Luna’s first step of becoming her better self is first realizing that she was living a lie and that she was bi?! So sweet! And for Lex? She freaking passed out the first time she O’d , as her sister said, she really was so dramatic. But I get it, it was really the panic attack that had her passing out but still, I think this was her first step too in heading toward the light so to speak.
I’ll wrap it up. I was so on Lex’s side the entire time until Luna brought up the fact that fighting violence with violence really wasn’t the answer. And how amazing that with just that, Lex was able to form a support group, train others to take back their power and set up a hotline? I feel like that really just settled the rage that I was feeling for Lex throughout this entire book. Oh, and lastly, I do love a little poetic justice there in the epilogue!
Final note, as always, please be sure to check trigger/content warnings. The book touches on a lot of hard subjects. Please read responsibly!
Ok, review time. Unfortunately, this review will contain spoilers. So reader beware. I’m sorry but I really wanna talk about it!
I said it previously but, I genuinely adore this book. I know it’s a weird thing to say about such a book that is a Medusa retelling-iykyk-but really, I adore it so much because of the way that Giana wrote the story and these characters. I’ve read so other books that have graphic SA in them and with this one, I felt like she wrote just enough detail to get the point across but not to much for me that I have to step away and come back to it. Because while the SA is talked about throughout the book, it’s really not the main theme of the book. Giana really puts us through a roller coaster of emotions, a lot of it rage and I really felt that especially because of Mina’s utter betrayal, the endless days with Lex having to live through the rumors about her every day, the way the students talked about her and spread so much gossip about her.
Then it was revenge and this was really the longest running theme of the book I think and it’s mainly revenge on Morgan and Mina. For the majority of the book, I really full heartedly, sided with Lex on getting any and ALL types of revenge she could possible get on these two. UGH oh how I hated these two. On the theme of revenge, my favorite is the Man Eater Crew. Victims forced to become the scary things that go bump in the night for all the awful predators that took what they wanted from them. My least favorite (but also my other favorite bc of the end result) was revenge on Mina by going for her daughter.
Leading me to the last emotion I want to mention, because this is quickly becoming an essay (sorry), love. I just love that Lex really brought out the best in Luna and in return, it brought out the best in Lex without her even noticing til it slapped her in the face. First off..that initial meeting in the library?!?!?!?? HOT!!! They barely did anything but my gosh!!! The fact that Luna’s first step of becoming her better self is first realizing that she was living a lie and that she was bi?! So sweet! And for Lex? She freaking passed out the first time she O’d , as her sister said, she really was so dramatic. But I get it, it was really the panic attack that had her passing out but still, I think this was her first step too in heading toward the light so to speak.
I’ll wrap it up. I was so on Lex’s side the entire time until Luna brought up the fact that fighting violence with violence really wasn’t the answer. And how amazing that with just that, Lex was able to form a support group, train others to take back their power and set up a hotline? I feel like that really just settled the rage that I was feeling for Lex throughout this entire book. Oh, and lastly, I do love a little poetic justice there in the epilogue!
Final note, as always, please be sure to check trigger/content warnings. The book touches on a lot of hard subjects. Please read responsibly!