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A review by thelegendofguava
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
3.5
3.5 stars
I went into this book totally spoiled, having watched several detailed rant reviews. And in spite of spending hours of my time listening to other people’s problems with this book, I fully expected I would actually enjoy it. The good news is: I did! I really loved the world and the magic system. I enjoyed our sarcastic and bawdy main character and the stoic and virginal love interest— the usual YA character tropes delightfully reversed. The humor was fun and kept the story lighthearted, in spite of the occasionally gruesome content. The sex scene was actually quite steamy for a YA novel!
My main critique was with the actual timeline of the story. It takes place over such a short period of time that it rendered the romance kind of unbelievable. I didn’t understand why Reid was so nice to Lou, who took every single opportunity to mock and defy him. I would have found it more believable if many of the same scenes had taken place over a matter of weeks rather than days. Also, there is some questionably fatphobic and whorephobic content. The sexual harassment and objectification of a 16 year old boy is also incredibly cringey.
Additional trigger warning for self harm.
I went into this book totally spoiled, having watched several detailed rant reviews. And in spite of spending hours of my time listening to other people’s problems with this book, I fully expected I would actually enjoy it. The good news is: I did! I really loved the world and the magic system. I enjoyed our sarcastic and bawdy main character and the stoic and virginal love interest— the usual YA character tropes delightfully reversed. The humor was fun and kept the story lighthearted, in spite of the occasionally gruesome content. The sex scene was actually quite steamy for a YA novel!
My main critique was with the actual timeline of the story. It takes place over such a short period of time that it rendered the romance kind of unbelievable. I didn’t understand why Reid was so nice to Lou, who took every single opportunity to mock and defy him. I would have found it more believable if many of the same scenes had taken place over a matter of weeks rather than days. Also, there is some questionably fatphobic and whorephobic content. The sexual harassment and objectification of a 16 year old boy is also incredibly cringey.
Additional trigger warning for self harm.