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awaiting_lobotomy 's review for:
Serpent & Dove
by Shelby Mahurin
I wanted a fun YA fantasy and 'twas delivered. I thought the world was fun, the romance was exciting, and I love all the tropes. (Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and even *gasp* having to share the same bed trope!)
This book is pretty direct in its feminist themes: witches are persecuted by the church (whose holy soldiers burn witches). One note, only women can be witches in this world, which was poignant I think, but until the end of the novel, sort of toed the line of bio-essentialism. The magic is passed from mother to daughter. There were no mentions of trans identities in this world (another :-/ point) but a lot of woman = womb and vagina and drawing power from the female body imagery/wording/etc. I don't wanna give any spoilers away, but this issue was somewhat lessened by the end of the novel, and I'm interested in seeing how this element unfolds in the sequel (already requested at the library).
The characters were fun but I wish they had been a little more complex? They fell flat in some ways. This may just be because it's a debut though, so it's not that big of a deal for me as a reader. The book is definitely YA and the characters were a little immature at times, but I just had to remind myself that these are teenagers.
I also get in the bad habit of comparing different elements of the plot or world building when I read fantasy. I'll be like "ugh this __ is similar to the ___ in [insert other contemporary fantasy world]" and I need to stop doing that! Things are allowed to be similar lol.
TLDR; fun escapism and romance set in a magical French-inspired world that's all about finding the grey in people and society, not black and white truths. Perfect as I had a few lazy days after a couple finals before I get busy again.
This book is pretty direct in its feminist themes: witches are persecuted by the church (whose holy soldiers burn witches). One note, only women can be witches in this world, which was poignant I think, but until the end of the novel, sort of toed the line of bio-essentialism. The magic is passed from mother to daughter. There were no mentions of trans identities in this world (another :-/ point) but a lot of woman = womb and vagina and drawing power from the female body imagery/wording/etc. I don't wanna give any spoilers away, but this issue was somewhat lessened by the end of the novel, and I'm interested in seeing how this element unfolds in the sequel (already requested at the library).
The characters were fun but I wish they had been a little more complex? They fell flat in some ways. This may just be because it's a debut though, so it's not that big of a deal for me as a reader. The book is definitely YA and the characters were a little immature at times, but I just had to remind myself that these are teenagers.
I also get in the bad habit of comparing different elements of the plot or world building when I read fantasy. I'll be like "ugh this __ is similar to the ___ in [insert other contemporary fantasy world]" and I need to stop doing that! Things are allowed to be similar lol.
TLDR; fun escapism and romance set in a magical French-inspired world that's all about finding the grey in people and society, not black and white truths. Perfect as I had a few lazy days after a couple finals before I get busy again.