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A review by koistyfishy
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
This was a solid 4 ⭐️
It wasn’t unenjoyable but it’s not all I can think about and sends me into a book depression cause it’s finished…
This is the second time I’ve attempted to read this book and I actually managed to get to the end this time… the first time was only to about pg34; because, I at the time did not want to deal with the confusion I felt due to the story starting right in the middle of action, with multiple characters being mentioned and needing to get a bit into the story for things to make sense.
The writing is good and seeing as this is a debut it’s REALLY GOOD, but one irritating aspect is there are various French words thrown into the text without a translation. Now most are used as a profanity but I wanna know if characters are being called a “bitch” or “whore”, without needing to pull my translations app up to see the full context and not “implied context”.
There are quite a bit of underlying themes of misogyny and religious fanaticism that exist in the book, especially since the Chasseurs or “witch hunters” are meant to be like warrior priests who serve the Archbishop so if you don’t like books with those themes… I would avoid this.
In terms of the romance I did enjoy the polar opposites of the two main characters… you would think the “dove” is Lou but…she’s not… Lou is a strong minded crass girl who lives on the streets, so obviously has picked up a few things (a filthy mouth and sexual experience being the main aspects). Where as Reid is as pure as can be; boring almost and ultimately very pious and protective of his church, ideals and Archbishop.I loved that she was the one to teach his innocent little heart how not to be innocent
I did want their love relationship to be fleshed out a little more. Reid despises her in the start and then when he is married, he flips a switch, forgets who she was and is like “oh, you’re my wife now… I must protec”.
Another peeve of Reid was he spends half the book being offended at any sort of foul language or swearword and then half way through the book when Lou is taken his whole tone switched and next moment he is thinking like a “sailor” with the f-bombs he drops. It didn’t sit well with me that whist he is changing and opening his eyes to things, his language should be quite ingrained. So to almost immediately start “off the cuff swearing” in his mind was annoying… it should have just been that one audible word Lou heard and then it would have had much more effect
Still the story is good enough for me to pick up book 2 :)
It wasn’t unenjoyable but it’s not all I can think about and sends me into a book depression cause it’s finished…
This is the second time I’ve attempted to read this book and I actually managed to get to the end this time… the first time was only to about pg34; because, I at the time did not want to deal with the confusion I felt due to the story starting right in the middle of action, with multiple characters being mentioned and needing to get a bit into the story for things to make sense.
The writing is good and seeing as this is a debut it’s REALLY GOOD, but one irritating aspect is there are various French words thrown into the text without a translation. Now most are used as a profanity but I wanna know if characters are being called a “bitch” or “whore”, without needing to pull my translations app up to see the full context and not “implied context”.
There are quite a bit of underlying themes of misogyny and religious fanaticism that exist in the book, especially since the Chasseurs or “witch hunters” are meant to be like warrior priests who serve the Archbishop so if you don’t like books with those themes… I would avoid this.
In terms of the romance I did enjoy the polar opposites of the two main characters… you would think the “dove” is Lou but…she’s not… Lou is a strong minded crass girl who lives on the streets, so obviously has picked up a few things (a filthy mouth and sexual experience being the main aspects). Where as Reid is as pure as can be; boring almost and ultimately very pious and protective of his church, ideals and Archbishop.
I did want their love relationship to be fleshed out a little more. Reid despises her in the start and then when he is married, he flips a switch, forgets who she was and is like “oh, you’re my wife now… I must protec”.
Another peeve of Reid was
Still the story is good enough for me to pick up book 2 :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Blood and Violence