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A review by elcademia
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
2.0
i read this as it was advertised as enemies to lovers but ended up being disappointed. i wish our introduction into this world was a bit more concrete. i was very confused for the first couple chapters as to where we were and who was who. i especially wished there was a stronger introduction to our main character, lou. she felt flat to me in the sense that i could open any other YA fantasy romance and find another version of her in a different font. perhaps even a main character whose flaws go beyond being “unladylike”.
reid frequently remarks about how lou doesn’t exhibit qualities of a “typical” or more “socially acceptable” woman in their era (which i presumed was the era where women were forced to be silent and obeying). lou steals, talks back, etc. but the way the author promotes her as “not like other girls” in a sense puts down the other female side characters. i’m honestly just tired of this approach to feminism.
in the last 30%, the story picks up and becomes interesting after the two protagonists overcome their hatred for each other, which by the way, was too sudden. way too fast. i had to flip back pages because i thought i’d missed a chapter. i was expecting more than a page of mental anguish where both protagonists go through the “i hate them but why do i also care for them so much?”
i would’ve dnf’ed but the writing style is simple and the chapters are short so it’s easy to fly through. read about half of the book in one sitting and decided to finish it at that point. i don’t plan on picking up the next book in the series as i’m not very attached to the characters.
reid frequently remarks about how lou doesn’t exhibit qualities of a “typical” or more “socially acceptable” woman in their era (which i presumed was the era where women were forced to be silent and obeying). lou steals, talks back, etc. but the way the author promotes her as “not like other girls” in a sense puts down the other female side characters. i’m honestly just tired of this approach to feminism.
in the last 30%, the story picks up and becomes interesting after the two protagonists overcome their hatred for each other, which by the way, was too sudden. way too fast. i had to flip back pages because i thought i’d missed a chapter. i was expecting more than a page of mental anguish where both protagonists go through the “i hate them but why do i also care for them so much?”
i would’ve dnf’ed but the writing style is simple and the chapters are short so it’s easy to fly through. read about half of the book in one sitting and decided to finish it at that point. i don’t plan on picking up the next book in the series as i’m not very attached to the characters.