Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin Review

Rating: 4 Stars

Publication: September 3rd, 2019
Genre: Fantasy

Format: Egalley

Goodreads

Summary:

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn. Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned. Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony. The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made. And love makes fools of us all.

Thoughts

I loved the main characters independent and sassy personality. Lou doesnt let anyone tell her what to do and she has a strong sense of self preservation which totally gave me the best slytherin vibes. Shes selfish at times and not above manipulating others to get her way. All these flaws just made me love her even more. Towards the end she kind of loses the will to fight which was a little disapointing. It was nice to see her friends come to her rescue, but it wasnt like her to give up so easily. I loved her best friend Coco, a queer blood witch with an abundance of swagger and loyality. I really enjoyed their friendship and how they looked out for one another. Lou also becomes close with a witch hunter trainee named Ansel who I absolutely adored. He was just the sweetest cinnamon roll of a character.

Im glad we got to follow Lous new husband as the second point of view because it helped me empathize with his situation. Had I not seen things from his perspective I dont think I could have gotten over his single minded belief that witches were evil and deserved to burn even though he gets a good amount of character developpement. He just wants to honor the archbishop who took him in when he was abandoned as a child. I came to admire his honor and that despite his reservations he wanted to do right by his new wife. I really enjoyed the hate to love dynamic between him and Lou. The fact that Lou is experienced while Reid is not was a nice change from what I usually see in novels. I did end up mixing up the two perspective a couple times, but for the most part I could easily tell them a part.

I had very high expectations going into this because of all the wonderful praise Id come across and I did enjoy the story from the beginning, but it took me a minute to fully understand what all the hype was about. It was only once the two main characters were forced into marriage that the story became compelling for me. I really enjoyed the romantic plot line. Having Lou keep her identity as a witch a secret from her husband added a lot of great tension. The stakes were high with the risk of death if she were ever found out. The plot also focuses on the witches hunting down Lou to use her in their plans to destroy the crown and the witch hunters. I liked how no side was blameless. Both the witches and the witch hunters have done terrible things to innocent people. I did predict some of the twists, but that didnt take away from my enjoyment of the story.

With french being my first language I feel especially connected to french inspired stories. This setting didnt feel as heavily influenced by France as I thought it would be, but we do get some french dialogue sprinkled througout. I think it was a good idea to add translations for anyone who isn't fluent in french. I found the writing made the story easy to get immersed in. I loved the snowy christmas time atmosphere and the food descriptions. Theres an interesting magic system with the subjective and nuanced ways witches offer a cost of equal value for each spell they cast. We also hear of different creatures like werewolves and goblins. Not to mention that hilarious bar song I cant get out of my head. This is what I would consider a fantasy romance in the same vein as A Court of Thorns and Roses so if you enjoyed those books you will most likely enjoy this one too.

Diversity: Bi Side Character & Sapphic Witches

Trigger/Content Warnings: Sex, Violence, Murder, Deaths of Characters & Animals, Child Abandonment, Parental Abuse, Self Harm For Blood Magic, Religious Persecution, Burnings

*This book was received for an honest review