Review: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin 

Publishing Date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 528
YA Fantasy

The Premise from the Publisher: "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. As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage. Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all" (HarperCollins)

My overall thoughts and review: Full disclosure before I write my review: I have not read a lot of YA this year. My reading interests definitely shifted more towards contemporary romance and manga, and I found myself not loving all of the YA fantasy I was picking up, so I really did take a break from YA fantasy. I had heard really good things about this book at two book events now and they comped it to Sarah J. Maas in a way where it was mature/sexy, and I'll be honest that kind of sold me alone. The lovely team at Indigo Teen also sent me a copy so I dove in, and I knew from the first two chapters I would be hooked. I found myself trying to pace my reading, to savor it so I didn't finish it so quickly. And when I finished, I wanted to flip right back to the beginning and start all over again.

FRIENDS. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I knew that it would be an interesting dynamic because you follow the lead, Lou, who is a witch on the run, and of course she finds herself in a weird predicament: married to a Chasseur, a witch hunter no less! Mahurin gives us dual perspectives and that honestly made the reading experience so much better for me. If you are going to write about a romance, you need two perspectives!! Lou is on the run from her mother and you don't really know why in the beginning, but it is a heist to steal a ring that may protect her and hide her that starts off the book. From there, a series of events happen that lead her to Reid, our witch-hunter. I loved their dynamic right from the start! They were both from different worlds, but as they had to be around each other often, they softened up around each other, and just got to know one another. I love the enemies to lovers trope so much, and Mahurin did a great job executing it here. Their story was incredibly swoonworthy, and I just loved how sex positive the book was. This may be something to flag for younger readers, since it does mention sex explicitly, but for those romance and YA readers, this is definitely a treat for you all.

In addition to that, the world building was fantastic in the book. It felt like France and all the lore surrounding the history of the Church and the witches really tied the story up nicely. The story was more than Lou and Reid's relationship, and it also emphasized the broken relationship between man and witch. The end of the book hinted at another coven which we'll see in the second book of this duology, so I'm super excited to learn more about this world.

Lastly, you know I'm all for a good group of friends to go alongside the main characters, and I just loved, loved, LOVED the secondary characters Coco and Ansel. They added so much to the story, but they were also such lovable characters on their own. I can't wait to see more of them next book.

All in all, like I said above, I LOVED this book. I'm a little bit sad that I have to wait for the second part of this duology, but I honestly can't wait to dive back into this world. This was a fantastic YA fantasy read, and truly, I haven't loved something like this since SJM, so well done, Mahurin! If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for? This is a MUST read. And if you have read it, please come talk to me about it on twitter or email. I want to talk all things Serpent & Dove, and I'm about ready to make t-shirts that say Lou & Reid 5eva.

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮✮ (5/5 stars)

Available for purchase at:
Indigo OR Indigo Book Box feat. Serpent & Dove

Disclaimer: *I received a copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music Inc. in exchange for an honest review.* #IndigoEmployee