Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
Hello Books Lovers,
The Reading Group dedicated to Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin, published in Italy by Harper Collins, whom I thank both for the copy and for having accepted this idea of the rc with enthusiasm, ended last week.
If you follow me on tiktok and instagram you will know that I finished this book more than three weeks ago, I was so taken by the reading that I was unable to stop and respect the group reading order. I am comforted to know that I was not the only one in the group who did not resist 🙂
We’re taking a week off now this week, and Tuesday we’ll start reading Blood and Honey. Will you be one of us? Have you already read this trilogy? If so, how did it seems to you? I heard the second is slower than the first, but today I’m not here to talk about that, I’m here to talk about Serpent & Dove, how the story surprised me, and above all talking about Reid and Lou.
Why I say that the story surprised me, because even before I started reading I knew what was going to happen, I knew about the forced marriage and the fact that Reid is a witch hunter and Lou a witch, I didn’t know the dynamics with which the plot would be developed.
It all happened because of a misunderstanding, Lou was trying to escape, and Reid was after her, for reasons totally different from her being a witch. They end up falling on top of each other in front of hundreds of people, giving the wrong impression that Reid wants to take advantage of her. This puts all the Chasseurs, the witch hunters, in a bad light, and for this they are forced to marry.
So from now on Lou will be forced to live in the Chasseur residence, risking being discovered every day, with no way out. Although on the one hand it’s not too bad because she was already running away from her past and living in a building with the only people who have the weapon to kill those like her ensures her protection.
Initially there is only hatred between Reid and Lou, but the most interesting things come when the love part starts showing up. Basically they are husband and wife, they are forced to live together, it was inevitable. I only found out while reading that this book is not Young Adult, but New Adult, from a single scene.
Reid and Lou aren’t the only characters in this book, we have others that are just as interesting and equally important to the story. There’s Ansel, a young, soft-hearted Chasseur recruit who made me fall in love. There is Coco, also a witch, Lou’s only friend who is also aware of her past. And Beau will arrive shortly after, son of the king who, although he had a short role in this volume, because he arrived after more than half the book, I’m sure will have a more important role in the following. Then there are the slightly less sympathetic characters like Jean-Luc, Reid’s childhood friend who turns out to be not so friendly.
And still other even more secondary characters who, however, have their own meaning in the story such as Madame Labelle, the archbishop and the queen of the Dame Blances.
Until the end there will be a lot of action, a lot of suspense, and right down to the last page there will be jaw-dropping revelations. It was all about discovering new things, with bated breath, smiles and sadness, to discover in the end that for the whole book no one was aware of a very particular detail that will probably be developed in the following.
Do I recommend this? Heck yes.
