ARC Review: Serpent and Dove

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance

Release Date: 09/03/19

My Rating: 1/5 stars/ DNF

Synopsis:

“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.”

I am disappointed. And that, is putting it lightly. I have heard ENDLESS praise and love for this book, yet I couldn’t find a single thing about this story to enjoy. The writing was bland, the characters/world were poorly developed, and the story lacked plot. I was endlessly frustrated by this book and shocked by how many things in this story aren’t often shared in reviews. I went into his story excited for magic and covens but instead I got something that needs trigger warnings, felt like an adult book, and lacks all planning.

The characters were absolute shells of stereotypes. I got to around page 350 before I officially gave up and NEITHER of the protagonists got fully fleshed out backstories. I couldn’t understand their actions, motives, or connect with them when they were just walking puppets. They were irrational, confusing, and hard to characterize expect for a few stereotypes. Their separate POVs had the same voice and when together their chemistry forced. I was so upset by how little thought went into them. I couldn’t wait for Lou’s stories of covens and why she left hers and found nothing. Neither protagonist got any character development in the story and the side characters might as well have not existed. They were created for the sole purpose of acting around the narrators and felt unbelievable (as they too lacked backstories/personalities). This story had much potential and it was weighed down heavily by the empty characters.

Speaking of development, the world building in this story wasn’t there either. Besides a random sentence here or there the magic system and society of this world weren’t well established. The most of what I got from it is that people are sexist? And they don’t like witches? And get this, I only got to know those two things because the main love interest thinks that way. He constantly treats Lou as inferior and refers to her as “the heathen”. I could NOT get over him calling her a heathen in the beginning. It was gross to read and uncomfortable to be in the brain of a man who thinks that way.

As I’ve said, I went into this story very excited for all the historical magic, covens, and adventure. It was why I was so excited about this book in the first place. However, the plot is mainly just the romance. Which lacks chemistry. And tries to be hate-to-love but it was honestly difficult to understand why they like each other. The plot is easily predictable, and after skim reading the ending, I can happily I report I guessed exactly what would happen. Yay. It truly isn’t anything new in the YA world, and there are many stories written just like this that are a lot better.

Something I haven’t seen in any reviews for this book are TRIGGER WARNING which is beyond upsetting to me. I cannot stress enough how important it is for these to be included in books and reviews, and I have seen NOTHING for this book. So I’m putting it out here now, from what I read, there are many instances of self harm used to perform magic and graphic sex scenes. These aspects alone along with the voice of the story made it feel very New Adult/Adult which was also frustrating. YA is an age range meant for people as young as 12. I cannot imagine any parent wanting their child to read this content at age 12.

I think I could scream about this book for ages. I am so upset, disappointed, and frankly confused. This story had endless potential and flopped from a severe lack of planning, development, and plot. It was predictable, unrealistic, and impossible to connect with. There are other books with witches, hate-to-love romance, and that type of romantic tension with the trope of “one character hasn’t told the other they’re not who they say there are”. . . there are plenty of them. Do yourself a favor and pick one of those up instead, don’t waste your time with this one.

DISCLAIMER: I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Serpent & Dove from a trade on Twitter. I did NOT get this review copy from a publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required, nor asked to, review this book. Reading and reviewing was my choice alone. All opinions are my own.