Serpent & Dove- Shelby Mahurin

“I was no one’s sacrifice. Not then. Not now. Not ever. “


I feel like this was a very drawn out set up for what will be a magnificent sequel. I truly did adore the characters, the plot, and the twists but as much as I wanted it to be, it just wasn’t a home run for me. Part of this could be that I listened the the majority of the book. I don’t usually listen to audio books. The female narrator was wonderful but neither her or the voice of Reid had French accents so that kind of killed the mood for me.

The true redeeming quality of this book for me was the way in which the characters interacted. Wayward Lou and the alluring Coco had such a fun, witty banter going on between them. Free-spirited Lou and uptight Reid made for endearing enemies to lovers. A motley crew forms by the end that I find riveting.
My favorite character would have to be a boy named Ansel, who would must assuredly be placed in Hufflepuff.

Despite not being swept off my feet, I look forward to picking up Blood & Honey. It has an excellent foundation set up by Serpent & Dove. This is actually interesting because I felt the same way about the first book in the Winternight trilogy. There was just something missing but the second blew me away. By the third, I was completely enamored.

I do think I will revisit this book again. I think something got “lost in translation” for me via audiobook.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.7 - 3.7 stars with so much hope for the sequel!

Some additional quotes that made me smile:
“Why the fuck is everyone in this kingdom trying to murder my wife?”

“I leaned back, studying her as she finished my bun. A bit of icing covered her lip. Her nose was still red from the cold, her hair wild and windblown. My little heathen.”

“Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay.”