Title: Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1)
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Publication Date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 528
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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.
I saw this book at ALA over the summer... and totally overlooked it. I'm not quite sure why, but Serpent & Dove just didn't catch my interest at all, even after I read the back. When I read it again though, shortly after it was published, I knew I HAD to have it! I've seen a bit of controversy about this one so this review will be a bit long since I want to share some of my own opinions where that's concerned.
Louise is a witch in a world where magic isn't allowed and a witch is not permitted to live. She's also on the run from her coven. With her mother hot on her trail, finds herself accidentally married to a witch hunter, which happens to work in her favor. She spends her days attempting to hide her magic from everyone around her, husband included, while training to defend herself from her coven, should the need arise. She has no intention whatsoever of actually liking her husband who would want her dead if he knew what she really was.
I did not expect to love Louise and Reid as much as I did. Louise is unapologetically crass and is constantly embarrassing her husband and his fellow Chasseurs because of it. At first I wasn't sure if like her, but she definitely grew on me and I loved them as a couple once they finally decided they could tolerate each other.
Reid was also extremely frustrating through much of this book. Having been raised in the Church by the archbishop and trained as a witch hunter from childhood, Reid was undeniably a bigot. I've seen a lot of controversy over this character, but allow me to explain why I didn't hate it. I was raised in the American South surrounded by a lot of extremely bigoted people. (The internet also wasn't widely available in my childhood.) That was what I knew until I left my small town and started exploring the world. While Reid's behaviour was reprehensible, it was understandable because of the environment he was raised in. To me what mattered was that he changed when he was shown that he was wrong.
Like I said, I wasn't sure about these two at first, but they grew on me until I adored them. Their romance was slow and swoon-worthy and I loved how much they grew together! If you're a fan of enemies to lovers, you'll probably enjoy this romance! That being said, the romance does take a turn in the direction of maybe-not-YA towards the end.
This is another point I've seen controversy on and I'll jump on board with that one. The author has insisted that this book is YA despite the sex scene. All I'll say about that is, just because body parts are not named doesn't mean a scene isn't explicit. This sex scene is four pages long and doesn't leave much to the imagination. I was fine with it, but I'm also quite a bit older than the target demographic.
Controversy aside, I absolutely adored this book! I would have liked to know more about the larger world, but the town Serpent & Dove is set in was so well developed, I felt like I could see it. The Chasseurs were terrifying in their single-minded bigotry and I was constantly on edge for the witches. The magic was also fascinating and I loved the different factions of witches. I can't wait to learn more about the blood witches and maybe even others??
There's so much more I could say about this amazing book, but if I keep going this review will be ridiculously long. I loved it! I have the two special editions on their way to my shelves right now and I can't wait to hopefully snag an ARC of book two. I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a witchy romance that leans a bit older and darker.
