REVIEW: Serpent & Dove (#1) - Shelby Mahurin

Title: Serpent & Dove (#1)
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Series: Serpent & Dove
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardback
Pages: 513 Pages
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Bound as one to love, honour, 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.

Thoughts

I received this from Fairyloot as part of one of their monthly boxes, and there was a lot of hype regarding this book, so I was dubious about going into this book.

I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this book and following the read-along was such a pain as I wanted to read further on (which is what I ended up doing in the end).
I found the writing style to be easily followed, and I ended up gripped by the story and just couldn't put it down.

I found myself loving Lou and Reid as characters as well as Coco. I loved the friendship between Lou and Coco, they were really there for each other as they both came from families that they were trying to escape from.
I also loved the relationship between Reid and Lou, it was a love to hate relationship (which I have found out I am complete trash for), and it wasn't a fast-paced relationship, which I loved as it wasn't just I hate you one minute, then I love you the next minute.

I found the pacing of the story to work really well, and even though we are being introduced to a new magic system, the pacing is not slow. I also loved how the plot all weaved together, and the twist at the end had me salivating for the next book in the series.

Overall, the hype over this book was worth it, I loved this book and can't wait till the sequel is released.