Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

First, I owe a debt of thanks to my dear Shannon, who without her I never would have been able to read the ARC. She snagged it at BEA, knew it was one of my most anticipateds of 2019, and lent it to me.

First off, 17th Century France? Witches hiding in the shadows? Rugged witch-hunters? A snarky and witch getting by as a thief? Force these enemies-to-lovers into a sham marriage?

Oh honey, was this written for me?

I really enjoyed it. Over 500 pages of snark, sass, beautiful relationship dynamics and a magic system warring with faith. Wow.

First off, I want to point out that while YA this book has very adult themes, it’s an upper YA, and a very well done one. Sex, death, as well as copious and hilarious amounts of swearing. However, for older teenagers I don’t think this is a bad thing. It was all done with great tact, and while the one love scene isn’t fade to black, it’s not obscene. And while I like my romance, as this is classified as YA, I figured it was worth bringing up.

Next, I’m a very active in my faith Catholic. This book is all about a war between the Church and witches. I loved it, I loved the nuances. I’ll admit, one scene during mass, I had chills because that’s what I say every week. However, it provides a wonderful mirror imagery for how witches worship later in the book. It provides a mirror to show the humanity that every person has. Additionally, while it’s still ‘the Church’. It’s not. This is a vaguely alternate France, and I could spot it. As a Catholic, I feel it’s very important not to shy away from the bad eras of our history. And Shelby handled the difficulties of a witch burning, what it means to love, to hate, and everything in between in a time of actual oppression and terror, oh so well.

Her main cast of characters, and how they react to her world is truly her strong suit (also her beautiful imagery). The turmoil and love throughout the pages as Lou, CoCo, Ansel, and Reid went through these moments was palpable. Also, can we talk about family drama? It’s heaping.

I will say, the hate-to-love was well done, but my main drawback from the whole book is that the last half seemed much more rushed than the first half. It wasn’t until I finished, and had to look back on all that had happened, that I realized this is where I was left wanting. The relationship took time to get there, and then it was all consuming. However, to a point that is love, but when coupled with trip that took two weeks into a few pages, where previously time seemed to carry on is where I noticed the discontinuity.

Additionally, little pieces that had been woven into the story line for a reveal it felt like either hadn’t been done early enough, or the reveal wasn’t subtle enough to catch me off guard. There were some that I hadn’t been expecting, so perhaps it was a slight of hand that I focused on one to be caught unawares by the other.

But oh team, that magic system though. The Dame Blanches and the Dame Rouges, Blood witches and White witches. I loved learning the differences. Loved learning how the witches moved about in society, the history behind them. And their magic hearing how it worked, the sacrifice that must happen to work magic, and how it can go horribly wrong. It was brutal and sharp and enchanting.

All in all, I would highly recommend snagging a copy of Serpent & Dove off the shelf September 19th!

You can get Serpent & Dove here through Bookshop.org, which supports local independent bookstores!

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