Serpent and Dove

SYNOPSIS:

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.

REVIEW

(3 STARS)

This book was not as good as I expected, even though I loved the narration by Holter Graham and Saskia Maarleveld.

My issues were simple: plot-wise, I think this book had more to offer. Who doesn't love a story about persecuted witches trying to emancipate themselves from a misogynistic society? I think we all do, but Mahurin prefered to go down Romance Sreet. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. My main problem was the excessive dialogue repetitions - I understand that she wanted to highlight certain aspects, but it happened too many times to be pleasant. It dragged the story and made it feel like we were not moving forward. This also happened because the author was too focused on creating a solid "enemies to lovers" relationship and forgot all the other important aspects concerning the story. There were many cringy moments when you just wanted the story to move on and were stuck with Lou and Reed. Half of their interactions added nothing to the plot and broke its rhythm.

I must admit, however, that Mahurin killed in that sex scene.

I also admired her ability to make us hate men in this book. Even though she didn't create a world from scratch, basing it on our Christian society and its misogynistic values, she did an amazing job highlighting its issues. Christianism is a misogynistic religion, something that Mahurin didn't hesitate to remind us of with the help of some historic mementoes (witch trials, forced marriages, highlighting the submissive part a woman has in a marriage, etc.). This could've been the kind of book that made you think about feminism and women's rights, weren't the author so obsessed with our prejudiced witch-hunter and his wicked witch of a wife. This book has much more potential!

Anyway, let's keep on focusing on the positives. Another highlight of this book was Hansel and Coco (I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!). They were the best characters, hands down, no hesitation.

Also, the French vibes surrounding this book are just spectacular. If you're into Modern French History, you're going to love this one. Many cabaret vibes, many foul-mouthed characters, an unsurmountable love for pastries and a lot of nobles begging to lose their heads. If you're a fan of the enemies to lovers trope and don't mind when the romance is the centre of the plot, read this beauty now!