Serpent & Dove: 1

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It was great to see everyone from the first series, though I would have liked to see them more. Always a fan of Lou and Reid. But I also enjoyed all the newcomers so it balanced out. I was never a fan of Célie, I still remember how much I couldn't stand her the first time I read S&D, but now finally doing a read through the whole trilogy and finally completing it, the unthinkable happened — Gods&Monsters made me fall in love with her. However, when I first heard TSV being announced I had my reservations, especially since I hadn't read G&M at that time and Célie wasn't a character I was interested in.

Anyway you go yell at your fiancé because he didn’t tell you this isn’t the only dead body and there are other dead bodies and all your best friends know but no one told you because Even though I wasn't the biggest fan of Blood & Honey, I am still interested enough in the story that I actually want to know how it ends and I really hope this one will be better. I'm going in with no expectations really, I just wish to know the end. Are You a Good Witch?: We meet Reid in the middle of battle. While it’s clear that Lou and Coco are just trying to get by in peace, the witches Reid is up against very much want to throw the world around them into chaos. And as Reid is captain of the Chasseurs, it’s his job to take them down. michal's response to celie helppp they had me dying actually these two🫶 also!! i adore the new characters we got to meet !! odessa, dimitri, d'artagnan, mila and monsieur marc <33 my favs were definitely mila and odessa i love those two queens. and i really want to see more odessa & célie moments because the potential for their friendship blooming more!! always saying yes to that. I didn’t love Gods & Monsters, so my expectations weren’t very high of this book, but I could not put it down! The tension, the angst, the chemistry, it was insane, and I loved the slowburn throughout this book! If slowburn as a romance trope isn’t your thing, this might not be for you, but I ate it up! There’s even a murder mystery plotline ongoing, which had me on the edge of my seat, and also was able to bring in some fantastic scenes between Celie and the love interest.If you go into this book expecting only romance - you will be disappointed, even if what u get in TSV will set you on fire. But the plot is so much more - it gave me The Vampire Diaries, The Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast vibes. As I mentioned there's a murder mystery, a masquerade ball, there are ghosts, betrayal and heartbreak and scorching tension. Célie's arc is so beautiful and compelling I couldn't put this down. Lou and Reid take up to the masses of making me continuing the series. Even when (sadly) the romance has still not become the focus in the book as it did in Serpent and Dove, I still find myself enjoying seeing the character's arc in both of them; where they feel more like themselves than they did in Blood and Honey. I'm so happy she still has her friends even if they don't treat her exactly right in the beginning of the book. The supporting characters (Dimitri, Odessa and Mila) were also as detailed and complex, with their own tragic pasts that did tug at my heartstrings more than once. I did happen to guess the killer’s identity, but I did not see that ending coming AT ALL. And I need to get my hands on the sequel immediately! I won't say this book is frustrating (but it is); it seems like there is one frustrating thing after the other and they all keep giving me no breaks;

I went into it with no expectations, yet I'm disappointed. From now on, in my heart, Serpent and Dove is a standalone. The sequels don't actually exist as they did this series so dirty. I've come from loving the first book to just hating both books that we got after. I could have done without the romance. I know this is a romance fantasy series, but it does not deserve to be called that when the romance becomes this bad. Lou and Reid's relationship started declining since book two, but here it's where it actually hit the mark. I was hoping that Shelby Mahurin will save it one way or another, but nope, she made it even worse. During most of teh romantic scenes between the two, I was just zoning out because of how little I actually cared. I was so over the shitty drama. Wanna add drama to your book? Good for you, I love drama. But please, for the love of god, make it interesting, not whatever this was. i saw that epilogue coming BUT THE MURDERER??? i never wouldve guessed that person💀 curse this cliffhanger because i dont want to wait until next year for book 2😭 im in desperate need of more célie and michal🥺🫶If ever there was a textbook on how to write the perfect finale to a series, Gods & Monsters would, in my mind, indisputably be the perfect example to cite. It wasn’t until finishing Gods & Monsters that I realized, wow, I haven’t read any final books in a series that I truly and throughly enjoyed. Somehow, Shelby Mahurin wove a book that is not only full of action, romance, and laughs, but she also somehow wrapped it and the entire series up in such a tidy and satisfactory way that I’m actually wondering if witchcraft is a side-hustle of hers.

To avoid killing main characters, Shelby Mahurin started killing as many side characters as she wanted jsut so we could have some death suring the war. Again with the unecessary things. She killed them just because it was expected for someone to die and the author couldn't kill anyone more important at this point. I'm happy that those characters managed to survived, don't get me wrong. But there's a death that I'm thinking in particular that was just a poor attempt to make some of the characters feel more grief and be hit harder with the actual consequences of the war. Maybe I'm complaining too much, but after reading so many great fantasy series, I have the tendency to just be more and more critical of even the little stuff. The book was extremely predictable. I don't think there was anything that surprised me. It wasn't even that the foreshdowing was obvious or bad. The thing is there was no foreshadowing. Nothing. It just felt obvious from the start. It wouldn't take a genius to guess what happenes in more than 75% of the book. Usually something bad happens, they have to fix said bad thing, but oh no something gets in their way that they conveniently fix in less than five minutes.What on earth just happened??? I need the sequel in my hands right this second, because I cannot live not knowing what happens after THAT ending for another year at least?? if this isnt a confession😭 (too bad it was just a scene in his head) BUT IF THIS DOESN'T MAKE THE FACT THAT ENDING WORSE??? itll truly break him that he had no choice but to make célie a vampire as her death was so unfair and he'd rather a vampire célie than a dead célie🥲 Not Exactly Friends: On the night of the heist, Reid is one of the Chasseurs on the case. Lou is the criminal and he’s there to stop the crime. It is not a match made in heaven. Célie is also there, as Angelica’s ring happens to be in her father’s possession.

no because when célie spoke of this... it hit HARD. like it really takes so much courage and strength to give all your pieces to someone because... what if they dont accept every part of you?? there's always that small possibility and to have to deal with the possible pain and heart break that would come with it?? so its safer to just not give someone all of you and avoid that chance of rejection😭🥹 I’m not going to delve into too much else because it’s really difficult without spoiling, but I just wanna say… that ending… lmao, y’all are gonna hate Shelby for the ending in this book because I know I do😀 So, have fun with that! The storyline was really interesting, although I was a little disappointed that it kind of got away from the murder investigation a bit. And wtf Jean Luc? Why are you vibing so hard as Tampon? I'm glad Celie got out of there and started doing things on her own. Kind of >D I loved how these two slowly learn more about one another and change their perspective, especially Célie, and I loved how being opening to new perspectives it also helped Célie to come into her own agency and potential.

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Speaking of, we have the good ol' power imbalance romance bingo: old sensual vampire patronizingly guiding our virgin ingenue with the IQ of an oyster, so she can realize some supposed potential buried deep in there, like the prize show pet that she is. So romantic. Somehow I understand why people didn't vibe with Mahurin's first series because it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, really. But at the same time, I don't see why people keep saying that this was better because (to me at least) it looks like the same beautifully artistic, slightly darker than maybe it should be extension of a great witch story...but this time with vampires! Also, given the character driven focus of the narrative, and Célie’s complex emotional journey in finding herself. I feel you also get a better understanding of what Célie’s endured (both physically and emotionally) if you’ve followed her journey from Serpent & Dove onwards.