Spoiler-Free Blog
Serpent & Dove is another fantasy romance series that has gained popularity in the online book world. In this blog, we’ll cover spoiler-free reviews for all three books in this series:
- Book 1: Serpent & Dove
- Book 2: Blood & Honey
- Book 3: Gods & Monsters
What’s it about?
A young witch, Lou, is forced into marriage to Reid, a witch hunter, while also hiding from her dark and mysterious past.
Serpent & Dove was my favorite; the two sequels were okay.
I truly enjoyed book 1. I flew right through and read it in just a few days. It had the kind of good writing that’s invisible—the writing didn’t call too much attention to itself, allowing me to plunge right into each scene.
Lou was the most entertaining character in book 1. She was irreverent and courageous—she made the story for me. If not for her, I’m not sure I could have read it as quickly as I did. She made for a good counterweight against Reid’s broody righteousness.
There were also recurring themes of religiosity and religious trauma, plus discussions about clergy using their positions for inappropriate influence and power.
A lot of what made Serpent & Dove so enjoyable seemed to disappear in Blood & Honey.
The start was languid; it took quite some time for me to get invested. It wasn’t until the second half that I felt somewhat hooked.
I found Reid particularly annoying in the sequel. Whereas his goody-two-shoes act made for compelling antics between him and Lou in book 1, in book 2 he seemed to hinder the plot with his beliefs and whininess.
Even so, I appreciated how the plot forced all the relationships to develop, and by the end, it re-engaged me.
Gods & Monsters was a redemption, but still not a favorite.
Because book 2 was underwhelming, it took me a while to get around to the last installment. I decided to listen to book 3 as an audiobook to finish it.
Overall it was okay. The plot meandered rather than built, in my opinion. There were many characters. If you like found family vibes, you’ll probably really like this one – I’m personally not always compelled by that trope.
I will give it kudos for an excellent use of the epilogue. I won’t spoil it here, but it’s one of the best cases I’ve ever seen for having an epilogue. It gave a satisfying closure to one element of the story.
Quick writing rant: Listening on audio highlighted some writing qualms that I may or may not have noticed if I read book 3 with my eyeballs. For example, I swear, in almost every scene, by any number of characters, someone was always “arching a brow.” It was so persistent that I could have made a drinking game of it (but I likely would’ve been drunk by the end of a few chapters).
Should you read it?
If fantasy romance with commentary on religious trauma is your thing, you’ll probably like this trilogy.
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