Serpent & Dove

By: Shelby Mahurin

Narrated by: Holter Graham, Saskia Maarleveld

An Amazon Best Book of 2019

New York Times Best Seller

B&N's YA Book Club Pick

Indiebound Best Seller

Number Six on the 2019 Kids’ Indie Next List

"A brilliant debut, full of everything I love: a sparkling and fully realized heroine, an intricate and deadly system of magic, and a searing romance that kept me reading long into the night. Serpent & Dove is an absolute gem of a book." (Sarah J. Maas, number one New York Times best-selling author of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series)

Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy duology, this tale of witchcraft and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Sara Holland.

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.

As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation - marriage.

Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

Set in a world of powerful women, dark magic, and off-the-charts romance, book one of this stunning fantasy trilogy will leave listeners burning for more.

©2019 Shelby Mahurin (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Good story...

The story was fine, it kept me reasonably engaged but I had a big problem with the male narrator. His voices were inconsistent and the cadence was at best distracting and at worst unbearable. I probably won’t pick up a sequel.

Horrible Male Narrator

The story was amazing, but I would’ve preferred the whole story to be narrated by Saskia Maarleveld instead of two narrators. It was almost unbearable having to listen to his voice. I thought the reviews were overreacting and you could get over his voice after a little bit of time but NO. The way he pronounces words, he does pause on commas, and most of all when he tries to imitate the female voices it sounds HORRIBLE. I have the physical copy of the book so I just ended up reading Reid’s chapters and listening to everything else.

Actually as good as everyone says

This is really just...brilliant. I hope a sequel doesn’t ruin it.
Truly, though—the pacing, the prose, the narration, the fresh take on magic, the romance...It was all executed brilliantly.
Usually when other reviewers comment on how great the “banter” is in any given story, I’m either underwhelmed or I find it cringe-worthy. This one had me laughing.
I also thought both narrators were well casted and the dual POV was effective in its purpose, and not simply used as filler.

Good story, but a bit rushed at the end

Good story, good world building, good romance and characters, but the ending felt a bit rushed.

Powerful. Passionate. Piquant.

I should really have got to this book sooner! I loved everything about this fabulous debut from the rocking Mahurin. And with ravishing performances from Saskia Maarleveld and Holter Graham, she could never have gone wrong.

⚖️ Plot: There was absolutely tonnes going on, but the pace allowed for me to follow and revel in each twist. I‘ve shied away from books about witches for a long time, but boy did I pick the right one to start with.

🗺 World: While the era seems more modern than Victorian with the language used, it had just enough of that flare to plunge me into my favorite time for novels to be set in. The system of magic, lineages and royalty, not forgetting the religious elements were all intertwined beautifully to give us a book that’s bursting at the seams.

💑 Characters: Lou was simply badass and magnetic all at once. I couldn’t help but be drawn in by her every word and move. My heart however was captured by Reid. What a journey he goes on! I can’t wait for book 2 to drop. I’ll be preordering it right now!

Wowza

I loved this book. I loved the narration, the story, the characters, the plot twists. It was a fantastic time.

Lou is a very stubborn and strong female lead. She doesn’t start off that way and then break down into a puddle the moment she meets her intended. She keeps her wits about her, and she deals with all the stones that get thrown at her splendidly. Her fighting her attraction to her hubby is funny and I love the banter between the two of them. I hope that doesn’t go away later in the series.

Reid’s internal struggle is perfect. It really gives him the hard edge and adds to his conservative persona. There is depth to characters when they have a good vendetta. Even though he harbors dislike for the witches I like how this is another case of misplaced prejudice and seeing a good man slowly realize that. It is not cliché in the slightest and I was impressed.
The supporting characters are well crafted as well. There is enough depth to them that you are glad they pop up and you are curious to see what they throw into the mix.

The story really had a good pull to it. You have a good protagonist and antagonist. A good plot. Good character developments and tons of humor. You have the witchy dark magic elements. The good vs evil. Strong characters and relationships that make sense and are not forced. I am looking forward to the next part in the series and am sad that I now must wait!

Wow wow wow

I loved everything about this book. I can’t wait for book 2. Shelby just kept me up for 2 days, once I started I couldn’t stop. Sooo engaging and not one single pace issue IMO. The plot, characters, world building were on point. I loved the twists. Love love love Reid and Lou. I ship them like crazy and I want Ansel and Coco to ship too. Good job Shelby. Great writing too.

So glad I stuck with it!!

As many of the others mentioned, the male narrator almost ruined it... first part of the book I would cringe especially when he would do women’s voices.. but his performance of the male voices did grow on me and gave Reid his own personality outside of the written word. Saskia was great however I kept thinking of the character Mare from Of Fire and Stars - though that is a more of a “me problem” and not the audiobook’s fault.
All in all I enjoyed the book very much and am looking forward to the next!!
** a note for those concerned about sexual content... there is one sex seen that (as another had said) is not vulgar and does not use lewd names of particular body parts. It uses descriptive phrasing (ie - “buried to the hilt” etc) that definitely achieves the goal! Age wise I’d say ~15/16 given the content on TV these days.

I Wanted To Like This Book

I really did want to like the book more but the pacing of the plot felt a bit off and the male narrator ruined it for me. Overall its an okay read, but I am put off from listening to the second book.

Kept my attention

I haven't picked up a book in years. I decided to start again but never had time to sit down and read. This was my first audible and it kept my attention, thinking it wouldn't because I can easily zone out anything going through my ear. I really enjoyed the blend of romance and fantasy.

It was to easy for me to figure out the plot halfway through. There was a mild surprise plot twist and even knowing what was going to happen alot, it kept my attention really well. I would definitely suggest this book for anyone above the age of 16 and for those wanting to get back into literature.