En el primer capítulo de Serpent & Dove conocemos a Lou, una joven que se pasa la vida robando al que se le cruce y engañando a hombres junto con su amiga Coco.⠀
En un mundo cruel como en el que ellas vivían, no tenían más opción que hacer lo que fuera necesario para poder sobrevivir.⠀
Pero, Lou tenía un gran secreto, uno que podría llevarla directo a la hoguera o a algo peor. Ella era bruja y llevaba años escapando de su aquelarre.⠀
Luego de unos cuantos golpes, Lou intenta esconderse en un teatro, pero su plan no salió como esperaba. Al entrar fue reconocida por un cazador, el cual estaba desesperado por atraparla. Cuando el telón subió, ella y Reid se encontraban en una situación comprometida, y todos pensaron que él la estaba maltratando.
El arzobispo los obligó a casarse para que nadie hablara mal de su cazador. Reid no conocía el secreto de Lou, pero de todas formas ella necesitaba proteger su secreto. Pero, ¿cuánto tiempo duraría la mentira?⠀
La verdad es que no conecté con la historia. La autora nos presenta un mundo paranormal, y con sus descripciones pude imaginarme toda la ambientación. Pero no me atrapó del todo. Tenía muchas expectativas porque todo el mundo ama el libro, pero me desilusionó un poco.
Me tomó unos cuantos días terminarlo porque me pareció lento, pero al final sí se me hizo interesante. Espero que la trama del próximo sea mejor.⠀
¿Qué pienso de los personajes? Lou, la protagonista, es una mujer independiente y me hizo reír en varios momentos. Me encantó su espontaneidad y sus valores. Reid, nuestro querido cazador, no me causó nada. Es fiel a sus principios y chapado a la antigua, pero sin gracia.
Me voy a tomar un par de días para poder comenzar con el segundo. ¿Ustedes ya lo leyeron? ⠀
I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. thank you Publisher!
3 out of 5 stars
The moment I saw this cover and read the synopsis all I could think about was reading this book. Definitely one of my more anticipated reads of 2019.
Overall the book was cute and enjoyable but nothing special. I had some issues, particularly the use of the French language and other various cultural aspects taken from France without the book actually taking place in France, or really the real world at all. It was quite obviously a book about a fictional world but using everything non-fictional about our world instead.
One particular line in the book compared an event to “Moses parting the Red Sea”. Again, this comes back to the author taking aspects from our already existing world and including it in a fantasy book where you wouldn’t really expect Moses or his religious backstory to appear or exist at all. I felt like the author chose to use French and Catholicism because she wasn’t creative enough to come up with her own language and religion. I have reads books by authors who were able to do both flawlessly while using our existing world as a starting point and as inspiration.
It’s a shame that the book didn’t quite live up to my expectations but I can definitely see this story appealing to the young adult audience it is geared to. There is a somewhat steamy sex scene which you normally wouldn’t see in a young adult book and truthfully was the only time during the entire book that I felt that I wasn’t meant to be a 13 year old girl reading this book.
The romance was cute but rushed, and the characters weren’t as well fleshed out as I would have liked. I feel like this would have been a spectacular book had it truly been taken into the adult reader category and the dialogue was made to reflect that. Having modern day slang and curse words in a world closely related to 1700’s France just did not fit for me.
Ahhh I’ve waited so patiently to drop this artwork! LitJoy Crate just posted their spoiler for the August Add-on Collaboration, this time a dessert plate featuring Lou and Reid from Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin!
Side note, I think my stained glass artwork has become a deviated signature style without me realizing it. I’ve only now considered how many pieces I’ve done in this style - it’s almost like an amalgamation of papercraft x illustration as far as character designs.
[alice oseman’s radio silence had me ugly crying for hours lmao so now I’m beginning a new series that I’ve been so so so excited to start! only 50pgs in and I’m OBSESSED]
