ldermer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Vomit, Child abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual harassment
gimmiiie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
đ: 3.0/5.0Â
My initial thoughts were that it was a 4.0. But the more I thought about it I think it's a 3.0. Reflection has pinpointed some things I didn't enjoy.Â
Â
~~~SPOILERS BELOW~~~Â
~~~
 ~~~
 ~~~
 ~~~
Â
 -The growth that both Lou and Reid went through. They were able to work through their biases and see who they had dehumanized as human (Reid more so and he still needs to grow).Â
 -Cosette is my favorite character. I wish she had more time in the book. Though I loathed how the nickname the author gave her "Coco".Â
 -The Enemies to Lovers trope. One of my favorite tropes and I will read nearly any book with this.Â
 -I appreciate that the book didn't end with a betrayal. I'm sick of reading fantasy books where the love interest betrays the MC.Â
What I didn't like:
 -How Ansel was treated by adults. He's such a sweet and innocent character. The 2 main female MCs flirted with him and he's a minor. And that's never okay.Â
 -I wish this was a standalone book. I'm not too interested in continuing the story.
My initial thoughts were that it was a 4.0. But the more I thought about it I think it's a 3.0. Reflection has pinpointed some things I didn't enjoy.Â
Â
~~~SPOILERS BELOW~~~Â
~~~
 ~~~
 ~~~
 ~~~
Â
Spoiler
What I enjoyed:Â -The growth that both Lou and Reid went through. They were able to work through their biases and see who they had dehumanized as human (Reid more so and he still needs to grow).Â
 -Cosette is my favorite character. I wish she had more time in the book. Though I loathed how the nickname the author gave her "Coco".Â
 -The Enemies to Lovers trope. One of my favorite tropes and I will read nearly any book with this.Â
 -I appreciate that the book didn't end with a betrayal. I'm sick of reading fantasy books where the love interest betrays the MC.Â
What I didn't like:
 -How Ansel was treated by adults. He's such a sweet and innocent character. The 2 main female MCs flirted with him and he's a minor. And that's never okay.Â
 -I wish this was a standalone book. I'm not too interested in continuing the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Animal death and Grief
politicsofpages's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ABSOLUTE BANGER OF A BOOK
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Cursing
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
marinasslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
 Enemies to lovers just never disappoints!
I am obsessed with fantasy that includes witches lately and Serpent & Dove surely did deliver.
I love the marriage out of convenience/ forced marriage trope because it mostly leads to close proximity and only one bed!
Many of my favorite tropes were present and so I already loved the book for that!
Regarding to the plot it was always keep exciting and mysterious and imo not predictable! That is one of my main icks with books but with this one I did not predict the ending the least!
Reid and Lou have a great chemistry from the beginning throughout their highs and lows.
I am really excited to read the next book :)
I highly recommend reading this if you like the same tropes as me!Â
I am obsessed with fantasy that includes witches lately and Serpent & Dove surely did deliver.
I love the marriage out of convenience/ forced marriage trope because it mostly leads to close proximity and only one bed!
Many of my favorite tropes were present and so I already loved the book for that!
Regarding to the plot it was always keep exciting and mysterious and imo not predictable! That is one of my main icks with books but with this one I did not predict the ending the least!
Reid and Lou have a great chemistry from the beginning throughout their highs and lows.
I am really excited to read the next book :)
I highly recommend reading this if you like the same tropes as me!Â
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Hate crime, War, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
nebulasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Body horror, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Blood, Physical abuse, Self harm, Gore, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
nadiaherondale's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I don't even know where to start, what a ride! This had been on my TBR forever and now I'm cursing myself for not having started it before.
First of all: I love the world building, the magic system and the duality of the witches vs the Church/kingdom (a common trope, but very well done in my opinion).
Then, the characters, Lou and Reid are great protagonists but as always I'm more of a secondary type of girl: Coco and Beau absolutely have me on a chokehold, and Madame Labelle what a woman with her secrets.
And oh boy does this book have secrets, plot twist after plot twist, I loved it.
First of all: I love the world building, the magic system and the duality of the witches vs the Church/kingdom (a common trope, but very well done in my opinion).
Then, the characters, Lou and Reid are great protagonists but as always I'm more of a secondary type of girl: Coco and Beau absolutely have me on a chokehold, and Madame Labelle what a woman with her secrets.
And oh boy does this book have secrets, plot twist after plot twist, I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse
safety_pin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Alcohol
thegreatelise's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I loved it, at times I couldnât even put it down, I was so convinced that I would rate it 5 stars but sadly the ending was a bit disappointing. There are some things that I donât understand why it happened, it doesnât add anything to the plot except unnecessary issues.
The first 400 pages were really enjoyable and went smoothly but the last 100 were a bit messy.
Lou is a bad bitch, we love a confident queen.
Reid is definitely my fav book boyfriend I love him so much đ
Ansel is so adorable I love him with my whole heart please protect him at all costs.
However I thought that the romance was a bit too fast for their situation but it was sweet so itâs okay.
I appreciated the fact that it was Reid who was still a virgin when they had s*x while Lou already had partner of that kind, because usually in media itâs always the woman who is a virgin and the man who had a lot of experience so itâs cool that this time it was the other way around.
All the informations that weâre thrown at our faces at the end of the book weâre overwhelming and a bit too much.
The archbishop is Louâs real father ? Okay fine
Madame Labelle is a witch ? Well there are plenty of them already
Madame Labelle is Reidâs mother ? AlrightÂ
Reid is the kingâs son ? Okay..
Reid can now use magic ? Why..
You know what I mean ? Itâs too much and things are really messy.
I really donât like the fact that men are able to use magic when the whole time it was like ÂŤÂ only women can be witches  then suddenly because his wife is close to death he can use it too where no one ever did it before ?
Some things donât make sense but Iâll let it slide because I enjoyed the whole book except that, I love their dynamic, I want to adopt Ansel, I wanna snatch Lou from Reid and Iâm in love with Reid.
The first 400 pages were really enjoyable and went smoothly but the last 100 were a bit messy.
Lou is a bad bitch, we love a confident queen.
Reid is definitely my fav book boyfriend I love him so much đ
Ansel is so adorable I love him with my whole heart please protect him at all costs.
However I thought that the romance was a bit too fast for their situation but it was sweet so itâs okay.
Spoiler
I appreciated the fact that it was Reid who was still a virgin when they had s*x while Lou already had partner of that kind, because usually in media itâs always the woman who is a virgin and the man who had a lot of experience so itâs cool that this time it was the other way around.
All the informations that weâre thrown at our faces at the end of the book weâre overwhelming and a bit too much.
The archbishop is Louâs real father ? Okay fine
Madame Labelle is a witch ? Well there are plenty of them already
Madame Labelle is Reidâs mother ? AlrightÂ
Reid is the kingâs son ? Okay..
Reid can now use magic ? Why..
You know what I mean ? Itâs too much and things are really messy.
I really donât like the fact that men are able to use magic when the whole time it was like ÂŤÂ only women can be witches  then suddenly because his wife is close to death he can use it too where no one ever did it before ?
Some things donât make sense but Iâll let it slide because I enjoyed the whole book except that, I love their dynamic, I want to adopt Ansel, I wanna snatch Lou from Reid and Iâm in love with Reid.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, and Violence
neaky__'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Things I liked:Â
⢠The mechanics behind the white witches. I LOVE how their magic has limits and how the magic is presented. I also liked how the magic has a scent in this universe.Â
⢠Relationship between Reid and Lou was fast but surprisingly believable.Â
⢠I wasnât expecting the final âtwistâ i guess you could say. A cruel twist of fate and iâm excited to see where it will lead in the next book.Â
Things I didnât liked:Â
⢠I donât think many of the side characters aside from the main few were developed.Â
⢠Some parts are cringey and predictable but overall not too much.Â
⢠The mechanics behind the white witches. I LOVE how their magic has limits and how the magic is presented. I also liked how the magic has a scent in this universe.Â
⢠Relationship between Reid and Lou was fast but surprisingly believable.Â
⢠I wasnât expecting the final âtwistâ i guess you could say. A cruel twist of fate and iâm excited to see where it will lead in the next book.Â
Things I didnât liked:Â
⢠I donât think many of the side characters aside from the main few were developed.Â
⢠Some parts are cringey and predictable but overall not too much.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Murder, Misogyny, War, and Sexism
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
victoriacp769's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I think this is a great book, not the best one I read, but itâs good and I love this type of stories. Something I will say is that it was really difficult for me to read at the beginning, cause I found the first part of the book really slow and not much was happening.. but then in the second part of the book all the things you where holding on to starts happening, all the spicyness, the challenges, the mistery, everything. It really starts being entertaining and captivating. Also, in the third part of the book it continues on being that way, which is good, but something I did notice is that the author started rushing everything in the last chapters. In the last chapters there is tooo many things going on and too many plot twist and in a certain way it can be good but for me it was really rushed and uneven considering all the other chapters of the book. Also, the end was wayyy too open, I know that maybe she wanted to do that so that more readers would want to reach to the sequel, but personally I think it was a really confusing ending.Â
Anyways, the book is good, really good, but the writing was not the best.
Anyways, the book is good, really good, but the writing was not the best.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, and Animal death