Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Serpentine Valentine

This was a good sapphic, dark academia with a Medusa based plot-line. I could’ve done without all of the Harry Potter references and the comparison of feminine taste to the taste of salted pasta water, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Content Warnings

kelseythestrange's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Edit: Re-writing review for clarity. I initially wrote it after throwing down my Kindle in a fit of rage and disgust.

DNF at 33%. I don’t usually write reviews but man, this book is so full of cringe. I was excited for a Sapphic DA Medusa re-telling but this one was disappointing and was a disservice to Medusa herself.

Spoilers ahead.

I do not think I will finish this book, though I may return to it out of sheer curiosity.

First, let's talk about Lex. I didn't like her from the start as she was a total NLOG. She's different from the other girls as she's more interested in the classics than partying and getting drunk, which nobody has ever heard of before! You can tell just how different she is when she's describing herself in her Athena Halloween costume.

'Regardless of feeling sexy or not, I felt strong and right as I passed the other costume-clad students in the commons. Amid a sea of sexy nurses, Targaryens, and Star Wars characters, I felt uniquely me.' Sigh.

She then has a very uncomfortable discussion with her homophobic professor where they throw classical quotes back and forth at each other for way too long, I guess to build up their short-lived relationship, but it was painful to read. It was almost as bad as Donna Tartt's overuse of Latin in The Secret History.

'You've never had a man treat you right, have you, sweet Lex?' CRINGE

Second, the way the author describes Lex's body made me uncomfortable. I could have sworn the author was male before checking and it reads like some man's WLW fantasy, especially from the professor's POV which would have made sense if it was in his POV, but it wasn't.

'Her breasts were obvious beneath her conservatively buttoned black blouse, but they would have been obvious in anything she wore, heavy, but high with youth.'

As someone who is LGBTQ+, Lex does not read like a lesbian at all, but what a man thinks a lesbian would talk and act like. And the way she acted after the incident? Disgusting. You would think she would be more careful with her actions after what she went through, but instead, she forces herself onto Luna, who is straight (though Lex says she isn't), SA's her, and exposes herself to her all in a cheap act of revenge against Luna's mother, the president of the school.

'Lex,' she breathed, and it was there, both the protest and the longing for more. 'Don't.'
'Don't what? Don't stop? I won't,' I promised darkly, tossing the hem of my short skirt up and over my belly to reveal my underwear-clad groin to her hungry gaze.'

Hello? 911?? This is SA! Luna has a boyfriend, which she makes clear to Lex, but that doesn't stop Lex from getting off in front of Luna without consent. I don't understand how someone who was SA'd could put someone else in this position knowing how they may feel afterward. Even if Luna seemed 'hungry,' she clearly said stop.

Lex also forces herself onto Luna in the library, without consent, and kisses her also knowing then that she has a boyfriend, all for the sake of revenge.

I was on Lex's side before and during the incident, and I was hoping she would come back and seek her revenge cleverly, but from what it seems where I left off, she doesn't.

Briefly talking about Luna, I liked her. Sure, she had a few NLOG qualities too, but she had to be attractive to Lex, I guess. She genuinely feels herself falling for Lex and starts to question her sexuality, which would have been a great subject to write about in this book but it's lost in Lex's gross advances. Luna loves her boyfriend and doesn't want to cheat on him but finds herself torn between loving her boyfriend and having feelings for Lex. I felt bad for her and may never know what happens later since I probably won't finish the book. The one thing that made me uncomfortable when describing Luna was when the author put her in a Slytherin sweater. I don't understand why the author would mention a TERF when (attempting) to write an LGBTQ+ fantasy. Make it make sense.

Now, about the 'Man Eaters,' Lex's group with her sisters where they torture boys on campus who have assaulted women. Again, I stopped at 33% so I was only able to read about their first act of revenge, but it didn't make sense to me at all. I understand wanting to call out boys on campus who have SA'd before, but the whole idea was messy and anyone with a brain would have known it was Lex who did it. Lex, the girl who was SA'd, came back to school wearing all black with snake tattoos and chose a 'disguise' of all-black clothing and a snake mask. Yet she got away with it because she changed her voice. I wasn't convinced at all. When the girl who was SA'd by their victim decided to finally say something, it was Luna and her team that comforted her, not Lex, but were supposed to feel good about it anyway.

Other things that didn't make sense to me:
If Mina (the president of the school and Luna's mother) knew Lex and her foster family for a long time and knew her character, why would she not believe Lex when she admitted she was SA'd? Because she loves her work so much?
If Lex knew Mina and her family, how has she never met Luna before?
Why did Lex choose Luna as her 'tool' for revenge when she, herself went through something so traumatic where she felt the same?
Why is Lex, a lesbian, so insistent that Luna isn't straight? LGBTQ+ people get told all the time that we aren't what we say we are, and it's frustrating. I don't see why she would put someone else through that.
TikTok??
Why did the author mention a TERF in a (supposedly) LGBTQ+ book?!

Also, salted pasta water.

Content Warnings

thef1bookishgirlie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

Content Warnings

readingwith_kelsey's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective 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

🐍🖤 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 Giana Darling

“𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩”

🐍 ᴍᴇᴅᴜꜱᴀ ʀᴇᴛᴇʟʟɪɴɢ
✨ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍɪᴀ
🐍 ꜱᴀᴘᴘʜɪᴄ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
✨ ꜰᴇᴍɪɴɪɴᴇ ʀᴀɢᴇ
🐍 ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴏʀꜱ
✨ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ
🐍 ʀᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ ᴘʟᴏᴛ
✨ ᴏᴘᴘᴏꜱɪᴛᴇꜱ ᴀᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ

What a way to start my Giana Darling journey, omg. This was my first read by her and let’s just say she has a new fan. This Medusa retelling was everything I didn’t know my feminist heart needed.

Serpentine Valentine was the most raw and beautiful depiction of feminine rage. If you don’t know the story of Medusa, make sure you do your research on that before picking this up because *𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔*. Giana was able to hit all of my emotions with her poetic-like writing style.

Lex has easily become a new all time favorite FMC for me. Her resilience, strength, and feminine power left me in awe multiple times throughout this story. Her transformation into darkness was tragically beautiful. Lex’s revenge plan brought Luna into her rage filled atmosphere but the way Luna’s light and kindness softened Lex was incredible. The chemistry between these two dichotomies was truly addicting. I can’t skip over my love for 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒘 turned all woman wolf pack. The found family amongst these badass women was undeniable.

𝐈 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

tw: this story contains topics which may be sensitive to some readers.

Content Warnings

booksplussky's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

While I really enjoyed parts of this story, overall it fell a little short for me and there were parts I just couldn't get behind. This is a sapphic Medusa retelling. Assault is a major plot point in this story and is what drives much of what the main character goes through and experiences. While I loved the lyrical writing that comes with any Giana Darling book, there were parts of the story I found completely unnecessary and almost harmful. Some of the dialogue felt unnatural and stereotypical. I also firmly believe that when authors are writing outside of what they know, they do not need to include slurs in any way even if it is to further the characterization of an antagonist. For example, a lot of the antagonists in this story use slurs towards LGBTQ people that are written out in their entirety, and they were very jarring to read. I think the same point could have been made if the author simply said "they called us slurs" vs using the actual slurs. I also think referencing Harry Potter in a story like this was unnecessary and harmful in it's own way.

I enjoyed the revenge plot and this felt similar to Mindf*ck, which is one of my favorite books of all time. I do think the parts of this story that I disliked could be taken out and it would better the story overall. I do not know if there were sensitivity readers for this book but it felt like more were needed.

Overall, I love Giana's writing style and always will. I liked what she was trying to do with this book but the harm in it outweighed anything else for me.

Thank you Valentine PR for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Content Warnings

feyresarchgf's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.5

❝ the Gorgan sisters were not ugly, and our anger didn’t taint us, it empowered us. ❞

Initial Thoughts

i LOVED this book, especially in terms of how it dealt with sexual assault. LEX GORGON is such a strong female character, i love her to bits. she’s a survivor and i am so glad she got her revenge AND her justice. as for LUNA, i see parts of myself in and that hurts. she deserves the absolute world. both her and LEX were relatable female characters and i hope one day i find my own LEX.

❝ i’d been born to love women. ❞

Characters

the relationship between LEX and her sisters was something i enjoyed. the fact that part two immediately began on them working together … it warmed my heart. the way this developed into the Man Eaters warmed my heart, a group of females coming together to support each other!

regarding MINA, reading the first couple of chapters, felt like a dagger to the heart. as the reader, having to reconcile the MINA she had been to LEX prior to the book, and the MINA she became after LEX was sexually assaulted, it filled me with rage. and yet … it got WORSE. my heart absolutely breaks for both LEX, LUNA and all the other girls that her actions affected. the fact that she wasn’t even punished for her role ??? did not sit right with me.

as for PIERCE, i liked him and i was praying that he would not let me down. his acceptance and friendship with LUNA was what made me like him. my only thing with him is the fact that when his friends made tasteless jokes about LEX and laughed at it, he didn't do shit and thereafter called him 'his boys'. nor do we see his reaction/how he deals with the fact that his friend SA'd his ex-girlfriend/friend, LUNA, and physically assaulted her.

❝ everyone can relate to a sad story. there are degrees of tragedy, obviously, but every person living knows some sort of unhappiness. ❞

Final Thoughts

the way that Giana Darling dared to give me SUCH a good sapphic romance, one that gave me pretty much everything i wanted AND with quotes that affected me so much ??? she’s a genius.

my only downside (that prevented this book from being given a 5-star) is that i wish we got to explore LUNA’s assault in the same depth that we did LEX’s. it seemed like it was pushed to the side and only acknowledged when the plot called for it before being forgotten.

all in all, LEX and LUNA are everything to me, and their story is so fucking beautiful i could sob. what i would give for them to meet KING and CRESS from the author’s ‘Fallen Men’ series 😩

I received an ARC from ValentinePR in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings

always_reading_rachel's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

5.0

There's something about going into a book blind and being just so pleasantly surprised that you end up finishing it in less than 24 hours. It's one of my favorite things. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of retellings, but if they were all written like this one was, they would move their way up my list of favorites. This was such a heart breaking, all too relevant, modern, dark academia retelling of Medusa. I really appreciated the way Giana was able to respectfully portray the very real issue that is the suppression of sexual assault survivors on college campuses and in the world at large, and the way she was able to weave that into a Medusa retelling and a wonderful romance was perfect. There are some parts that are tough to get through, Giana does a great job of laying out the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, but the complete journey from the beginning of Lex's story, through the addition of Luna's story, to both of their conclusions was such a gripping read that I just couldn't put down and would recommend in a heart beat.

Content Warnings

the_love_librarian's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The story of Medusa's rape is tragic, and what happened to Lex Gorgon broke my heart because sexual assault is too common, and the cover-up of these crimes allow attackers to feel emboldened to continue with their predatory ways. Lex has plans for revenge against the professor who raped her and the university president who covered it up, and I understood why she did what she did, particularly when it came to luring Luna (the president's daughter) into her revenge plot.

Though I enjoyed the character's individual character development and loved how things played out in the end, I wasn't sold on the story. I'm not sure if it was the choppy way the story (and timeline) was written in the beginning or if the relationship between Luna and Lex literally felt like it happened overnight, but something was missing when it came to their connection.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite from the author. The verbosity of the author's writing felt like overkill, and I usually enjoy this author's writing style. The justice that is achieved in the end was my favorite part because predators never deserve to go unpunished.

TRIGGER WARNING: rape (on page, and discussed throughout the book); attempted sexual assault; violence against men and women; bigotry; exploration of sexual orientation (I don't exactly think this last one should be labeled as a "trigger", however the author has it listed as a TW)

Content Warnings

More...