Reviews with content warning for Murder - La bruja blanca

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La bruja blanca by Shelby Mahurin

78 reviews

mixed_emoticon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

TLDR Review for Serpent & Dove

3.5/5 stars

The first 100-200 pages read with all the pleasure of rubbing sandpaper on your face, but it's a necessary evil for background and believability. Thankfully, it gets better quickly after that.

Highlights:
📚 (Completed!) Trilogy Starter
🪟 multiple character perspectives
🇫🇷 French setting
🧙‍♀️ Witch trials
🎭 Hypocrisy
💍 Forced marriage
🧲 opposites attract
😈 Mutual corruption
🧶 Fluffy romance
🔥 How is this tame enough for YA!?
🎢 Emotional rollercoaster
🗡️ Sacrifice
🩸 graphic murder, dying, and death

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izzie_r's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.5

Long chapters :(, anyway Reid’s character growth>>>>>>> also I love ansel and coco <3 , Beaux is pointless. Lou is my all time fav book girl. Ended on a cliffhanger 😒 have to buy 2nd book. Also

Reid being a witch pissed me off like that completely defeats the point of witch and witch hunter romance also let the women have their own thing he’s already related to a king plus I loved that he didn’t swear and ima miss his stubbornness bc I don’t want him and Lou to get too similar I mean fgs they have the same long lost parent thing and it’s just weird how his father FIGURE the archbishop is her LITERAL BIOLOGICAL father , speaking of glad that sexist prick died

anyway I loved this book it was a slow burn too but got a bit bored when the romance was done and it was just plot

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zoepagereader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

This book was the best witch book I’ve read this year. The two main characters were perfect opposites of each other, and the alternating point of views made sure the reader never gets board with who’s telling the story. I thought the use of French felt weird and out of place. Are they an English speaking country where everyone just says occasional phrases and swears in French? Why not on say it in full sentences? 5⭐️

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dlsmk's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

1.0

“There are some things that can't be changed with words. Some things have to be seen. They have to be felt.”

➽ Serpent & Dove was a massive letdown for me! Initially, I was excited to read it, as I love witchy stories and this was very popular when it came out. The story follows Louise, a young witch who has to hide her identity as her kind is prosecuted by witch hunters. She ends up having to marry Reid, a hunter of the church to cover up a scandal. Usually, I enjoy enemies-to-lovers romances, but not when they are written like that. I rarely give out 1-star ratings, but I had issues with every single aspect of this book. Apart from what I mentioned below, there were also some fatphobic and aphobic comments in the story.

➽ Worldbuilding: The magic system is lacklustre and the setting is shallow. The author wanted this to be a French-inspired world but it's obvious she didn't do proper research. Instead, she randomly uses French words/phrases whenever she likes (it's not even consistent in the story itself) but doesn't follow them up with anything else. It felt like she just translated what words she wanted and sprinkled them into the story. The idea of the different types of witches was interesting but didn't stand out to me at all. The whole world didn't feel cohesive, as the language is too modern but then the author keeps reminding us that this is supposed to be set circa. 15th century, so there's a ton of sexism and religious bigotry.

➽ Writing: The writing style didn't fit the story. Apart from the constant repetitions of some phrases (like 'my husband/wife'), the author used modern language in her medieval setting (I'm not sure what time period this is supposed to be set in, I think around the 15th century?). It was so jarring to encounter modern colloquialisms in the story at times, as no one would have spoken like that. Louise sings a song that starts with "Big Titty Liddy" multiple times throughout the story and apart from being cringey and vulgar, it didn't fit into the setting at all!

➽ Main Character: Louise was probably one of the least annoying things about this book. I liked that she's in hiding and trying to outrun her past, as she's sick of being seen as a sacrifice. In general, her feisty attitude and humor were endearing at first. I also liked her friend Coco, but she sadly didn't get enough page time. In the end, her vulgar song and language got on my nerves though. Her mindset was way too modern for the setting, but at the same time, she made SO many excuses for Reid's possessive and sexist behavior.

➽ Love Interest: Reid was a horrible character who never changed. He's a witch hunter and works for the church, so he despises witches but has no idea his new wife is one. Reid never makes an effort to unlearn his own bigotry and keeps treating witches like animals. His bloodlust and dehumanisation were unpleasant to read about. His possessive and aggressive behavior never changed and it often felt like it was Louise's task to 'fix' him. There was no nuance in their dynamic and obviously, Reid magically changes his opinion only in the very end via the 'power of love'. Even secondary characters like Ansel - a fellow hunter - slowly change, but Reid clings to the church's teachings, even when they become improbable.

When Reid finds out Lou is a witch, he overreacts as you would expect. There is no moment when he realises witches aren't as bad as he thought. The reason he changes his opinion is only because he loves Louise and not because he saw the error of his ways. Reid doesn't seem to care about all the witches he hunted, tortured and killed throughout the years. His whining about 'Lou's betrayal' annoyed me and I saw no real remorse from him.

➽ Romance: Reid and Louise's relationship was so offputting and unhealthy. The reason they have to marry is so fabricated and ridiculous, it didn't happen organically throughout the story. It's offputting from the beginning that he only marries her, as the city thinks he sexually assaulted Louise. This isn't true, but obviously, the church thinks that he has to 'save his image'. The church is full fo sexist attitudes and Reid isn't much better. He was controlling and possessive over Lou at times and definitely thought she was more like his property because she was his wife. Reid doesn't have any character development like I though and it's Lou who excuses his behavior and tries to fix him. Their relationship was just a big red flag for me!

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katievallin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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selestre's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

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bzliz's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

Can a witch and a witch hunter fall in love? Louise aka Lou has been on the run for a few years, doing whatever it takes to survive, though she never could have dreamed her survival meant marrying someone hellbent on destroying her and her kin. Reid was raised to believe in the wickedness of witches and to bring about their destruction above all else. His sense of righteousness leads him into a marriage with Lou despite his condemnation of her criminal ways.

The book is well paced and establishes stakes early on while continuing to drop bits of lore along the way to keep readers hooked. Lou is an endearing scamp and Reid is a very good boy learning that the world isn’t necessarily what he thought. They both grow to understand each other’s point of view as their relationship develops. A very fun read despite one of my least favorite tropes- closing out the book with a lead-in to the next which the audience has no context for but it feels like it’s supposed to be a mic drop moment.

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kimmag92's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

I went into Serpent & Dove not knowing much about the plot and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting a vaguely 1700s French witch hunting book that is also a critique of Christian ideology but I'm here for it. Overall, I enjoyed this book especially Lou and Coco. I would have liked to see more build up to the romantic portion of Lou and Reid's relationship. I knew as soon as Reid was introduced he was our love interest but the shift from Lou and Reid barely tolerating each other to "I love you" still felt sudden and not well explained.

I do think Serpent & Dove falls into the category of YA that is written for adults and not teens as the characters late teen ages don't matter to the story. For much of the book they read much older and I think had the author aged up the characters to their mid-20s and marketed it as adult fantasy the story would have worked much better.

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karelidz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

It was... quite unexpected, in a nice suprise type of way.
I bought this back in November and basically just knew it had an arranged marriage trope, so I went into it kinda blind, which was nice, and I really quite enjoyed it.
It took me a while to really understand and differentiate between both pov's, but once I got it, I was good to go. I really liked Lou's pov's a bit better.

Also, judging by the cover and title I kinda expected it to be spicy, but it actually wasn't? I'm not mad about it tho, I really enjoyed the plot without it.
This is one of those books where I want to keep being inside the world even after I finished it, so I'll read the next one, but I'm a bit scared to see where the plot goes, idk where it'll go but I guess I'll find out.

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