selestre's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, War, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Sexual content
mixed_emoticon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
5/5 stars
Made me cry, so instant 5.
Highlights:
đ Book 3 in a Trilogy
đȘ multiple character perspectives
đ«đ· French Setting
đ Grief
đ± Hope
đ Denile
đ Secrets, lies, and truth
đ§âđ€âđ§ Family
đ„ Oh no. (Big spoiler thing)
đ Forced Proximity (again)
đ©ž Graphic violence
đïž Peace
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Death
theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Hate crime, Gore, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Grief, Abandonment, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Infidelity, Stalking, Misogyny, and Cannibalism
bzliz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Lou starts this book possessed by Nicholina and it takes the crew a while to realize it and devise a plan to exorcise her from Louâs body. Theyâre still on the hunt to eliminate Morgane too so theyâve got a lot on their plate. CĂ©lie joins up with the crew with some much-needed money and civility that eases their journey more than once. Just when Lou is freed from her possession, Reid protects her from her mother by making Morgane forget her at the cost of his own memories of her and they have to find a way to stop Morgane while Lou and Reid find their way back together.Â
Ultimately, way too much of the book ends up with Lou possessed or Reid with memory loss and I donât think it helped the story. Thereâs enough going on without those back to back hurdles. We also could have cut the mermaid plot line completely. I really like CĂ©lieâs addition to the crew and her desire to be more than what she was born into. Jean Luc is generally less likable but his inclusion showed that it isnât impossible to change for the better. The final battle was pure chaos and so many characters that I barely remembered kept popping up which made it hard to focus on what was actually happening.Â
I did have a teary moment during the epilogue because
Spoiler
they saved a seat at the wedding for sweet baby Ansel and he got to see his friends be happy and healing and then he got to go be with his parents in the afterlife and it hurt my heart in the best way.Content warnings:
Blood, death, injury, violence (on page):
Spoiler
Lots of violence, injuries, etc because of the nature of the plot. Blood witches are involved so there is plenty of blood flowing.Fire/fire injury (on page):
Spoiler
Cocoâs grief causes an unceasing hellfire that canât be put out until she works through her grief. Lou and Reid are sentenced to burn to death and almost do but are rescued by their crew just in time.Confinement (on page):
Spoiler
Lou and Reid are kept in a cage following their failed attempt to infiltrate the city.Death of parent (on page):
Spoiler
Cocoâs mother must die for her aunt to die; Morgane gets her comeuppance after a big speech about how she couldnât really love Lou.Sexual content (on page):
Spoiler
Mostly fade to black scenes between Lou & Reid. Very mild.Grief (on page):
Spoiler
Everyone is still reeling from Anselâs death but mostly Coco because her grief causes an unending hellfire that destroys parts of Cesarine.Alcohol (on page):
Spoiler
Scene of Lou, Reid, Jean Luc & Beau getting drunk together and playing truth or dare. They have hangovers after.Cannibalism (off page):
Spoiler
Discussion of La Voison and Nicholina eating human hearts.Torture (off page):
Spoiler
King Auguste definitely green-lights torture via rat even if it isnât explicitly said.Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Torture
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Cursing, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death and Torture
queer_bookwyrm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
"Hope isn't the sickness. It's the cure."
Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin is the third and final installment of the Serpent & Dove Series. I'm glad to have finally finished this series, but I don't think overall it quite lived up to the hype. I found the whole middle of this to be quite slow and unnecessary, but the ending really picked up the rating for me. I think part of my problem with this is that I waited so long between reading Blood and Honey and this one, that I forgot most of what happened and who the characters were, so I wasn't in the same headspace when I read this one. Spoilers ahead.Â
Spoiler
We pick up with Lou, Reid, Beau, and Coco after that nasty cliffhanger. Lou and Coco are heavily grieving as they also try to figure out how to kill Morgane. We find out that Nicholina, Queen of the Creeps, has possessed Lou, so the gang brings her to L'Eau MĂ©lancolique to exorcise her. Nothing goes as expected of course, but they are saved by Angelica and The Oracle. In the process, Reid has pulled a thread that makes him and Lou's mother forget she exists. Reid trying to get his memory back and erasing all his character development is basically the whole middle of the book, which was kind of annoying.ÂAs always, Beau is a treasure and Coco is fierce if in denial about her feelings for him. CĂ©lie was an unexpected favorite of mine in this book! She has a lot of development, and is very endearing. She even kind of grew on the rest of the group. She is delicate and strong and brave, all while being the perfect lady.Â
The last battle really save this for me. Having everyone we've met throughout the series in one place was nice. I think Lou's whole story is about self sacrifice. Isla says she isn't extraordinary, but no ordinary person takes pain onto themselves for others so they don't have to be in pain. It really showed a strength of character for Lou.
Graphic: Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Gore
karelidz's review
- 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
3.0
It doesnt have the same feeling as the first one did, like the novelty or momentum of it was just gone.Â
I think it could've easily been a duology and still have the same storyline, but for some reason its a trilogy instead.
It just kinda wasn't it for me.
I still kind of enjoyed my time reading it, but i even found myself trying to remember who certain characters were so... yeah, thats not a very good sign. The way this series progressed made me thankful that i didnt buy a physical copy of the second one because maybe i'll end up selling the first one.Â
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual content, Grief, and Torture
kat1105's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Cannibalism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Classism, Death of parent, Murder, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Kidnapping, Death, and Torture
rinku's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Spoiler
possessed by Nicholina for some reason. I believe this was hinted at at the ending of the last book, but I canât rememberSpoiler
sheâs normal againSpoiler
when Lou goes in these holy waters to cast out Nicholinaâs spiritSpoiler
Reid randomly loses his memories which was one of the stupidest things Iâve read in a book in a long time and annoyed the hell out of me. This was just a lazy way to create the same dynamic between Reid and Lou from the first book where they hated each other and wanted to kill each other, but this time itâs just Reid hating Lou. I hated everything about since it stretched the plot unnecessarily and led to Reid just being annoying; it didnât add anything worthwhile to the storySpoiler
Morgane when Lou is at the holy waters, or Cocoâs mother which is a mermaid for some reasonsSpoiler
how Lou became the new Dame or why she wouldnât tell Reid from the beginning how he could get his memories backSpoiler
Reid finally gets his memories back, right before Lou and him are captured and almost killed â their plan was bound to fail in the first place, but okay. It was such an epic moment how they were saved last minute and how the final fight then starts. This final fight was amazing as well and the scene where Lou and CĂ©lie together kill Morgane was so powerfulSpoiler
everyoneâs alive in the endSpoiler
memory loss of ReidSpoiler
Lou and Reid are both back to their normal self, but this was just way too lateGraphic: Violence, War, Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, and Death
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Blood and Child death