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Serpent & Dove
Non-member price: $27.58
Publisher's Summary
An Amazon Best Book of 2019
New York Times Bests Seller
B&N's YA Book Club Pick
Indiebound Best Seller
Number Six on the 2019 Kids’ Indie Next List
"A brilliant debut, full of everything I love: a sparkling and fully realized heroine, an intricate and deadly system of magic, and a searing romance that kept me reading long into the night. Serpent & Dove is an absolute gem of a book." (Sarah J. Maas, number one New York Times best-selling author of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series)
Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy duology, this tale of witchcraft and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Sara Holland.
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation - marriage.
Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.
Set in a world of powerful women, dark magic, and off-the-charts romance, book one of this stunning fantasy duology will leave listeners burning for more.
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What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars34
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4 Stars13
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3 Stars4
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2 Stars1
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1 Stars0
Performance
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars26
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4 Stars15
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3 Stars6
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2 Stars0
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1 Stars0
Story
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars28
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4 Stars13
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3 Stars5
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2 Stars0
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1 Stars1
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ruby Siemsen
- 11-11-2019
Male narrator spoke too fast
He was quite rushed a lot of the time, compared to the female narrator. Both did a great job! Story was awesome, loved the characters and how they developed throughout the plot.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- charlotte buller
- 17-09-2019
No tension or passion
Lou kept forgetting that she had a ring of invisibility and the one time she did remember she dropped it.
Reed and Lou had no chemistry between them and the only characters I found interesting were the supporting ones.
Won't read the next one
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kirsty
- 08-01-2020
great narrators
The narrators were very good. I love it when they have both Male and female readers for the 2 main characters. The female narrator was especially clear and easy to listen too.
the book itself was great. the storyline was interesting, and there were a few plot twists that I didnt see coming until the last second, which is so refreshing.
waiting impatiently for the second book.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Hanna
- 24-09-2019
An ok love story
The female narator was good, but the male puld it down (I generaly prefere female narators, even fore male voices in audiobooks)
The story hadd some potensial, but never realy managed to get to that some thing special. It is an ok story of love and opposits, good and bad not being black and white.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-09-2019
Holy Witches Batman
Honestly, I was pretty skeptical with the first chunk of this book. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stick with it, but I’m glad I did. The characters, the world building, the French influence.... it’s actually amazing. Such a magical story, you won’t be able to put it down!
I deducted a star only for the first 30% being a bit slow and the male lead INITIALLY being incredibly unlikable. However, he quickly develops and grows on you. Additionally, Lou, the female lead, is a hilarious gift and I LOVE HER.
The male narration leaves something to be desired. It’s not awful, but his cadence is choppy and a little off putting. In contrast, the female narrator is exquisite so they balance out.
Overall? Definitely worth a listen/read. I can’t wait for the next one!
14 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The Atkinsons
- 10-09-2019
a new favorite
I had high hopes going into Serpent & Dove and was not disappointed. Which is great, because before I read the book I had already ordered two copies and know it’s coming in a subscription box. Oh, and I had also already bought tickets to the Epic Reads Meetup fall tour to meet her, so there was a lot of hype for this book to live up to and it absolutely did.
Serpent and Dove is a dual-POV YA fantasy debut from Shelby Mahurin. There are so many things I loved about this novel I just made a list. Also, I’m super busy this week at work and my kids are back to baseball this week so I have to make it shorter.
-STRONG WOMEN
-excellent enemies to friends love story (my favvv)
-witches! And a unique take on how they cast spells
-flawed characters – I love this especially. Please don’t give me a Mary Sue. I’m not interested.
-swearing. Why is this on the list? Because I’m a sailor and I love to swear. Characters who swear are instantly more relate-able to me. Mahurin uses real swear words too. Made up swear words are tiresome.
-sexy. The sex isn’t explicit and no parts are actually named, but the sex scenes are really well done. The fade-to-black gets annoying sometimes so I’m glad to see authors writing about loving consensual sexual relationships. Shelby tweeted about this as well.
-lots of action and strong character development. It was like the perfect combo for me and I never once got bored or wanted to fast forward the audio. Seeing the characters grow and develop was something I really enjoyed, and I am normally much more of a story-driven reader.
-super funny -the witty banter between Lou and Reid was 10/10
-well-built story arc. No plot holes (that I found) and a satisfying ending. Of course I still have questions because this is a series, but that’s to be expected.
-piggybacking off the one above – the REVEALS. I loved the way the story unfolded and how major surprises were revealed. They felt natural.
The absolute worst thing about this book is that I can’t read what happens next until 2020. ugh.
Audio:------------------------------------------------------------------
I've listened to books narrated by both Holter Graham and Saskia Maarleveld before, so I knew going in that I would like them. As expected, they were great. Saskia Maarleveld in particular is so easy to listen to.
10 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Deborah
- 09-11-2019
Unexpected!
Honestly I wanted to DNF this book at the start, but I saw the reviews and decided to push on. After all, it has one of my favorite tropes. Romeo and Juliet. The story took me by surprise as I started to find myself engrossed with the characters and my emotions turning with them as they went on their journey. The surprises had me started as well and I’m so glad I pushed through this book. Started slow but then before you know it- you’re going Down hill with no brakes. Can’t can’t CANT wait for the next book.
The ONLY issues I had was the narrators. The woman kept a whispering and was hard to hear/understand at times. And the male reader read with passion. But he read way too fast and used odd accents that rolled together after a while. While they were’t terrible, it was part of the reason I almost DNF’d this book.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Marc Limas
- 22-10-2019
Male Reader isn't my Favorite
While I enjoyed the beginning of this book and the magic system I felt like to romance was strained and I didn't like the male lead. It could have been the male reader of the audiobook though, his cadence was strange and it made the character so severe. There was a total disconnect between Lou's personality when she was being read by the female reader and the male reader and it made it seem like the male love interest fell in love with a completely different person. The ending was a let down as well... There was a lot of repeating of ideas the reader already understood. I would have just preferred to stay with the female reader and Lou's journey, I found myself caring very little about Reid. I will probably read the next book, I think this author has some great ideas and I am looking forward to them maturing!
3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Megan Barber
- 23-01-2020
Story is okay, Male narrator almost ruins it
I am a huge fan of the Court of Roses and Thorns series, so I hoped I would really enjoy this. It was good. I would probably pick up the second one when it comes out, unless they have the same male narrator! When I heard his first chapter, I considered turning the book off and returning it. I’m glad I pushed through, but I won’t listen to the second one if he narrates again. Listeners, beware!
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Shannon
- 09-12-2019
Just not enough plot
And too much insta love type romance, I didn’t really get into either main character , I liked lu at first but she kind of got stale, it will be good for someone mostly looking for romance novel
2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Dartanyan Johnson
- 03-12-2019
Swing and a miss...
There were things in the story that didn't quite add up, and personalities that changed in an instant. The male narrator was horrible and contradicted the female narrator's portrayal of Louise and Reid. Maybe if Saskia would have read the entire book instead of switching off, it would have been better.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- word
- 18-11-2019
Pretty good, but…
Louise (Lou) was too contrary. she was incredibly selfish. she was unnecessarily antagonistic toward someone who just wants to do his job, and to also keep her safe. he consistently kept people from saying bad things about HER, but she repeatedly did things to undermine him in private and in public (dangerous in a world where he has to command people). her selfishness made it VERY hard to like her as a protagonist.
Lou is smart and brave and MORE than capable in so many ways. but she needed more traits from Reed than he needed from her. that’s a poor character balance. also the narrators were outstanding 👍🏾😁.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shelby
- 12-09-2019
Good story...
The story was fine, it kept me reasonably engaged but I had a big problem with the male narrator. His voices were inconsistent and the cadence was at best distracting and at worst unbearable. I probably won’t pick up a sequel.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amy Lanman
- 24-11-2019
Just not my kinda book
too depressing for me
I like the idea of powers and powerful people, however, not completely ruthless people. This was a story of people held back so strongly by their societal box that it caused countless harm to others. Suppressed minds, habits unconquered and mental conditioning, it was all just sad to the very end.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- E. Robson
- 04-02-2020
Only if your main reason for reading is opposite attract romance
Not for me. The reason for the marriage was unfortunately too contrived for me. I didn’t enjoy the narrators interpretation and unfortunately felt that nothing much happened for a large portion of the book. I’m afraid I gave up after the 7th hour.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Zara Anderson
- 19-01-2020
What a book!
This book is amazing! I throughly enjoyed it and the performances really made the story come to life. I absolutely loved it!!