Gods & Monsters

Serpent & Dove #3

by Shelby Mahurin

Un amour qui brûlera pour l'éternité. Deux amants maudits réunis par le destin ou la providence.

Lou a passé toute sa vie à fuir. Aujourd'hui, après un coup dur de Morgane, le temps est venu de réclamer ce qui lui revient de droit.

Par la vie ou la mort.

Mais ce n'est plus la Lou que ses amis pensaient connaître. Ce n'est plus la Lou qui a capturé le cœur d'un Chasseur. Une obscurité s'est installée en elle, et cette fois, il faudra plus que de l'amour pour lui rendre sa lumière.

Par les dieux ou peut-être les monstres.

Alors que Lou se bat contre ses démons, les sorcières, les Chasseurs et même les esprits de la terre se rassemblent pour un combat final. Reid est confronté à un choix terrible : un sacrifice dévastateur ou la mort de tous ceux qui lui sont chers.

Traduit de l'anglais (États-Unis) par Axelle Demoulin et Nicolas Ancion

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Witches, Romantasy, Audiobook, Young Adult Fantasy

624 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 27, 2021

About the author

Shelby Mahurin grew up on a small farm in rural Indiana, where sticks became wands and cows became dragons. Her rampant imagination didn't fade with age, so she continues to play make-believe every day—with words now instead of cows. When not writing, Shelby watches the Office and obsesses over her Twitter feed. She still lives near that childhood farm with her very tall husband, semi-feral toddlers, two dogs, and one cat.

Reviews

[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

this series has been a roller coaster. the first book was amazing, a real high point, followed by a somewhat surprising (disappointing for many readers) filler of a sequel. but i was optimistic that this conclusion would pull the story back together again.

i cant technically say this is also a filler because its the last book, but it definitely has that feel for the bulk of it. i honestly dont know why this series wasnt kept as a duology. adding another book made the last two feel stretched out too thin and suffer content-wise. how it should have been: the last 1/3 of ‘blood & honey’ plus the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of ‘gods & monsters.’ it would have been a great conclusion like that!

i think readers who are fan of the story just for the story/world/characters sake wont mind another journey book though. i also think readers who were upset with how things were left at the end of the previous book will find some closure and relief - i know i did! i think thats why im not rating this a lot lower, because i was quite satisfied with how the story does resolve.

overall, this isnt a bad book. i just feel the story unfortunately suffered in general for being drawn out too long.

↠ 3.5 stars

[✨ A ✨]

Shelby better fix what she did to us at the end of blood and honey. I want reassurance that my babies are going to be okay and unharmed

This titles is making me nervous tho

Find Me: Ko-Fi • Blog • Instagram • Twitter • Tiktok
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My reviews of:
Book 1 - Serpent and Dove
Book 2 - Blood and Honey

[Teodora · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐

Starting off my final review for the final book of this series by saying that I am extremely worried about the fact that this book is going to give me some brain damage.
Moving on to my actual thoughts:
- I just started reading this, only 28 pages in and I'm already scared and concerned, something wicked and weird is happening, the atmosphere gives me unwanted waves of adrenaline boosts and I don't understand anyone anymore;

- Beau is absolutely hilarious, definitely one of my faves, he's just all over the place in his own blabbering manner and I love his stupid cockiness!

- Reid never wants to acknowledge anything regarding Lou even if it's right in his face wearing a neon yellow jacket and screaming at him;

- they're all delusional at this point;

- Nicholina gives me chills all the time, she's like one of those ancient spirits from old stories that seems to suffer from undiagnosed mental illness;

- this really gives me anxiety;

- OK...WHAT;

- I'm extremely anxious at the moment; I mean, yeah those plot twists aren't that wow if you think of them but given the fact that SO MUCH is happening and you can't even catch your breath, you might actually get surprised by them plot twists;

- also, what's wrong with parents in these books??

- I won't say this book is frustrating (but it is); it seems like there is one frustrating thing after the other and they all keep giving me no breaks;

- I really appreciate the idea of trying to rekindle the same dynamics Lou and Reid had in the first book, I miss those Lou and Reid not gonna lie;

I sincerely want to say that I fought really hard trying to decide whether or not this book deserves the 5 stars I awarded it and let me tell you why: I really enjoyed the stressful plot and the story and the characters and everything seemed endless and hopeless, but towards the end, things got extremely easy solvable and also in a very convenient matter and that is something that I didn't really enjoy. I mean the story was really REALLY good, but the way things got solved? Too quick, too easy, I wanted more. The ending deflated me a bit, but overall I loved this book!

[Arini · Rating 1 out of 5]

#1 Serpent & Dove — 4 Stars
#2 Blood & Honey — 2.5 Stars
#3 Gods & Monsters — 1.5 Stars

Recaps of Book 1 & 2: SEE HERE.

I’ve managed to survive 2021 without rating a book 1 star UNTIL NOW. So, thank you Shelby Mahurin for taking that away and ruining my year. There wasn’t anything that I enjoyed in this installment. And that’s saying something considering I had no expectation at all going into it. NONE, except that I was ready for the worst. Now, it’s verified. Not even the romance made me feel anything—because, CAN YOU EVEN TELL ME WHERE IT’S AT? I understand that characters needed to show some growth and the world building to expand, but why did the story have to be drawn out THIS much, THIS long. All it did was make me lose my care for everything altogether because I couldn’t find the things that made me fall in love with the first book; regardless that you finally get the ending you’ve been waiting for, and you find closure in this book. Ugh. I’m not disappointed. I’m unreservedly bitter. If there’s anything worse than Covid-19 in the last two years, it’s the last two books in this series. Yes, I said it. No further comment, but this: Serpent & Dove IS a standalone as far as I’m concerned. And may whoever responsible for turning this into a trilogy burn in hell! It’s been real, y’all.

(Read as an Audiobook)

[Nilufer Ozmekik]

Well, here I am!
I loved the first book. I fell so hard!
And at the second book, I fell out so hard. I hated it! I didn't like what the author has done to those amazing characters.
I thought I'm done with this series. But...Look at this cover! Isn't it alluring? It's literally calling me.
Crossing my finger, giving a second chance. I hope I don't hate it! Please... please...please...

[Lia Carstairs · Rating 2 out of 5]

*cries in disappointment*


NO BUT ACTUALLY WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED??? I literally loved Serpent & Dove and was one of the very few who also loved Bloody & Honey but this??? This was complete trash. *gets War Storm flashbacks*

I cannot believe Gods & Monsters is actually part of the same series like wow easily my worst book of 2021. I want to completey erase all of what happened from my mind- oh wait, nothing happened. Just my brain cells dying as I pushed myself through this monstrosity.

This honestly is so heartbreaking because this trilogy literally had the potential to be one of my all time favourite series but well... not anymore🤡 The only redeeming quality was the side character relationships & that one chapter in Ansel's POV, but that totally wasn't enough to save me from boredom.

I want my money back😐


_____

plz be the book to get me out of my slump😭

buddy read with my demon bestie lucyy <33

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Update: Feb.5th, 2021:

That cover is absolutely gorgeous. It's definitely redeemed itself after B&H's cover *shudder*

But it's scaring me.

Please don't break my heart again, Shelby.


Reviews for:
Serpent & Dove : ★★★★★
Blood & Honey : ★★★★★
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Update (Oct.16, 2020)

WE HAVE A TITLE!!!
GODS & MONSTERS
GODS & MONSTERS

Although is it just me or does this title kinda not match with the other titles? It sounds cool, but like Blood & Honey and Serpent & Dove had a nice ring to it. This however......hmmmm

[Lucie V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

✅ Hate-to-love (kind of) / Romance
✅ Characters and relationships
✅ Kickass female characters 💪
✅ Plot
✅ Pace and action
✅ Funny and cute moments
✅ Witches
✅ Found family

Strong 4.5 stars

Well, I like this one much more than Blood & Honey! I was afraid to be disappointed, but hoping that it would be awesome at the same time because the ending of Blood & Honey was quite promising... Well, I was not disappointed at all, I am still reeling from the last stretch of this book. So many things happened!

Gods & Monsters is a perfect ending to the series. It is full of action, funny and cute moments, love, and friendship, and it was a very entertaining and satisfactory ending to the series.

There is always something happening in this book: fights, travels, parlay, thieving, scheming. The pace is great and so is the plot. I read this whole book in a day and a half and I just couldn't stop because there was ALWAYS something going on! The last 20% of the book is so intense that I had to take breaks to fully appreciate and understand everything that was happening. My heart was pounding and I think my hands were shaking at one point. The final confrontation between Lou and Morgane was epic, and everything that I hoped for.

“Hope isn’t the sickness. It’s the cure.”

Speaking of hope, it was definitely a recurring theme in the book. Gods & Monsters is all about the importance of clinging to hope even when you feel like you have nothing to hold on to. How to push through grief and heartbreak to take another step forward, and then another. Lou's ragtag group is quite aware of the odds against them, and the fact that most of their plan ends up being completely ruined, sending everything to hell, does not help, but they hold onto each other and they help each other to continue the journey because they know that this is the right path.

There are two "new characters" joining the group. They are not new to the story, but they were not that important or present in the previous books. Let's just say that the unlikely friendship that bloomed in this book was so satisfying and sweet. I really like how all the main female characters in this series are strong in their own way. They are resilient, brave, and strong and they do not hesitate to kick some asses. They are not cowering behind strong men, they take matters into their own hands and they do not hesitate to tell the men to go for a walk if they try to shelter them or keep them out of harm's way.

Deep down, I’d known how this would end all along. I’d sensed it from the moment we’d first met, from the time I’d first glimpsed the Balisarda in his bandolier—two star-crossed lovers brought together by fate or providence. By life and by death. By gods, or perhaps monsters. We would end with a stake and a match.

Lou and Reid's emotional journey was not an easy one, but they managed to have their happy ending... After going through a few obstacles of course. After the delightful snark and banter in Serpent & Dove, I was disappointed by the lack of funny moments between Lou and Reid in Blood & Honey. Now, there is not as much banter in this book as there was in the first one, but there is a twist nonetheless that adds drama and complication to their relationship while keeping it hot and intense, and the angst/drama-lover in me LOVED IT.

There are also new important characters and magical creatures, which is awesome because the world-building keeps expanding even though it's the last book of the series. Some characters change and grow a lot in this book, and I have to say that Beau calling Reid "little brother" and Lou "sister mine" was perfection. Beau was perfection. It felt so wholesome to see them become a family that love, protect, respect and cherish each other. ❤️ There are a few mentions of Ansel too that brought some tears into my eyes, and the fact that he is included in the epilogue (I will not say how though) actually made me cry. I miss him.

1. Serpent & Dove ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Blood & Honey ⭐⭐⭐.5


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[Lucy Tonks (the invisible life of a reader) · Rating 1 out of 5]

”You've lived in fear too long.”
“Fear has helped me survive.”
“Fear has kept you from living.”


I went into it with no expectations, yet I'm disappointed. From now on, in my heart, Serpent and Dove is a standalone. The sequels don't actually exist as they did this series so dirty. I've come from loving the first book to just hating both books that we got after.


After the heartbreaking events of Blood and Honey, our cast of characters are even more determined to seek vengence, but to do that they will first have to learn how to handle their grief. Lou is different. A darkness has settle over her and it will take a lot more than expected to drive it out. This darkness might actually ruin everything.


The plot dragged so much. I thought the second book was bad, but this was somehow even worse. At least some of the stuff in B&H made sense. In this one, it felt like Shelby Mahurin was throwing into the novel every shit that came to mind just so this could be called a book. The pacing was very weird. As I said the plot dragged and then everything was cramed into the last 20% percent, and from that point on everything was just way too rushed.


A lot of what happened in this one could have been cut out. So much of what we have to call “plot” was unnecessary. The subplot with Isla and the oracle thing felt very unnecessary and I can't say I actually remember half of what happened although I finished this book a couple of days ago. I just didn't care enough to be bothered. To me, it felt like she was a bitch that was added to the book just to make things harder for Lou. No other reason that could have actually benefited the plot. Nope, the book needed more stuff to happen and make the characters's journeys more complicated for the sake of having more pages and the book to be longer. Why not add an oracle and mermaids? Not completely random at all.


The characters weren't any better either. I did not care about Lou and Reid at all in this book. Their character development was nowhere in sight. It was just gone. In the first book you can see this nice development, in Reid's case in the second book too, but in this one it's like someone cast a spell on it to make it disappear. Reid was so obnoxious at one point and if you read the book you know which part I mean. That 30% of the book felt so unecessary and was there just so Lou could be more desperate. In a way it just felt like a repeat of book one. Nothing original. And when everything went back to normal it didn't feel endearing or romantic at all. My reaction wasCool, are we done with this shit? I know I'm being very vague and annoying but I'm trying very hard not to spoil anything.


I cared so much more about the side characters rather than the main characters. I wanted to see more of them instead of Lou and Reid. It was interesting seeing the way Coco and Beau dealt with the grief cause by the events of the previous book and how Beau was trying to be there for Coco in any way he could. Any scene they were in was automatically better, but also I hated Lou and Reid so much in this one that they could only to this much for my overall enjoyment.


Who would have thought I would actually come to care for Celie. In Gods and Monsters, we've come to see a part of her we hadn't before and this unlike so many other things in the book felt necessary to the plot. Without this, the book would have felt somewhat incomplete. Considering how much she's gone through and she was caught so many times in the middle of a conflict, that sooner or later this was bound to happen. Also Jean Luc was a decent human being. How the hell did that happen? On occassions he was more pleasant that Lou.


I could have done without the romance. I know this is a romance fantasy series, but it does not deserve to be called that when the romance becomes this bad. Lou and Reid's relationship started declining since book two, but here it's where it actually hit the mark. I was hoping that Shelby Mahurin will save it one way or another, but nope, she made it even worse. During most of teh romantic scenes between the two, I was just zoning out because of how little I actually cared. I was so over the shitty drama. Wanna add drama to your book? Good for you, I love drama. But please, for the love of god, make it interesting, not whatever this was.


Coco and Beau's relatioship was better, but because of how much the author decided to focus on the main characters' one, it was underdeveloped. I wanted too see more of them, but no of course we couldn't get more of it when we really need to focus on the two idiots we have as main characters. Let me end thsi section of my review with this. In a good book all relationships are well developed, even when it's between two side characters.


I actually liked the little bits of the relationship between Lou and Beau that we got. I loved the sibling relationship they formed over this series. It's one of the sweetest things in this series and it's honestly one of the few things I wanted more of. I'm also happy that Lou and Celie actually became friends in this one. I hated the girl on girl hate that we got from them. It's 2021, please stop that. It was nice seeing them getting along and actually being there to help eachother. But sadly a couple of scenes here and there in this 600 page monster cannot redeem this novel in any way.


The book was extremely predictable. I don't think there was anything that surprised me. It wasn't even that the foreshdowing was obvious or bad. The thing is there was no foreshadowing. Nothing. It just felt obvious from the start. It wouldn't take a genius to guess what happenes in more than 75% of the book. Usually something bad happens, they have to fix said bad thing, but oh no something gets in their way that they conveniently fix in less than five minutes.


The ending was pretty anticlimatic. They've gone to so much pain and shit. I went through so much just to finish this series and hoping the end will save it, but no sir that did not happen. Everything was super convinient. The villains were all handled extremely easily, like they are not the most powerful man and woman in this world and some even the oldest. They've lived for centuries and this is how they are defeated really? Morgane is supposed to be this super evil and smart villain and this is how it ends for her. Really? Disappointing is an understatement. The ending was so rushed that the author didn't really bothered to make it satisfying. Everything wraps up? That seems to be good enough. No need for it to actually be a great ending.


The epilogue was the only thing that I actually really loved. It is told from my favourite character's perspective and for the first time in the whole book those scenes actually felt like they were part of the same series as Serpent and Dove. It simply had the same feeling as it. And that chapter was just so wholesome I loved it so much. I started crying while reading it. It was so emotionalIf the whole book was told from their perspective my rating would have been higher no question. It probably wouldn't have made sense for the plot, but I don't care. Nothing made remotely any sense to the plot in this one.


To avoid killing main characters, Shelby Mahurin started killing as many side characters as she wanted jsut so we could have some death suring the war. Again with the unecessary things. She killed them just because it was expected for someone to die and the author couldn't kill anyone more important at this point. I'm happy that those characters managed to survived, don't get me wrong. But there's a death that I'm thinking in particular that was just a poor attempt to make some of the characters feel more grief and be hit harder with the actual consequences of the war. Maybe I'm complaining too much, but after reading so many great fantasy series, I have the tendency to just be more and more critical of even the little stuff.


Through out the book, I couldn't help but notice some similarities to Sarah J. Maas's books. I know from some interviews that Shelby Mahurin is a big fan of her works and I'm pretty sure the first book is even blurbed by SJM. I don't mind that the author took some inspiration from an author she admires. What bothers me is that she somehow manages to only take the bad stuff. At the end of the book something happens taht's oddly similar towhat Elain ended up doing in A Court of Wings and Ruin. Take from this statement what you will.


I think the only reason as to how I managed to finish this mess was the audiobook. It wasn't a great audiobook by any means, I can't say I liked the narrators (both Lou and Reid had their own narrators) and the performance wasn't the best either. I've listened to quite a few audiobooks at this point and I can see this is close to the bottom of my list from favourites to least favourites. But at least it helped me get through the novel. I usually listened while also reading along, but I have to admit there were times when I just didn't really care enough to bother understanding what I was listening to.


I just wanna say I hate these covers. The first one I like. Black makes 95% of the times things more beautiful. But honestly when the cover for Blood and Honey was revealed I thought it was the same design as the first one but in red. It took me months to realise that they were actually different. And the silver of the cover for G&M still pains me. It looks horrible. There were so many colors they could have gone to, but instead they chose that silver.


This book is really forgettable. I finished it just a couple of days ago, but I already forgot more than half of what happened. I really wanted this series to stick with me. Hell, after the first book it had so much potential to be an all time favourite book of mine. All of that, ruined. The sequels ruined everything. Dear future me, I really hope only the first book will stick with you as it actually deserves love.


This should have been a duology. I don't know what the people who made the decision for it to be a trilogy were thinking. It was a shitty decision. Both B&H and G&M dragged so much and had some many scenes that could have been cut. Those should have been just one books. I don't really care what you think about this, if you wanted more books in this world, but I eieve in quality over quantity.


I read this book hoping it will be better than the second one. But i was wrong. Very wrong. It was even worse. I originally rated it 2 stars, but I'm actually gonna lower it to 1 cosideirng how much I hated it. As much as I loved a couple of things, it cannot save it from thsi rating. It just cannot. I was miserable while reading it. I do not recommend this series. You can go for the first book. But consider it a standalone.


”It doesn't end in death. It ends in hope.''





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I went into it with no expectations, yet I'm disappointed. From now on, in my heart, Serpent & Dove is a standalone. The sequels don't actually exist as they did this series so dirty.
RTC.


___________________________________________



Even though I wasn't the biggest fan of Blood & Honey, I am still interested enough in the story that I actually want to know how it ends and I really hope this one will be better. I'm going in with no expectations really, I just wish to know the end.

Buddy read with Liaa as I need the support to be able to finish this trilogy

[Georgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the name of all that is holy, I AM UNWELL!!!!!



Emotionally, I am all over the place right now, so I know everything I say is going to come across as hyperbolic, but seriously, y’all… I cannot emphasize enough how much I absolutely LOVED Gods & Monsters. As this book has yet to come out, no need to worry about spoilers in this review!

If ever there was a textbook on how to write the perfect finale to a series, Gods & Monsters would, in my mind, indisputably be the perfect example to cite. It wasn’t until finishing Gods & Monsters that I realized, wow, I haven’t read any final books in a series that I truly and throughly enjoyed. Somehow, Shelby Mahurin wove a book that is not only full of action, romance, and laughs, but she also somehow wrapped it and the entire series up in such a tidy and satisfactory way that I’m actually wondering if witchcraft is a side-hustle of hers.

Okay, but wait, let’s talk about all that action, romance, and funniness for a minute. By habit, I sort of dread the final books in series. Usually, I find that these final books have very slow pacing and are often too serious and grim to have fun while reading. But Gods & Monsters is fun. The action was nonstop throughout this book which caught me entirely by surprise because I felt like there was so much that happened in Blood & Honey that was going to weigh down the action and plot progression in Gods & Monsters, but that truly wasn’t the case. I actually found the pacing to be stronger in Gods & Monsters than it was in either of the previous two books, and I caught myself having to pause every so often while reading because so much was happening that I would just need a breather for a second! Especially toward the end, my heart felt like it was in my stomach for seriously the entirety of the last twenty percent of the story. So yes, the action is amazing, but there’s still the intensity of the high stakes our babies have to work to combat, as well as their own interpersonal struggles. And, somehow, Shelby is able keep the action and tension coming, but still bring the funny?! I read a good portion of this book while on vacation, and I truly had to cover my mouth to hide my laughter and grins in public because there was just so much amazing banter in this book, not to mention some seriously cute moments that had me smiling like a fool.

I suppose I should also mention that I cried three separate times during the epilogue of this book. So do with that information what you will!



And that’s all I can really say, because anything else would just be spoiling it for y’all, but please just know how FANTASTIC Gods & Monsters is, and that you absolutely need to not miss out on reading it once it hits shelves. Shelby has truly set a precedent I���m not sure another author can match anytime soon in writing such a perfectly satisfying and balanced finale while not losing an iota of the magic, romance, and humor that makes her writing so damn addicting and superb!

[⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ Kim ⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

જ⁀➴ 2 stars

"You’ve worked too hard and too long to give up now. Come on. You want more than oblivion. You want to live.”

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩��˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
*prepare for a rant review ahead. The TL;DR of it is that I'm sorely disappointed with how this series went for me. :(*

You know that meme that everyone used for the Game of Thrones TV series where it's a drawing of a horse and the first half of it is super well drawn and the second half is practically a stick figure that was drawn by a three-year-old? That's what this entire trilogy felt like to me. Believe me, it hurts me to say this, considering the first book--and it was also Shelby Mahurin's debut-- started the series off so strong, in my opinion. It's my favorite book of the trilogy. I thought I didn't like Blood & Honey, but I honestly think that Gods & Monsters made Blood & Honey look like an absolute masterpiece in comparison. When you add on the fact that Gods & Monsters is the highest-rated book of the entire trilogy--no really, you can look at the ratings for each book and see for yourself--I figured that the series would end on a high note in contrast to the extremely big drop from the ratings of Serpent & Dove to Blood & Honey.

Now that I've finished reading it, I genuinely think that this entire 600+ page book could've been an email. That's my biggest gripe with Gods & Monsters. Now, I know--from my personal experience--that the whole "this book should've been 350-400 pages or less" debate is more often heard about in romance novels than here in the romantasy/fantasy genre, considering the trend over in that realm of the book world is the books slowly inching more towards the 400-500 page length and most people don't tend to bat an eye at longer-length fantasy novels. In fact, some of us, like myself, even get excited over the longer book lengths in fantasy novels because it means we get to spend more time in a world that's caught and kept our attention for as long as we've been reading the series. However, Gods & Monsters was one of those rare exceptions, in my opinion, where the book should've--and probably could've--been less than, dare I even say, 400-450 pages AT MOST.

In my review of Blood & Honey, I said that the book suffered from the sophomore slump we sometimes see in fantasy trilogies, where the second book is like a "bridge" or a "filler book" of sorts and our main characters try to make sense of the overall problem in their story and figure out what to do to stop evil from triumphing. I figured that Gods & Monsters would be more action-packed throughout the story considering it's the finale of the trilogy, but instead, I felt like the vast majority of the book was merely an extension of the events in Blood & Honey since they couldn't achieve their goal in the events of one book, and not much else developed until the last 20%. The plot dragged, it felt like everything and nothing was happening at the same time, and there were parts of the book where I was so bored that I couldn't bring myself to care about what was going on. I feel like I vaguely remember seeing/hearing people talking about how the story should've ended with Blood & Honey or the events of the majority of Gods & Monsters should've been combined with Blood & Honey, and I agree with all of those sentiments now. There was no reason for this to be over 600 pages.

As for the plot itself, it just felt so...random. It felt as if the author knew that Blood & Honey flopped, and then tried to bring Gods & Monsters back to the series' roots and make Serpent & Dove 2.0 with Lou and Reid's romantic storyline. I'm not sure if "random" is the right way to describe it, but in particular, there was a specific plotline/conflict that dominated the first half of the story with one of them, and then pretty much right around the 55-60% mark, it focused on the other person and their conflict/issue for the rest of the story and it was, once again, a MASSIVE step back in character development for said person ALL. OVER. AGAIN. I just groaned to myself reading it and had a "Lol what?😀" moment for the second half because while I see how said conflict came about from the events leading up to it all, I didn't think said character needed to go through all of that. Like, give them a break, y'all. Add in a bunch of random things about mermaids, a fire-breathing dragon, Jean Luc and Celie show up for some reason, and a magical lake, and that was Gods & Monsters in a nutshell for a majority of the book.

The only thing I can say about the story is that I did like how the ending, specifically the epilogue, wrapped everything up nicely. I loved the epilogue and I think most readers will find closure in reading it (and it made me tear up a little too, I'm not going to lie). Yes, there is a big, final battle scene at the end, but I felt that the way things went down was a bit pathetic and somewhat underwhelming. Like, you're telling me that a centuries-long conflict in Cesarine--specifically the witches and Chasseurs--was resolved in the matter of not even a day? Also, pretty much every minor/side character showed up in the final scene and were name-dropped as if we were all supposed to remember who they were and what they did. If you've read the series up until this point, you'd know exactly how many side characters showed up throughout Blood & Honey, and I feel like even though it hasn't been long between me finishing Blood & Honey and starting this book I would remember their names, but nope! Even the way evil was defeated (I'm just going to put it like that for now because if I say it any other way it'll be a spoiler) was anticlimactic. I remember reading it and going, "...that's it?"

Overall, do I think Gods & Monsters needed to be its own book? No. However, do I think the ending of the story wrapped the series up nicely? Yes. I think that mega-fans of the series will LOVE this way more than I did, and Serpent & Dove will hold a special place in my heart for one of my favorite fantasy/romantasy books I've read so far this year. However, I think that the series could've been shaved down and reworked to have been a duology, and the final battle more thought through.

P.S. I also have zero idea why Celie needed to show up. It's like none of the characters knew why she showed up either (and they even questioned why she even wanted to be here, considering what's at stake...no pun intended), and frankly, same, guys. It felt like she was dead weight for the majority of the story until the final battle. The spin-off series is also apparently about her, which like...why? Maybe I don't understand it now, but I will if/when I start The Scarlet Veil duology. Right now, I just can't stand her, and I don't know why she has to have her own spin-off. At the very least, I expect Lou, Reid, Coco, and the rest of the characters to show up and make cameos.

P.P.S. Lou and Reid will get it on anywhere except a bedroom. I can't. Imagine the sex offender charges against them in the real world😭
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Trigger/content warnings: blood and gore, graphic violence, amnesia, recounted death of a child, recounted death of a loved one

⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: Okay, I'm going to be honest: I'm NERVOUS. I loved Serpent & Dove but I hated Blood & Honey. I'm scared that Gods & Monsters will now be a hit or miss. I finished the first two books about a month ago, but I feel weird not finishing the series and leaving it incomplete/half-read without finishing Gods & Monsters, so here I am!🤍✨(please let this end on a good note🤞🏼)

(I'm also totally guilt tripping myself into finishing the series because I have tons of other fantasy series that I started but never finished, so I'm trying to break that cycle.)
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Check out my reviews for Serpent & Dove and Blood & Honey:

Serpent & Dove🐍🕊️
Blood & Honey🩸🍯

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars - Reread 2023

I just don’t know. I wish this trilogy was one big stand alone book. I was already upset at what happened to one of my fav characters in the last book. I did like the bittersweet epilogue, but most of it was a bit of a slog that I skimmed through.

I’ve decided to trade in my Fairyloot trilogy hardbacks. Not saying anything bad for the trilogy, I’m doing this with a lot of physical books I don’t love enough to keep forever. Let someone else enjoy them 💕

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters)]

I can't believe I forgot to update this one!
So... I'll be quick.
Book one was probably one of my favorite reads the year it came out, and the sequel left me so disappointed I put off reading this last installment for months. Months that turned into a year spent wondering whether this book would save the series or condemn it to the one-book type deal category.
It turned out it didn't matter if I read it right away or after a year. I was so bored out of my mind I couldn't get past the first 6 chapters.
I think I won't give up to this author, but it's with sadness in my heart that I say goodbye to this trilogy, DNF this book, and never look back.

[Salma19 (And I Darken stan) · Rating 1 out of 5]

🎉This review is finalized! 🎉
*1.5 star
SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES MISSED! 🤯 📛

Not the author failing at writing in a language/culture that is not hers.

Mahurin pretends to know French 🤣? Let me tell you something. Ce livre est d’un ridicule sans nom.

Let me tell you my villain origin story, something that this book series did not even bother to have. I want to classify this series as plastic Fantasy Romance. Yes, plastic Fantasy Romance.

Serpent & Dove: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5
Blood & Honey: ⭐️⭐️ out 5
Gods & Monsters: ⭐️.5 out of 5

In 2019, I bought and loved Serpent & Dove. It was not perfect, but it was the Fantasy Romance I was anticipating and it lived up to its premise of a witch/witch hunter romance and banter. The book was super fun and I was ecstatic about the sequel conclusion to what I thought was going to be a duology.

The year after, the series was announced as a trilogy and I got the chance to read Blood & Honey right when it came out. Let me tell you that I rarely buy YA Fantasy sequels when they come out. I usually wait for reviews. Again, I did an exception because I was so ready to love it. Sadly, the book dragged for way too long, Lou was so slut-shamy to other people and nothing super relevant happened until the last 140 pages of a 528-page novel. Plus, Shelby Mahurin really misused French vocabulary with dozens of syntax and grammatical errors. Mrs. Mahurin, if you cannot do French, don't do it. That’s fine. As a francophone, it really ruined my reading experience. It is astonishing to me that the big publishing business that is Harper Collins did not even bother hiring readers whose first language is French to correct mistakes that EASILY could have been fixed. Especially when you can get in touch with them with simple finger moves on their keyboards. Come on, Digital Age.

Next came Gods & Monsters, which I still highly anticipated! I feel fooled for that… I thought that after the disappointment that the second book was, the third and final book could not be any less good. On the contrary, this book proved me wrong. The start is not bad at all. The plot is not the most inventive, but it is readable and I am glad to meet the characters again. But, past the 150-ish pages, literally nothing relevant happened until page 450. The in-between part was a such slog to get through! I felt like even the author did not know what to write next, so Mahurin wandered us around for hundreds of pages of characters TALKING and TALKING instead of getting their acts together to defeat Morgane. The villain had no purpose and no backstory is given to deepen her character! She is just plain evil and this is it! May I mention that this book is 612 pages, and not any info about the villain is provided?! The side characters are so undeveloped and so not different from each other. Plus, you barely got time to know them. Thus, when a random person randomly shows up, I was like "Who’s this?!". The side characters are so insignificant and only serves to make situations convenient for the main characters out of the blue…

THE FRENCH GRAMMAR & SYNTAX MISTAKES

Here, I am going to play the French teacher and correct every single one of them. There are so many that I spotted while reading that it hurts my eyes! Feel free to skip to the next paragraphs if you are not interested. Shelby Mahurin writes French like she writes English, which is wrong because both languages are so different in so many ways, so are the sentence structure and grammar.

1. "Cathédral" (on the map/p.1) ❌ → My Correction= Cathédrale ✔︎

2. "Beau inclined his head in Célie's direction. [...] 'My apologies, ' madame ' (p.71) ❌
→ My Correction= ' mademoiselle ' ✔︎

*Okay, here there is a problem. throughout the rest of the book, the author uses the word "mademoiselle" a lot. It seems super inconsistent to me that she did not changed madame for mademoiselle when the characters talks to Célie. Mademoiselle is used to address to unmarried young women while madame is for older women (even if unmarried) and married women. Célie is unmarried, so it must be mademoiselle instead of madame.

3. "Good luck, frère. Be careful" (p.128) ❌
→ My Correction= mon frère ✔︎

*This is the mistake I notice the most: the absence of the possessive article while talking to someone. In English, you may address someone by calling them "brother". However, in French you have to say the equivalent of "my brother", which is «mon frère». Same goes for any form or relations you have with the person (cousin, friend, lover, siblings, aunt, uncle, etc.) you are speaking to. The only way that you are not required to use the possessive article is to designate your OWN parents.

4. Same rule broken as #3
You can find the same mistake on page 232, 248, 250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 261, 263, 430, 488, 492, and 604.

Coco speaking to her aunt: "Morgane is responsible, tante " (p. 235). ❌
→ My Correction= ma tante ✔︎

Other examples:
" Soeur "(p.252) ❌
→ My Correction= Ma soeur ✔︎

"Fille" (p.252) ❌
→ My Correction= Ma fille ✔︎

5. "Mathieu le Claire" (p.193) ❌
→ My Correction= Clair ✔︎

*«Le» is a masculine article, so the noun must be so accordingly. Therefore, considering that the «e» is added only when it is feminine, it must be removed.

6. The Overuse and Inconsistent Use of Italics

Mahurin abuses italics so much. She tries to make them her aesthetic or something. They are present in every page, which is not normal! Most of the time she writes French words in italics, but sometimes ,she doesn't and it is super weird.

E.G. "Will I become a wraith too, maman?" (p.199)

Also, the next one is not really an error, but an eye-rolling writing choice. Let me explain: some words in French and English are practically the same, like princess. Shelby Mahurin only adds French to appear stylish and elegant in her writing, (which is quite useless when does not apply grammar rules properly) . For "princess", there is no need to switch back to French because the word is the same, just with an "e" in the end. It screams "Oh look! I know some French word and grammar from Google Traduction" 🙄.

Proof: "The dress of a true princesse" (p.295).
There would be no difference if she choose English for "princesse".

7.
"Bonjour, mes demoiselles" (p.296) ❌
→ My Correction= mesdemoiselles ✔︎

8. A Verb Not Correctly Conjugated
" Je vous voir , Louise" (p.300) ❌
→ My Correction= Je vous vois ✔︎

* You cannot say that in French, whether dialect your are speaking, it does not work. «Voir» (to see) is the infinite form. For each pronoun, the conjugated form is different that the infinitive. In the third verb group, the singular first person's must end with an "s". The "r" for <> must be switched for an "s".

9. Wrong article employed

"Do you understand now, mon pouffiasse? (p.310) ❌
→ My Correction= ma pouffiasse ✔︎

*To be honest, the word «pouffiasse» was not even the good word to use for this context. It is like a less vulgar variation of the word "slut". It is more a word used by people gossiping about someone, not during an interaction with the person in question.

THE PLOT?

On the whole, the pain is to defeat Morgane, right? And establish some peace between the two parties: the Church and the witches. Well there was literally no attempt at eliminating Morgane. This huge band of character just run away from a place to another instead of scheming and using their so called intelligence. They just let everything fall on their should, and their mouths just open like an O when an enemy shows up while they are fucking playing "Truth of Dare" or chilling in fancy mermaid gowns... Shaking my head. Seriously, Beau is a fucking prince. He did not even move his ass to his advantage to gather allies. He was just a clown without any purpose! I would have LOVED to read Coco's point of view though because she had the potential to do so many cool stuff, but she was so wasted. The magic has no limits and no rules exists. Even the witches do not even know, which is odd because their use and knowledge of magic makes them witches. How, them, witches, do not even know their own magical rules?! I know they are 2 groups of witches, but still? Shouldn't they know the magic rules of their respective rival camp? 🤡

In this excerpt, Lou and Coco are discussing magic.

" 'How did you do that?' Coco asked suspiciously.
'I melted the snow.'
'I thought nature demanded sacrifice?' 'How is melting snow a sacrifice?
'I am the snow.' " (p.452-453)

WHAT. AN. EXPLANATION. WOW.

THE CLIMAX

The only interesting part of the book was when the characters were imprisoned and brought at the stake. AT PAGE 490. It was very well done. It actually saved the book a little, but it is not reasonable to wait 300+ pages to get to a relevant plot point. I am done with books like this. It is filler and should not take as much space. This is poor writing. Although I really disliked the turn this series has took, I liked that the author did not reduce Célie to a basic bitch ex-girlfriend like it is the case for many books. Her participation in the final part was good.

THE ENDING

Shelby Mahurin engaged in writing a Fantasy Romance. There is a fantastical conflict taken place in Césarine: Church versus witches. The romance part of the story was indeed wrapped up: our characters get their happily ever after. But what about the stakes faced in Serpent & Dove? All historical conflicts were left out in the background. In what ways defeating Morgane will bring a better political climate? What is the Church's views of witches now and then? Is there a concession between both parties? Are other magical creatures facing the same prejudices as the witches? Are Chasseurs still going to witch-hunt? Was this conflict ever meant to be resolved to some degree? Are we ever going to know?

The Fantasy part of the book was very superficial and glossed over! Only the main romance was resolved. It felt very pointless to have brought magic into the story. If you engage in writing Fantasy Romance, both romantic and fantastical plot should be given proper page time to wrap up in a way that makes justice to readers.

[Talkincloud]

Soon.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 stars

Loved Serpent & Dove.
Hated Blood & Honey.
As for Gods & Monsters? 600+ pages of pure average-ness.

After how bad of a time I had reading Blood & Honey I seriously debating picking this up but of course my nosey ass needed to know how this series would end. While this wasn't as disappointing as the second book it certainly wasn't redeeming for the series either which makes me so, so sad because I adored Serpent & Dove. I stand with everyone who agrees that this should have never been a trilogy because....holy filler there's just so much unnecessary plot points going on.

If you're like me and don't like rereading books then my advice is to find a recap on what happens in the first two books because the author does nothing to remind you. Much like the second book I struggled remembering some of the details of who was who and what it was that the characters were talking about because you get thrown right back into it with no refresher. As for what else went wrong with this book for me it was pretty similar to the last book. It was entirely too long for no reason, seriously, why was this over 600 pages? I definitely wanted to quit reading this more than once. A lot of this could have been cut out and the book would have been just as effective. And the ending was so painfully average in terms of who lives and who dies.

As for what I did like it was basically the banter between the characters, the fact that Reid wasn't a whiny emo boy anymore, and that we got a little bit of the Serpent & Dove Reid and Lou dynamic that I loved. Otherwise that's it, 600+ of pure averageness and a series that went from being one I loved to one I could easily forget.

[demi. ♡]

I thought Serpent & Dove would be just a duology but now we’ll get a trilogy????

However, that’s fine. I’m here for it anyway. 😂

[Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where book 2 was a 600 page extension of book 1, it seems book 3 was a 600 page repeat of book 1. Not entirely sure why we apparently needed 1000+ more pages after the first book, but here we are I guess.

[Bridey Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re expecting a professional, well-written review, turn back now because this thing is as much of a hot mess as I was reading Gods & Monsters. I really did try to make it nice but honestly my notes are all over the place and this review is going to be so much more fun if it’s not elegant.

First of all, Shelby Mahurin is both the god AND the monster in this book. I have literally never been more stressed out in my entire life. I stress ate half a family sized bag of M&Ms. I devoured the entire book in almost a day because it DOESN’T STOP. Like you think you’re safe and you relax and then something else sucker punches you and you have no choice but to keep reading. Basically what I’m trying to say is that the pacing in this book is the BEST. Yes, we have some nice, tender moments with the squad and with Reid and Lou but it’s mostly going to be panic all around which is exactly what I want in a third and final book.

If Shelby Mahurin could please write me my own love story that would be fantastic because I WANT WHAT LOU AND REID HAVE. Gods & Monsters was one of those books where I squealed a lot at the cute parts, screamed a lot at the “WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM SHELBY” parts, and swooned at the flirting parts. There were so many tender and funny moments and moments of chemistry between Reid and Lou that effect their relationship together, their inner conflicts, and the external plot. Honestly masterful work there, like Shelby really managed to hit ALL THOSE POINTS and made it GOOD and let’s be real, a lot of authors don’t. And to all the thirsty fans I know are out there because I am one of them: Yes. There are steamy scenes. And they are STEAMY.

If there is one thing I love more than romance, it’s unlikely female friendships. We all love Coco and Lou because let’s be real, they’re the best and I would sell a kidney to be friends with them. But, but, BUT there is a NEW ADDITION that I can’t talk about but I want to say I LOVED the dynamic. Without spoilers, there’s a lot of power and encouragement between them and talk about being happy with yourself and flipping off anyone who tells you what you can be and y’all I CRIED. Anyways, speaking of this new character, I did not expect to love her going into this but coming out of it, SHE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. Absolute QUEEN. I want to talk about the scenes so badly.

Look, I am the type of person who can watch a horror movie at 11pm and then immediately go to sleep with no nightmares or the “oh my God something is under my bed” thoughts. But the new POV? Nicholina? That made my skin CRAWL. The way she talks and acts is so eerie and makes me just a little bit scared of Shelby’s mind. But it was exquisitely disturbing and I both hated and loved it.

BEAU. That’s it, that’s the paragraph.

If you’ve read Serpent & Dove and Blood & Honey, which I’m assuming you have or this review isn’t going to be very entertaining for you, then you know Shelby likes to do this thing where she puts her characters in the absolute worst situations she can think of and the reader is like “oh no! how will they ever escape!” and then BOOM suddenly things blow up in your face in a really awesome way. And I love those scenes because they’re always really epic, but I especially love the scenes right before everything blows up. In this whole book, there is a recurring them about how hard it is to cling to hope when the world has given you nothing but despair––and taking another step anyways. Yes there is heartbreak and grief and rock bottom for all these characters, but I love that every book Shelby writes always has that element of hope. These characters know their odds but they all help each other take that next step, fight that next monster, or face that next obstacle. Gods & Monsters especially deals with those themes, and how difficult it is when all of them are weighed down by grief and guilt. And now I am crying.

Similarly, this is the paragraph I didn’t want to write because it HURTS but I have to write it because it’s very important. Shelby does a fantastic job of dealing with grief in Gods & Monsters. It’s difficult to tackle a topic like that in the first place, but to write about the pain, the guilt, the temptation to just give up when the world seems like it’ll never be the same without that person… Wow. I mean Shelby hit the nail on the head. I won’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil and I want you all to discover some of my favorite scenes by yourselves, but I suggest grabbing your tissues. This one hit me hard.

I like to think I’m a calm reader in the sense that I don’t like, throw a book at the wall. There was a moment in this book where I absolutely threw the book at the wall (it was actually my e-reader and it hit a pillow thank God BUT STILL). There were a lot of moments in this where I just…AH. I screamed.
I would like to take a moment to share with you actual notes from my readthrough:
FDSKLAFDJS ;******* WHAT THE EVER LIVING **** JUST HAPPENED
SHELBY NO BAD SHELBY WHAT THE HELL STOP IT
I SWEAR TO **** SHELBY I SWEAR TO ****
To be fair, most of my notes were like that. I was having a crisis the entire time.

Let’s talk about my favorite thing in any book: WORLDBUILDING. There are NEW CREATURES GUYS. I love them. They’re the best. I guess I can’t actually talk about this much without spoiling? But know there are some new worldbuildilng elements in G&M that really add to the magic of the story.

Lastly, I would like to talk about writing for a moment. Shelby’s writing is so fantastic on all accounts. From her descriptions to her action scenes to the steamy scenes, she is a FANTASTIC writer. Like action scenes and steamy scenes are so hard to write and she nailed them? Legendary. There were some epic quotes in there too and I want them tattooed on my forehead.

If you’ve reached the end of this review, I am impressed! If you have already called a therapist on my behalf, you’re valid but I already have one so I'm good. Or, if you jumped down to the bottom to hear my final thoughts, here they are: Gods & Monsters was the best ending to the Serpent & Dove series I could have hoped for. It is intense, emotional, romantic, and epic and readers everywhere are going to be talking about this conclusion for a long, long time. I laughed, cried, yelled, swooned, and experienced every emotion known to humankind and would do it all again. These characters are so close to my heart for so many reasons and while I am saddened that this is the final chapter in their story, I am thrilled they got such a fantastic end. I eagerly await whatever Shelby Mahurin has in store for us in her future works and until then, maybe it’s time for a reread…

[toointofiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hope isn't the sickness. It's the cure."



❗❗Spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk.❗❗

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



What an absolutely incredible conclusion to an absolutely incredible series. A vast improvement to the underwhelming Blood & Honey . I loved every single moment of it. Reid sacrificing his memories of Lou to save her life. Lou making him fall in love with her again in the blink of an eye. (My girl's got game XD) Ansel being a beautiful, sweet guardian angel. Warning everyone whenever there's was danger. Guiding Lou and Coco back to their lives. Watching over them in their happiest moments. We do not deserve him!!! 😍😭😍😭


I cannot belive Shelby Mahurin managed to make me like and sympathise with freaking Nicholina. Her!! The person who possessed Lou and planned on killing her and all her loved ones. I CRIED WHEN SHE DIED, YOU GUYS!! Beau was an absolute delight. AS ALWAYS!! His kiss with Coco was 🔥, funny, and romantic as hell. Hands down my top 3 favourite moments in the book.


Reid and Lou were...💜😍💜😍💜😍 ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!! Their love is so strong it literally defied magic, guys. Even though Reid sacrificed ALL his memories of Lou to save her from her crap of a mother, he fell in love with her all over again despite his returned, deep hatred of witches. Now, that's love.



Morgane admitting that she COULDN'T kill Lou the moment she was born because she grabbed her finger in her little fist was 💔💔. It did nothing to absolve her from her terrible parenting but I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a little.


Gods & Monsters was the conclusion we deserved, especially, after the disaster that was Blood & Honey and it definitely measures up to the greatness that was Serpent & Dove

[aly ☆彡 (on holiday, will be back soon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the disappointment from the last instalment, I started the book without any expectations, though I did hope it wouldn't be a letdown. And I guess it helps because the book ends up being passable.

Gods and Monsters started weakly. I couldn't put past the first half of the book because the plot drew out into unnecessary parts, or that I believe it could be cut short into the major event. And I am not sure if I recall it correctly, but I can't seem to keep up with the shift in the storyline; from confronting and taking arms with Morgane le Blanc to saving a possessed Lou and helping to remember a memory loss Reid.

Lou and Reid take up to the masses of making me continuing the series. Even when (sadly) the romance has still not become the focus in the book as it did in Serpent and Dove, I still find myself enjoying seeing the character's arc in both of them; where they feel more like themselves than they did in Blood and Honey.

Lou is who I remember her to be, and this book managed to remind me why I love her in the first place. She remains selfless, protective and proved to have the biggest heart of all. And their love story still left me in awe. The soulmate narration was written beautifully and despite the hiccup, Lou and Reid are still one of my top favourites YA couples.

Nevertheless, the major highlight of the book is definitely, its sublime ending. Shelby Mahurin gives us a breathless conclusion to the series that I think might be, if not the best, one of the best epilogues I have ever read. It's healing, emotional, and heartbreaking all the same.

I can't believe I'll be saying this looking at how the last book turns out and how the start of this book is heading, but I am actually sad the series has ended. In another world, where the original plan for Serpent and Dove to stay a duology became a reality, the series may easily become one of my favourites.
~~~
[Pre-Review]
From initially planning to rate this two stars to three stars and now contemplating to four stars (but I'll sort this dilemma later)

AND ALL BECAUSE OF THE FREAKING EPILOGUE?? Probably one of the best and well-deserved epilogues I’ve read.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Ese final!

Y ese maravilloso epílogo💕, fue todo lo que esperaba y más; aunque me hizo sufrir. Amor eterno a Ansel 🥰

[humna حمنہ (j. lynch's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

╰┈➤ 𓆗 gods and monsters 🕊

crying, laughing, screaming, throwing up, did i absolutely love this book? yes. would i recommend this book? yes is this one of the best books I've ever read? YES. ༉‧₊˚🖇🖤❀༉‧₊˚.

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶
“Fear was inevitable. We all made our choices, and we all suffered our consequences. We all felt fear. The trick was learning to live with that fear, to continue forward in spite of it.”

overall thoughts: I LOVED the first book: 'serpent and dove', the second one was mid, but THIS ONE RIGHT HERE, omg is one of my favourite books. It had enemies to lovers, forced marriage, forced proximity, found family, hidden identity, and a strong female protagonist!! all of which i LOVE. The book had such a rich dynamic from characters to the plot, and I resonated with each and every character.
︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶
''I stared at her tearstained face, chest aching. She didn’t need to convince me. I’d do anything she asked. If kissing her would stop another tear from falling, I’d kiss her a thousand times. If we survived the night, I’d kiss away every tear for the rest of her life.”
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lou: she is one of THE best protagonists I've ever read about, her descriptions of certain things and literally her whole personality resounded with me SO MUCH. I loved how she liked to rile Reid up, and her love for the people she cared about, I really find myself in her, and I'm really proud at all the things she achieved.

“None know what the water will show them. Desires, fears, strengths, weaknesses, memories—it sees truth and demands truth in turn. All you must do is acknowledge it.”
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reid: this guy RIGHT HERE is literally chefs kiss. He protected Lou, and you can really SEE the love they both have for each other, and the way Reid feels about her and their friends. He was also willing to do the right thing always which I really admire of him.

“Fear has helped me survive," I snapped.
"Fear has kept you from living.”
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beau: i actually smiled so much whenever beau came into the book, his witty humour, charming personality and looks, just made him so LIKEABLE, and i LOVED reading about him. I think he was the glue in their band of misfits and his relationship with Lou?? PURE GOLD, i loved it so much and it made me feel so warm and fuzzy to see him protect her.

“Hope matters most, I say fiercely. Hope isn’t the sickness. It’s the cure.”
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coco: she was SUCH a strong side FC, and I absolutely loved reading about her. She was definitely admirable, and her desire to fight the evil, and look after her loved ones really showed how much of a promising character she was. I loved how Lou had her own personality, and Coco had her own, but they got along SO great. I loved their friendship SO MUCH!

“Dreams are never dreams, Mademoiselle Celie. They are our deepest wishes and darkest secrets made true, whispered only under cloak of night. In them, we are free to know ourselves.”
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celie: i loved her character development in the series! this book really highlighted her inner character despite the 'lady' exterior she had painted for the others. I loved how she fought for her friends and her newly developed friendship with Coco and Lou!

“Death isn't a happy ending, Ansel. It's sickness and rot and betrayal. It's fire and pain and"—my voice cracked—"and never getting to say goodbye."
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plot: no spoilers, but the PLOT TWISTS IN THIS BOOK. they were amazing PERIOD. this book literally was so hard to put down once you started it, and i stayed up until 3 am to savour reading it, and the french words and proverbs in the book? the aesthetic? IT WAS PURELY AMAZING. one of the most beautiful books ive read/seen! the plot twists made me cry, scream, laugh and cry some more, because it was just THAT GOOD. Overall, I really really REALLY recommend this book from the bottom of my heart!!
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“There is no rose without a thorn.”🌹

𓆗 mini playlist 🕊:

╰┈➤ gods and monsters by lana del ray
╰┈➤ blood//water by grandson
╰┈➤ art deco by lana del ray
╰┈➤ born to die by lana del ray
╰┈➤ how to be a heartbreaker by MARINA
╰┈➤ HAUNTED and im yours by isabel laRosa

[Bryce Rocks My Socks · Rating 5 out of 5]

HELP NEEDED: someone please explain the pear trees to me and why A got butterflies (iykyk) no spoilers in the comments pls but PM me if you can help a girl out

THAT EPILOGUE THOUGH THIS IS WHAT I CAME FOR THIS IS WHY I READ THREE BOOKS
SOMEONE COME AND FREAK OUT WITH ME PLEASE

Thank you Queen Mahurin for always coming thru (well not so much for blood & honey but girl u made up for it and made up for it and made up for it- so this got weird imma go now)

[Maja - BibliophiliaDK ✨]

Serpent and Dove: One of the best YA fantasy books I have read in quite some time

Blood and Honey:: Bit of a letdown in my opinion...

Gods and Monsters:

[Grecia Robles · Rating 4 out of 5]

MIXED FEELINGS!!

Finally tenemos esta tan esperada y ansiada tercera parte y final de esta historia de Lou una bruja y Reid un cazador, que se vieron obligados a contraer matrimonio siendo enemigos mortales y en el proceso amándose locamente con locura.

Después de ese final de infarto que me dejó SHOOK, vamos a saber que pasó, en un inicio todo es muy confuso sabemos que poseyeron a Lou pero todavía no se sabe las consecuencias pero poco a poco se va revelando todo y OH MY GOD!!. Toda esa primera parte es resolver ese gran problema y fue bastante creepy y tenemos escenas muy buenas en esta parte de la historia.

Ya en la segunda parte baja la intensidad, pero luego luego se nos viene otra complicación, todo el mundo está en su contra.
También sentí que por ese nuevo problema que surgió volvió a cambiar la dinámica entre Reid y Lou y volvieron a ser la pareja que tuvimos en el primer libro que nos conquistó, o sea el elemento es bastante cliché, pero fue bien utilizado e hizo entretenida la historia.
Y también tenemos varias escenas spicy que my goodness HOT HOT HOT, raras en este género, pero una siempre lo agradece.

Este libro también es más gory, tenemos acción y bastantes villanos poderosos, pero también nuevos aliados, plot twists y grandes revelaciones.
Y lo que más me gustó de esta historia en general es que el problema viene siendo el mismo que del primer libro pero que se va complicando que parece que van a ganar, sin embargo el enemigo siempre los sorprende y con más ganas quieres que derrotes a los villanos.

Los personajes secundarios se lucieron bastante y que uno de ellos fue mi favorito de este libro y ese es Beau tuvo un gran desarrollo y crecimiento a lo largo de la historia y me hubiera encantado que tuviera su POV a una escena con Coco NECESITAMOS SU HISTORIA.
Hasta Jean Luc y Célie me gustaron.

En cuanto a los protagonistas que les puedo decir MARAVILLOSOS, y su final fue digno para ellos y quedé muy satisfecha.

No puedo dejar de pensar que le faltaron más paginas al libro, había más cosas que tenían que aclararnos se sintió que quedaron cabos sueltos y que quedó inconcluso, aunque no es así pero yo necesito saber todo, por eso mis mixed feellings.

By the way, ese epílogo fue muy agridulce pero bastante bonito, me dolió y lo amé a partes iguales.

Fue una gran historia que amé haberla podido leer, al principio si parecía un fanfic de Nina y Mathias pero después toma su propia identidad y no por eso dejó de ser una trama bastante buena.
Y sin duda voy a leer lo que escriba esta autora.

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Hope isn’t the sickness. It’s the cure.”

This was an improvement from Blood & Honey, I must say that, even though I was screaming in frustration through this entire book.

Serpent & Dove is still the best book in this series, but I did like this one. The last half made reading this book worth it after considering dnfing it in the first half, which I wasn't actually going to do because I hate dnfing books I spent money on.

The Plot



So, in Blood & Honey I felt like the plot was really slow, boring, and confusing in the first half and then the second half had more action and adventure and the same exact thing happened in this book. The beginning was so confusing and slow, but when we transitioned towards the ending, it became really fast-paced and entertaining.

I hated being confused over what was happening, because I like knowing what's happening, obviously, but I didn't want to have to go back because if you didn't know already, I'm incredibly lazy when it comes to doing that, and also because I really just wanted to finish this book.

I also feel like some things in this were far too convenient. Like, they were able to solve hard problems very easily and it just didn't make sense how something so drastic and dangerous could be so easy to accomplish, I guess.

And there are far too many names and places in this series, I couldn't remember where anything was, and I had to go back to the map in the front of this book multiple times to check where my location was to make sense of the setting.

Also, that epilogue killed me. It was so bittersweet and sad, yet so uplifting and hopeful. I almost started crying, partially because of the book and partially for other reasons, but still, it made me emotional.

I'm still never forgiving the author for doing what she did in Blood & Honey.

“Fear was inevitable. We all made our choices, and we all suffered our consequences. We all felt fear. The trick was learning to live with that fear, to continue forward in spite of it.”

The Characters



Hmm....so, my liking towards these characters has increased since Blood & Honey. I still don't love Lou and Reid as much as I did in the first book, but at least I like them more now than I did in Blood & Honey.

Lou

.....Ok so I still don't like her that much. I mean, there kind of has to be a median: at some points in this book, I hated her to the point that I wanted to fling my book at the wall. At other points I wanted her to be my best friend. I actually think Lou would make a great best friend. She's selfless, loyal, and brave. But she can also be incredibly annoying.

At some moments when she was with Reid and provoking him or whatever, I got so mad. I don't know why, but some of the things she was doing were so unnecessary and made absolutely no sense.

But again, there were other moments where I loved her. So it kind of depends.

Reid

Again, I don't like him as much in this as I did in Serpent & Dove. He has drastically grown since Blood & Honey but then....some things came up...and I can't say anything, but let's just say his character development plummeted back to how he was in the beginning of Serpent & Dove.

He's still incredibly fierce and protective over his friends and family, which I admire.

Coco

Ah, I love Coco. She's so smart and some things she said in this book made me grin so much. I can't really say much else because I have no idea what to say, since if I add more on, I'm literally going to repeat what I just said with different words.

Just know, I love her character more than Lou's.

Beau

Beau is amazingggg. He has definitely grown on me since Serpent & Dove, which I've mentioned before, but whatever. Dare I say, I even like him more than Reid? He's just so funny and he cracked jokes when they were definitely not necessary, but I loved them anyway.

I also enjoyed the side characters quite a bit. I wasn't liking Célie much in any of the books, and not even a little bit in this one, but I definitely learned to like her.

“Do not mistake me for porcelain. Do not mistake me for weak.”

The Romance and Friendships



Lou and Reid

Thank God their relationship in this was nothing like it was in Blood & Honey. They weren't infuriating luckily, and I adore their banter. Again, I didn't like them together as much in this one as I did in Serpent & Dove, but still, I love them. Their fierce devotion to each other had me squealing and the epilogue made me melt because it was so cute.

Their relationship was definitely....tested in this one, but I had no doubt they wouldn't find each other again.

Beau and Coco

They were definitely the stars, sorry. I love their relationship and I need a whole book on it. I never realized how much I needed a book about them until now. I needed more scenes with them in it, because that first kiss was EVERYTHING. I was mildly embarrassed because it was in front of everyone and was growing incredibly passionate, but honestly, I don't even care, because I'd waited since BOOK ONE for them to get together.

I need more please.

The friendships in this book are EVERYTHING. Beau and Lou's friendship is amazing, and I love how he calls her "sister mine" and how they can easily trade snarky remarks with each other.

Lou and Coco's friendship is as amazing as ever, and I honestly wish they were my best friends.

“There is no rose without a thorn.”

Well, I have finally finished this series. It took me a while to read all of these books but I've done it! It sure has been an experience, and while I am upset that the second and third books were disappointing compared to the first one, I will always carry fond memories of Serpent & Dove with me, as well as the characters, who I've grown to really love.

4 stars

“There is no solution for grief. Only time.”

Indeed.

<><><><><><>
this sure is bittersweet. it always is, finishing a series.

rtc

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will always love this world and these characters, but I wish the series had stayed a duology. I feel like so much could have been cut out.

[Gabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ★★★★☆

“Hope isn’t the sickness. It’s the cure.”

The truth is that I have no idea how to write a review for this book, so let's see how this will turn out.

First of all, the pace was very strange. The first 150-200 pages were very difficult for me to read. Although I wasn’t getting bored, I also wasn’t encouraged to continue reading. It was easy for me to put the book aside and read others, which didn’t happen with the previous two. It wasn't until after struggling for over a week to read those pages that we finally got to the interesting and everything starts to move a little more, but oh surprise: Shelby destroyed the entire evolution of a character.



No, no and no. This doesn't work for me, and it was one of the things that disappointed me.

The positive thing that made me enjoy this book and saved it from being a complete disaster was the development of the side characters (especially two who had a greater participation compared to Serpent & Dove and Blood & Honey). I also liked the way the final battle was written, the closing of a certain matter from the sequel and how the magic system was expanded.

P.S. Beau was one of the best characters in this book. AGAIN. I declare myself his official fan 🤣

━━━━━•❃°•°•°•°❃•━━━━━

SPOILERS BELOW:

1. Nicholina's background story: It didn't add much to the plot, but I liked learning a little more about what led her to take the path she took and discover the true story of the witches.

2. Ansel’s return: This was very special and gave the closure that many of us needed. I’m glad that his participation wasn’t forced and that he actually had a purpose.

3. Reid's amnesia: I didn't like it at all. We literally waited two whole books for him to finally get to the point where he accepted the witches, magic, and himself, after a lifetime of prejudice. It all falls apart in ONE single chapter 🤦‍♀️



I understand the point the author was trying to make (that Reid would love Lou despite all), but I didn't like this way of proving it. It felt completely forced.

4. The banter between Lou and Reid: Even though I didn't like Reid's memory loss, I loved the banter between the two of them. Blood & Honey made their relationship go downhill for me, so it was nice to see them act more like themselves again and see the romance unfolding once more. It made me laugh a lot.

“Truth or dare.”
Butterflies erupted in my belly as he stepped closer still. Heat washed across every inch of my skin. “Truth.”
He shook his head slowly.
I swallowed hard. “Dare.”
“Kiss me.”

Me pretending not to be screaming inside:



5. Célie and Jean Luc joining the scene: At first, I felt like they were there just for the plot’s sake (and to some extent they were), but I ended up enjoying seeing the development they had. Célie was no longer the character that only existed to create tension between the protagonists, and Jean Luc stopped being the envious friend. They both showed personality and I liked the roles they played in everything.

6. The connection to Blood & Honey: I don't know how much was planned and what wasn't, but Shelby Mahurin connected points that didn't seem so important in the second book and that played important roles in this book. For example, the tree that swallowed Reid's balisarda and ended up being their prison, or the song Zenna sang about the chain and what happened to Claud. It was all pretty clever.

7. The friendship between Beau and Lou: In general, I loved Beau throughout the entire book, but something especially remarkable is the beautiful relationship between these two characters. I loved that they were always there for each other and their mutual understanding. Beau knew exactly the right words to say to keep Lou from collapsing! He’s amazing.

“I do find you extraordinary. Perhaps not extraordinarily brave or just or true, but extraordinary nonetheless.” When I rolled my eyes, politely skeptical, he stepped in front of me, forcing us both to a halt. “Who else would have accepted the spoiled son of a king? The misused aristocrat? The sacrilegious huntsman? In the eyes of the kingdom, we are nothing.” His voice dropped lower still. “You’ve given us all a place, a purpose, when before we didn’t have one. You are the reason we’re here, Lou. And I don’t care about the waters’ truth—you are my sister. Never forget it.”



8. Angelica and the mermaids: The visit there was a bit unnecessary, but I really enjoyed reading about the Undersea. I didn't expect Angelica to be Coco's mother at all, but that actually makes sense.

P.S. The participation of the mermaids was phenomenal.

9. The ending wasn't that great: This disappointed me a bit because the book was finally getting back on track. As I said before, the final battle was very well narrated and even ingenious (many things had already happened that were creating more and more tension), but the ending was a bit disastrous.

It's unrealistic (even in a fantasy book) for chasseurs and witches to suddenly accept each other, sing songs of peace while holding hands, and forget about an enmity that has led them to fight for decades. Is it solved just like that? Have the witches already forgotten all their burned relatives? Have humans already forgiven the mess Morgane caused in their lives and their city? Nope, this doesn’t work.

10. Lou and Reid's wedding: This was very nice, and I liked that it was narrated by Ansel. Nothing more to say.

━━━━━•❃°•°•°•°❃•━━━━━

To sum it all up, this is a trilogy that I recommend (especially if you haven't read too much fantasy or are looking for something addictive to read). Maybe the first one is the best of the three, but I still have a good memory of this story. I adored Lou, Reid, Coco, Beau and Ansel 🙌🏻

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Do not mistake me for porcelain. Do not mistake me for weak”.

Este tercer libro fue una gran decepción… de nuevo. Siento que la autora recicló lo que ya había narrado en las otras entregas. ¿Cómo empieza Gods and Monsters? Con los personajes buscando aliados nuevamente porque nada les salió bien en el libro anterior. Además, con el hechizo que le lanzaron a Lou en el libro anterior, pronto se revela que la razón por la que está actuando diferente es porque está poseída.

Ahora, eso suena súper genial y podría haber sido un gran conflicto en el libro, pero la verdad es que todo se resuelve sin apenas giros y de una manera muy acelerada. Y esto es extraño, pues si bien digo que se resolvió de una manera acelerada, el ritmo del libro se siente ETERNO y lleno de relleno. Es decir, ¿cómo es que le metes relleno al libro final de una trilogía? Madre mía.

Algo que me jodió muchísimo de este libro fue lo que sucede con Reid después de que solucionan lo de Lou. Echan todo el desarrollo de personajes por la borda. Y lo que voy a decir a continuación es un spoiler, así que están advertidos. Después de que recuperan a Lou, después de que Reid se haya pasado un libro entero aceptando su verdadera realidad, que es un brujo y todas esas cosas, la autora tiene la AUDACIA de usar el peor cliché jamás inventado en la historia de la literatura: la pérdida de memoria. REID PIERDE LA MEMORIA. Y vuelve a odiar a Lou, vuelve a odiarse a sí mismo… y si bien con el tiempo mejora, las cosas nunca vuelven a ser iguales. Todo esto fue demasiado frustrante.

Me parece un desperdicio, sobre todo porque Shelby repite muchas cosas y recursos a lo largo de la trilogía y no se centra en cosas importantes como, por ejemplo, el origen de Morgane. Es decir, ¿por qué es Morgane una villana? ¿Qué la motiva? Desde el primer libro simplemente nos dicen que es mala, que quiere matar a Lou y ya está. Pero ¿en dónde está la construcción del personaje? Pues perdido en el Tártaro porque no existe.

Y sí, en el final hay una súper batalla, pero la resolución me pareció bastante patética y simplista. Me parece que un conflicto de cientos de años entre las brujas y los chasseurs se resuelva de la noche a la mañana, es sencillamente absurdo.

En fin. No se dejen engañar. Shelby no es la siguiente Sarah J. Maas y sus libros NO SON PERFECTOS para quienes hayan leído todo lo de Sarah y estén buscando algo similar.

[A C]

Guys, it's coming. I can feel it in my bones. The sheer horror and hatred, looming on the horizon like a beast from hell. I'm counting down. Not out of excitement, but out of sheer dread.

Dec. 14 2020: I put this on my tbr because of the ending of the second book. Will I hate this one? Probably. Do I hate myself? Probably. Am I masochistic for adding this to my tbr? Yes