[A quick note: This is the second book in the Serpent and Dove trilogy. Fair warning, if you haven’t read the first, this is a semi-spoilery review, but I tried to be general. How pretty are these tarot cards? They came in my Fairyloot box and I adore them. The final book just released. I probably won’t get to it for a few months. I’d be in more of a rush had I enjoyed this one more than I did. Oh well…]
“𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡—𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦.”—Shelby Mahurin
Tons of action, drama, tension, and angst. Blood and Honey raises the stakes as Lou and Reid attempt to stay one step ahead of infamous witch, Morgane La Blanc. If they have any hope of destroying her, they must do the impossible: unite the blood witches, werewolves, and even the chasseurs. However, the true challenge doesn’t lie in brokering alliances, but reinforcing the bonds that already exist between them. All bonds can be broken, and theirs might be too brittle to hold.
I have a mixed feelings about this book. I loved all the action. There was much more than the first book. The stakes were higher. I also appreciated that the world building deepened, giving me a glimpse into the lives of the werewolves and blood witches. However, I couldn’t get passed the excessive amount of arguing between Lou and Reid.
I mean…there was just so. Much. Arguing. And. Fighting. It saturated the text and drowned everything else out. I get that arguing was a bi-product of their struggles. Lou faced a downward spiral while Reid grappled with his views on magic. But did they really need to fill the pages with so much unproductive fighting?
Most of their fights stemmed from Lou’s inability to be honest with Reid after promising she wouldn’t keep secrets. Reid simply wanted to protect Lou but this didn’t help matters each time he asked her to stop using magic. Normally I don’t mind relationship fights in books, they add angst and sexual tension. However, these were so frequent, and so unproductive. They almost never resolved any of their issues…until the end. I had to wait a full book for it. It simply became tedious and tiresome!
I don’t even want to go into detail about any of the other aspects of the book. Why? Because a week later as I’m writing this review, all that stands out to me was the massive amount of arguing and fighting between Lou and Reid. It was a buzzkill. Ugh.
Fortunately, the ending redeemed the story. Thank goodness! It was a GREAT ending. I adored the twist, which was both shocking and unexpected. I wasn’t ready for it. Any time a book can knock me down like that, I offer applause. But since I’m not rating this book on the ending only, I’m forced to give it a lower star rating. I will absolutely be reading the last book and I truly hope it doesn’t suffer the way the middle book did IMO. I know people either loved or hated this one. I fall somewhere in the middle. 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝟑.𝟓/𝟓⭐️
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