Shelby Mahurin

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To elude the scores of witches and throngs of chasseurs at their heels, Lou and Reid need allies. Strong ones. But protection comes at a price, and the group is forced to embark on separate quests to build their forces. As Lou and Reid try to close the widening rift between them, the dastardly Morgane baits them in a lethal game of cat and mouse that threatens to destroy something worth more than any coven.

Blood and Honey

TommyBoi

You see magic as a weapon, Reid, but you’re wrong. It simply…is. If you wish to use it for harm, it harms, and if you wish to use it to save…

Together, we looked to Toulouse, who tucked a flower behind the woman’s ear. She beaned at him before rejoining the crowd. 

Aimee :)

The door to the dining room flew open, and Lou stepped out.

When her eyes met mine, she grinned and started toward me. I frowned. I hadn't seen her grin since - since -

Without a word, she swept me into a passionate kiss.

No matter what Reid claimed ... this time, he wouldn't be able to bring me back.

Something dark and ancient slithered out of that pit.

He dropped to his knees first - eyes wide, unseeing - before falling forward. There was no one to catch him, no one to stop his face from hitting the ground with a sickening, definitive thud. He did not move again.

And in that moment when we fell apart... we came together again as something new.

"Sometimes when I look at you, I can't breathe."

"No," he finally murmured, brushing them away one last time. A farewell. "It makes you your mother."

We were careening toward that edge, Lou and I.

Gabriela Kondratyuk

“I like the princesse, even though some peonle don't. I hope she kisses you. That's what you want, isn't it? I only want it to happen if you want it to happen-and if she wants itto happen too. My maman says that's called consent”

“Who am I?”…”You Are Everything”

Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To survive, they need allies. Strong ones. But as Lou becomes increasingly desperate to save those she loves, she turns to a darker side of magic that may cost Reid the one thing he can’t bear to lose. Bound to her always, his vows were clear: where Lou goes, he will go; and where she stays, he will stay.

Until death do they part. 

Blood & Honey

Mahalia

The stakes are higher. The witches are deadlier. And the romance is red-hot. The eagerly anticipated sequel to the New York Times and Indiebound bestseller Serpent & Dove is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and is an instant New York Times bestseller!

Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To survive, they need allies. Strong ones. But as Lou becomes increasingly desperate to save those she loves, she turns to a darker side of magic that may cost Reid the one thing he can't bear to lose. Bound to her always, his vows were clear: where Lou goes, he will go; and where she stays, he will stay.

Until death do they part.

Shelby 

Svetlana 

i don’t know what to say. no idea what was going on in the first half of book and the ending was not it

Ellie M.

** spoiler alert **
           Could not go through with it. The first book was interesting, and I expected a lot from this, but I couldn't read another page. I just couldn't be more disappointed. I regret buying this book. It should've been a fun read like I expected but it was nothing like Serpent & Dove. 

• I'm not even surprised nor sad that * got spoiled Ansel died because Morgane stuck a knife in his skull. I'm just disappointed. Since the first book, I felt Ansel was a character destined to die (his name and his personality idk it was my fucking intuition and well, look at that, he's gone). 

• Morgane is such a plain villain. Predictable as fuck. That's why I couldn't go through with it. 

• If the world-building and the magic system was described in detail nor explained in a much better way, this book would've been more interesting, to say the least. The whole witches vs. church (chasseurs) thing was getting boring.

 was a bit tough for me to get through. I was bored throughout the entire story. It also felt like the same issues were being constantly revisited only for them to be dropped somewhat randomly, especially the arguments Lou and Reid continued to have. 

Overall, I like the world. I like the characters. I like the plot line. I think the execution isn’t all there though. At some point throughout the book, I didn’t like Lou or Reid. Maybe that’s intentional, so the as the reader we go on their growth journey in a more intimate way. However, I think their character development would have benefitted from showing the reader hard conversations, especially between Lou and Reid that didn’t end with them sleeping together. Lou and Reid both had valid points with what they were fighting about, and I wish the resolution to that had more depth to it. 

I thought some of the plot twists were interesting. Claude I didn’t see coming, probably because I wasn’t paying that much attention. I figured someone in the group was betraying them, but I didn’t know that it was La Voisin and Nicholina. Ansel was heartbreaking, but not all that surprising. Lou truly loved him, and when he showed up in the catacombs his fate was more clear.

Kendall Deranek

Blood & Honey was a bit tough for me to get through. I was bored throughout the entire story. It also felt like the same issues were being constantly revisited only for them to be dropped somewhat randomly, especially the arguments Lou and Reid continued to have. 

Overall, I like the world. I like the characters. I like the plot line. I think the execution isn’t all there though. At some point throughout the book, I didn’t like Lou or Reid. Maybe that’s intentional, so the as the reader we go on their growth journey in a more intimate way. However, I think their character development would have benefitted from showing the reader hard conversations, especially between Lou and Reid that didn’t end with them sleeping together. Lou and Reid both had valid points with what they were fighting about, and I wish the resolution to that had more depth to it. 

I thought some of the plot twists were interesting. Claude I didn’t see coming, probably because I wasn’t paying that much attention. I figured someone in the group was betraying them, but I didn’t know that it was La Voisin and Nicholina. Ansel was heartbreaking, but not all that surprising. Lou truly loved him, and when he showed up in the catacombs his fate was more clear.

Elle May

This was my least favourite book out of the series as I felt it was unnecessarily longer than it needed to be. I did however enjoy getting to know the characters better, I think I prefer Lou a lot more than Reid and I absolutely fell in love with Ansel, he is hard not to take a shinning to.

I will not be reading the last book in this series. This book just flopped so hard. So incredibly boring and the writing was so bad. I don’t remember the writing in the first book being this bad? 

Author is so repetitive. Saying “fun bits” once is too many times. “As if reading my mind…” and similar phrases were used a million times. Like please be more creative than that. And the amount of winking that happened. Stop winking please for the love of god.

Annabella

Maria Shade

** spoiler alert **
           Screaming crying throwing up with the last few chapters. I knew it was going to happen, I figured it out before Lou, but it didn't make it easier to read.

Estefany 

3.8 star

Bueno, bueno, bueeeeeeno. Estoy sorprendida de lo rápido que devoré este libro. Le tenia mucho miedo a esta segunda parte debido a las criticas que tiene. De hecho, tardé mucho en decidirme a darle una oportunidad. Y si, sé que la lectura es subjetiva, y lo que te puede gustar, a otro quizás no, y viceversa. No obstante, con este libro me dejé llevar por las opiniones negativas y tardé en leerlo. Y después de casi un año, aquí estoy, sorprendida de que me haya gustado bastante como para devorarlo prácticamente en poco mas de un día.

Si que es verdad que para ser una segunda parte, y después del gran hype que tuvo el primero, la cosa decae. La trama es más lenta, de hecho, hay muchas escenas de relleno que la autora se hubiese ahorrado. En este libro pasan muchas cosas y a la vez, no hay nada pasando por lo que deja la sensacion de que realmente no estas leyendo nada relevante. La trama se torna tediosa en algunos aspectos y he de decir, que Lou es muy exasperante aveces, al menos para mi. Mientras que Reid se pasa de ingenuo y remilgado. 

Por otra parte, desde un principio y hasta el sol de hoy me encanta el personaje de Ansel, es taaan bonita su pureza Y me dio mucha pena su caso. Coco también me agradó bastante en este segundo libro.

Pese a todo, leí el libro super rápido, se me hizo más interesante hacia la parte del final. No diré que es un libro muy bueno, pero me mantuvo entretenida lo suficiente como para acabarlo y quedar con buena sensación.Estoy deseando ponerme con el tercero. Aunque honestamente, creo que esta historia hubiese sido perfecta siendo una bilogia.

It was really good, couldn’t believe the ending!!! Sometimes Lou and Reid annoyed me!

Jodie Reads

I fucking knew it was going to be Ansel, they wouldn't make a character as loving as he was unless they were going to kill him. This series should have been a duology with Morgane dying there, it would have meant so much more. Im unsure if I want to read the next book because I feel like there's not much left to be done.

Kira Del Caro

The stakes are higher. The witches are deadlier. And the romance is red-hot. The eagerly anticipated sequel to the New York Times and Indiebound best seller Serpent & Dove is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas.

Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church - fugitives with nowhere to hide. To survive, they need allies. Strong ones. But as Lou becomes increasingly desperate to save those she loves, she turns to a darker side of magic that may cost Reid the one thing he can’t bear to lose.

Bound to her always, his vows were clear: Where Lou goes, he will go; and where she stays, he will stay.

Until death do they part.

momo-reads

DNF at 50%, life is too short to struggle through books that dont do it for me.

melanie 

Millie Roberts

** spoiler alert **
           ansel deserved better

No no no no you can't do that to me noooo!! The endinggg noooo! 

This was absolutely a filler book in the series and I can't lie not much at all happened in the first 80% of the book, it was mostly just sitting around for half and then gathering allies for the other half and that was it. The last 20% however?? THAT's where the action is! This last part of the book had me gasping it was so good!! I'm in pain though how could the author do this to me noooo my babyyy!  

4* for this because even though I loved the characters and what happened it was still a lot of filler and it took a while to get going, it could have easily been condensed down!

Mika Chavarria

I AM SCREAMING!!!!!!
I swear this is the most SLEPT ON series!!
It's SO DAMN GOOD!!
Action packed from the get go! Unexpected twists in every chapter. 
And without spoiling anything, I cried at least four times with the most unexpected moments! 
The ending was amazing and scary and now I'm unsure if im ready to start the third, but not really because I HAVE TO KNOW WTF HAPPENS!!!
That's all I have for now...

Shareca

50% Checkpoint
Blood & Honey
Shelby Mahurin

I am enjoying B&H very much. It reminds me so much of Breaking Dawn, and I think that is its greatest merit. As an ode to Lou and Reid, Serpent & Dove works to create an emotional connection between their marriage and the chance nature of their relationship. As a result, each character is given the depth necessary to develop a clear understanding of who they are and how they relate to their surroundings. Thus, B&H exists as an extension of the story told in the first book.

This novel elaborates on the Dames Rouges, the blood witches, the familial ties, Lou's past life, as well as the sheer power of magic as applied to this fantasy world - a world so richly imagined that I am recalling facts about it even when I am not reading the book. It removes the need for me to keep notes, allowing me to enjoy the entire experience. B&H reads like a story about people I know.

The themes of grief, PTSD, and mortal sacrifice, as well as showing the strength of power, have been beautifully portrayed in the story so far. Lou and Reid are both characterized by this sense of darkness, and neither feels they can escape it - or at least does not feel that they deserve to. B&H describes the complexity of Lou and Reid's emotional unity in greater depth than before. In S&D, they did not know one another at all, and while the romantic aspects of who they were played a major role in the story, they did not know one another sufficiently enough for it to *really* work - let's be honest. B&H, however, brings these complexities to light and I am attracted to both the messy and the good aspects of their relationship. I enjoy them equally when they spat, as well as when they are cuddly and extremely kind and sweet. The romance is quite lovely as that is the nature of a relationship, especially a new one.

The conflict Reid has with his magic is an extremely compelling element to B&H. The fact that Reid has suffered such profound trauma that he does not even want to think about his magic makes the story quite compelling. I am looking forward to what happens next.

Blood & Honey
Shelby Mahurin
★★★★ ½ (rating for this will be a 4.5 or a 4.25 - I found myself enjoying it a little more than the four.)

NOTE: Taking into account that the lore of this novel parallels that of the first, I will refrain from spoiling much of what occurs. ✨

As with the first novel, B&H’s second half made it a four-point five. Part III enhances the novel by bringing all of the sacrifices to a head and magnifying their significance.

There is an art to writing a first and last line that Shelby possesses that only one author has been able to achieve effectively: Stephenie Meyer with the Twilight novels. B&H is wonderfully written; I am enamored with the way Reid and Lou describe each other. In spite of their comprehensive and sophisticated characterizations, their remarks seem callow. There is a naturalness to Lou and Reid's marriage that is compelling to observe, and it is alluring to see the interplay between their adult and child selves. Reading about their struggle with such profound issues and their efforts to resolve them in their own way, the whole of their relationship arc came into focus. As they are strangers to one another, it was refreshing to experience this level of emotional connection between them.

All of the characters, both old and new, completely shine in the book; each of them has a distinctive personality that makes you care about their fate. A certain death in this novel is devastating. As each of the characters care enormously for Lou and this overarching conflict, everything plays out differently depending on their position. It is fascinating to observe how each character is affected by the magical forces surrounding them.

It is an enthralling experience to gain insight into this world. Although it has received mediocre reviews, B&H is a treasure. It is the Breaking Dawn that I hoped for in the series. This elevation of lore; the building of this team (Order of the Phoenix, anyone?); this inhumane amount of bloodshed between an unwarranted love - I am awestruck by what it achieves, especially for Lou and Reid and this story.

I think this book was a lot better than the first with world building and character development. I loved the first anyway, but this one was better in my opinion.

Madison Martin

taylor alyse pisanie

Why did they have to do Ansel like that? Also, where was the development? This felt like one big disaster from start to finish. I have higher hopes for the last one.

Beatriz Pereira

3,5/5
I really loved how Shelby wrote about witches. The story is amazing and involves so much more than magic. The characters evolve through the story. I just didn't understand the ending. Does this mean we get a third book? What happened to Lou? So many unanswered questions ...

soph <33

‘“𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩—𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝.”’

——————

this. fucking. book.

i’m not okay. i’m not. SHELBY WHY?! 

these characters can’t catch a break

(do i love angst? yes. but this book still hurt like a mf omg)

I JUST WANT MY BABIES ALIVE AND HAPPY IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?!??

Nia E

BLOOD & HONEY

“𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘, 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚜.” - 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. “𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘, 𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚎.”

Chasseur Reid, witch Lou and their friends are on a journey. A life threatening, not-so-voluntary journey that will change their lives, their fate, forever, but still a journey. The second book in Mahurin’s “Serpent and Dove” Trilogy, “Blood and Honey” is, in my opinion, just as epic as the first one.

Now this isn’t as character driven or focused as the first book but the plot definitely makes up for that. The writing is just as good as in the first book, I am still in love with the unique way of magic in this and one just gotta love those characters!

Now I do get why people don’t like this as much as the first one because the epic love story is - well not over, but kind of set in place and the plot developed in kind of a different way than to be expected, BUT I still really enjoyed this! I mean it was kind of an upside down, inside out, all over the place book, but I really enjoyed reading it, ngl

Hence the 4/5 stars, I would definitely recommend this and I am excited to read the last book! ALSO that CLIFFHANGER?? EXCUSE ME

Anna

Mon dieu si un mot devait définir ce mot, ce serait « tension ». J’étais à bout. Pendant 450 pages, la relation de Lou et Reid est juste désastreuse. C’est une catastrophe. Ils passent leur temps à se disputer : Reid on a l’impression qu’il méprise carrément Lou quand elle utilise la magie (alors qu’elle le fait pour le sauver h24) et Lou elle perd le contrôle en permanence et fait que de la merde. Heureusement vers la page 450, enfin ils explosent et se tapent sur la gueule. Ça m’a libéré. Et enfin après ils repartent sur des bases saines. Mais c’était super rageant de voir une relation si incroyable dans le tome 1 transformé en…ça. Même si je pense que c’était nécessaire pour qu’ils s’acceptent tous les deux ça n’en reste pas moins saoulant.

Mais bon dieu la fin. Lou qui est ensorcelée par La Voisin ça va totalement mal se passer, surtout que ça implique Reid. J’ai besoin de lire le tome 3 c’est trop pour moi.
Concernant l’intrigue, c’est le point positif car elle progresse et nous introduit de nouveaux personnages super intéressant ! 1 minute de silence pour Ancel, je l’aimais trop !! Et Beau, bien que je le détestais au tome 1 il m’agaçait au plus haut point, je l’apprécie beaucoup maintenant !

All in all very intriguing read. It could've been half the size. The were sooo many fillers.

Okay wow this was a rollercoaster. It was so hard to finish it because it was just unbelievably boring all the running away and planning and fighting then doing it all over again.

Then I neared the end of it, from that point it’s just pain😀 also Reid gave Chaol vibes from throne of glass sorry not sorry. 

Anyways it’s just pain😀 I only really got absorbed into the book at last 150 pages maybe?

Okay wow this was a rollercoaster. It was so hard to finish it because it was just unbelievably boring all the running away and planning and fighting then doing it all over again.

Then I neared the end of it, from that point it’s just pain😀 also Reid gave Chaol vibes from throne of glass sorry not sorry. 

 

Anyways it’s just pain😀 I only really got absorbed into the book at last 150 pages maybe?

LOVED THE FIRST ONE! 

Blood and Honey

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