Beauty and Bentley

Serpent and Dove

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Genre: Fantasy 

Rating:3.5/5

No Spoilers

 Summary: Serpent and Dove tells the story of Lou a witch masquerading as a regular girl, on the run and trying to hide her true identity, Lou, crosses paths with witch hunter, Reid and the two find themselves in an awkward situation that pushes them into a marriage of convenience. This enemies to lovers tale follows the unlikely pairing as they fall in love and discover dangerous secrets that threaten to destroy them both.

Review: Okay before we get into the story I must say the cover of this book is beautiful, I love the black and gold and the way they included the snake, very pretty and definitely gives off those dark-fantasy, witchy vibes. The story itself was one that I enjoyed but didn't fall in love with, I liked the premise of a witch and a witch hunter falling for each other with the enemies to lovers trope and I really like the magic system that was created, thats' actually one of the elements I'd like to see developed in the following books. In terms of the character's I liked Lou's rebellious nature and the friendship she has with Coco, Reid was okay but if I compare him to other love interests from books I've read recently I would say he's just a bit forgettable. Lets's chat a bit about the romance then, I did enjoy the banter between Reid and Lou, it developed nicely but felt there could have been more tension built up, if you're looking for a spicy book this ain't it which is fine as I think this is more of a young adult book so geared towards a younger audience which is perhaps why I didn't fall in love with it. I don't want to include any spoilers so all I'll say is the action does pick up towards the end of the book and they include a few good twists. I do think I'll continue with the series as I enjoyed the book and want to see how it develops I just won't be rushing out to pick it up immediately.

If you have any other recommendations for a slightly darker witchy book let me know!

It's officially October (yay spooky season has begun) so that means it's time to round up the books I read in September and let you know my thoughts on each of them. I managed to work my way through five books in total, one psychological thriller, and 4 fantasy books from two different (very popular) series. I'm just going to give a brief review and rating of each book and my overall thoughts on my reads for the month. I won't' be giving a synopsis of the books and I'll avoid giving away any spoilers as I'll save this kind of information for individual reviews.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 4.5/5

After seeing this everywhere and constantly hearing this being talked about I had to give this a read and I wasn't disappointed. Initially, I thought 'fae' really isn't for me, it's just not my thing but this book changed my mind. It had the perfect amount of action, adventure and romance, the story got me hooked and I immediately after finishing started the second book.

A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 5/5

I enjoyed this book even more than the last (thanks to Rhys), we were introduced to more characters and got more insight into our previous characters, I loved the world-building and the differences in all the courts. As with the last book we got plenty of action and a little helping of some spice, this will definitely be a good comfort read. I won't go too in-depth with my thoughts on either of these books as I'll probably either do individual reviews on the books or a review on the series as a whole.

The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides

Rating: 3/5

For a long time thrillers were pretty much all I read and I heard good things about this book so couldn't help but pick it up. I enjoyed this book but didn't love it, it was a nice quick easy read and the twist was good but it just fell a little flat and I did have some questions about the twist and how the book ended, some of it just felt a little farfetched and didn't fully make sense to me but I'll not say any more as I don't want to give away any spoilers but overall this wasn't my favourite thriller and it was probably my least favourite book this month.

Zodiac Academy - The Awakening 

Author: Caroline Peckham Susanne Valenti

Rating: 3.5/5

This was another book that I've seen being talked about all over booktok so I decided to give it a read. I found the first half of the book enjoyable but wasn't in love, this book does have a lot of bullying which isn't always particularly pleasant and certainly doesn't leave you loving very many of the characters but the more I read the more I got sucked in and by the time I finished this book I did feel compelled to give the second one a go.

Zodiac Academy - Ruthless Fae

Author: Caroline Peckham Susanne Valenti

Rating: 4/5

I enjoyed this book more than the first, there was still a fair bit of bullying in this book however we got a little more insight into why our characters (the heirs) act the way they do and our main characters (the vega twins) finally start getting their own back. We also got some more tension and romance which is always good and I'll definitely be continuing with this series soon.

And that's all I have for you today, keep an eye on my blog/Instagram for more monthly round-ups and full reviews.