Review - Blood & Honey

Blood & Honey with Coco print

Title: Blood & Honey
Series: Serpent & Dove (Goodreads)
Publisher: HarperTeen 
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Age Group: YA
Source: Waterstones (purchased)

Review

I absolutely love reading trilogies and series but I hate the wait of a long awaited sequel. Thankfully, I managed to wait long enough for Blood & Honey without too much torture because I just adore this motley crew and antagonistic romance! Shelby Mahurin did not disappoint with the sequel to Serpent & Dove which unfortunately can occur to any great writer. Instead Mahurin pushed the boundaries and gave us even more darkness and romance but of course all comes at a price when you love a witch.

I could talk for hours about how much I love the relationship between Lou and Reid but instead what stood out as a strength for me in this book was the development of the secondary characters. This was a concern that I had after I finished Serpent & Dove because it was heavily focused on Lou and Reid with very little balance for developing Coco, Beau, Ansel and even Madame Labelle. Thank goodness I was not disappointed when I read Blood & Honey as my hopes to see these supporting characters developed was given to me and many readers.

At the moment there is a real focus on the writing and portrayal of black and ethnic minority characters. For many years, these individuals and communities have gone underrepresented in literature, they have existed to be sure, but they were not the protagonist nor were they developed beyond a one dimensional representation. Now, even though Coco is not the protagonist and remains a supporting character there is still a need to create a two dimensional individual and not a flat character. Mahurin succeeds exceptionally with Coco’s personal development in Blood & Honey! Other readers of the trilogy and this sequel may not agree that this is the case and I respect that feeling, though for me personally, I felt that Coco became more of an individual with her own struggles and personality rather than just a supporting side character to help be Lou’s friend and conscious moral guide. For this reason I leave you with this extract that occurs between Coco, Ansel, and Lou, which personally to me exhibits the individual strength and development of Coco as a person in her own right in Blood & Honey, than just as a secondary character who exists to move the action onwards for the main protagonists Lou and Reid.

“Coco, no. None of this is your fault. Your people—they would never blame you for what happened here.” “That’s exactly the point, isn’t it?” She wiped her eyes furiously. “They should. I abandoned them. Twice. They’re freezing and starving and so afraid, yet their own princesse couldn’t be bothered to care. I should’ve been here, Lou. I should’ve—I don’t know—” “Controlled the weather?” My hands joined hers, wiping at her tears. Though they burned my skin, I didn’t pull away, blinking rapidly against the moisture in my own eyes. […] She wrenched the crown from her head, glaring at the glittering rubies. “How can I lead them? How can I even look at them? I knew their suffering, and I fled anyway, while their conditions only worsened.” She tossed the crown into the snow. “I am no princesse.” To my surprise—perhaps because I’d forgotten he still stood with us—Ansel bent to retrieve it. With impossibly gentle hands, he placed it back on her head. “You’re here now. That’s what matters.”

Synopsis (Goodreads)

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.

Key Quotes 

‘Her voice was small, however, as she continued. “I am sorry, Reid. You’ve led a tumultuous life, and the blame in part is mine. I know this. I understand my role in your suffering.” Catching my hand, she rose to her feet. I told myself to pull away. I didn’t. “Now you must understand that, if given the choice, I never would’ve left you. I would’ve forsaken everything—my home, my sisters, my life—to keep you, but I cannot change the past. I cannot protect you from its pain. I can protect you here and now, however, if you let me.” If you let me. The words were living things in my ears. Though I tried to bury them, they took root, suffocating my anger.'

‘Perhaps it’d be peaceful, to drown. I’d never given it thought. When I’d imagined my own death, it’d been at the end of a sword. Perhaps twisted and broken by a witch’s hand. Violent, painful endings. Drowning would be better. Easier.’

‘Beau paused in rummaging through Coco’s rucksack. “Side effects?” “Death, mostly. Nothing to fret about.” Madame Labelle shrugged, unamused, and sarcasm dripped from her words.’

‘I wiped a tear from my eye before it could fall, before he could see. Never once in my eighteen years had I allowed myself to feel small, to feel ashamed, and I refused to start now.'

Similar Reads

From Blood and Ash, Kingdom of the Wicked, The Shadows Between Us, A ​Court of Silver Flames

Afterthoughts 

There were so many moments when I found myself hysterically laughing at the antics of so many of the characters, these characters just have so much life to them and these moments of joy helped balance against the darker themes.

Have you read Blood & Honey, what did you think? Would you recommend this trilogy to others?

How far would you go if you had magic to protect the ones you love?