The Little Book Spy: Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

Hello bookish friends! Today, I’ll be reviewing Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin. Ever since I read Serpent & Dove last year, I’d been dying to get my hand on the second book in this trilogy and as soon as it was released, I immediately started reading.

About the Book:

Title: Blood & Honey

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Release Date: September 1, 2020

Series: Blood & Honey #2

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 544

My Rating: 5/5 ⭐

Summary:

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.

My Thoughts:

*This review may contain spoilers from the previous book Serpent & Dove*

This book brought back so many emotions, especially since the first book's cliffhanger left me on the edge on my seat. As soon as Blood and Honey was released, I immediately dove right back into this captivating trilogy. I will admit, I needed a bit of a recap or a quick refresher for some parts of the story. It had been a few months since I read the first book and I feel terrible saying that I forgot who a few of the supporting characters were and their relationship to Lou and Reid. Luckily, it didn't take too much time to remember. If you're reading the books consecutively then you should be fine! Once I started reading, I was immediately hooked and I couldn't put it down. After the events that happened in Serpent & Dove, Lou and Reid are on the run from Morgane le Blanc, Lou's mother, after another failed attempt to end her life to end the royal lineage when Reid saved her life. However, magic demands balance which took the life of the another in order for Lou to live to see another day. Now, they're on the run.

The pace of this story was pretty good, it was a little bit slower than the first book, but once it got closer to the halfway/end, it did pick up the pace. I loved the detail and some of the events that took place in this story. Even though there was a more serious tone in this book, just like the first book there were still things that left me dying of laughing. A few of my favorite scenes have to be the perfectly timed songs that Lou loves to sing and a few of the embarrassing stories that Madame Labelle shared that led to Reid's embarrassment.

After Reid saved Lou at the end of Serpent & Dove, they were definitely in a sticky situation! Jumping back into this trilogy, it was like seeing old friends again with their familiar banter, even though they had grown and changed a little bit from the first book. Even though Lou had her demons that she tried to ignore for the most part, Ried took a very different turn than I anticipated. After living his entire life as a Chasseur, discovering that he was a witch definitely changed Reid’s personality completely. I feel like I saw a new side to his character as he went through the stages of grief before accepting what his life had become. The character development for all of the characters in this series were fantastic. It brought these characters to life in new way that made them feel real.

I feel like I have to mention this. Out of everything that happened in this story, there is one scene in this entire book that I dreaded happening... After halfway through, I could immediately tell that Shelby was preparing readers for the inevitable. And it hurts! Even though I finished this book a few months ago, I'm still heartbroken about it, even though I knew it was going to happen. Then there's the next unexpected cliffhanger that has me on the edge of my seat, waiting! I need to know what happens next! Overall, I loved this sequel and I cannot wait to read Gods and Monsters on August 3rd!

If you’re interested in checking out Shelby’s pages, the links are below along with places you can get Blood & Honey.