Review: Blood and Honey
Blood & Honey picked up from where its predecessor left off, with its heroes and heroines running, with a hefty bounty on their heads, from a coven of angry witches, the church, and the kingdom, as they turn into fugitives with nowhere to hide.
While they elude their enemies, our protagonists go through a series of heart-stopping adventures that further shed light on various creatures existing in the France-esque magical world, and the politics involved among them. If Serpent & Dove focused more on witches and chasseurs with little of what's beyond their world, expect Blood and Honey to explore more of the unknown as it offers readers a variety of characters and places that were once presented in crumbs and pieces in the former.
As Mahurin continues to expand the world she built, she also pushes the narrative to a direction where the protagonists' development are tailored-fit for --- an aspect that took center-stage in this book. Specifically, Lou and Reid's dynamic in Serpent and Dove made it such an entertaining read, but in Blood and Honey, they take a different turn as our two beloved characters find themselves at odds with each other and individually. Our supporting characters aren't exempted as well, since they identify and fight their own struggles too.
However, like every other series, it is most crucial that the author balances both the world-building and character development to form a solid plot --- this is where Blood and Honey stands on wavering ground. Though there is a series of action-packed scenes coupled with excellent character writing, the narrative was more character-driven (nothing wrong with that btw) and felt more of an anthology of adventures loosely woven to build up the last act and introduce the not-so-shocking twist at the end. Nevertheless, despite this flaw, Blood and Honey is still worth the read for its interesting, diverse world, and of course, our protagonists' growth from what they once were in Serpent and Dove.