I was folding laundry on a rainy Saturday afternoon when I hit play on Serpent & Dove, expecting some light fantasy romance to pass the time. Three hours later, I was still standing in my bedroom holding the same unfolded towel, completely absorbed in Lou le Blanc's wild ride through a witch-hunting version of old France. That's the kind of book this is — it grabs you by the collar and doesn't let go.
The premise is irresistible: Louise, a witch in hiding, ends up forced into marriage with Reid Diggory, a devout huntsman of the Church whose entire purpose is to burn women like her at the stake. It's enemies-to-lovers cranked to eleven, because the stakes aren't just emotional — they're literally life and death. Shelby Mahurin builds a world where magic operates through a system of give-and-take that feels genuinely fresh, and the tension between Lou's secret identity and Reid's rigid beliefs creates a slow-burning fuse that runs through every scene.
Lou herself is the engine of this book. She's sharp-tongued, irreverent, and absolutely refuses to play the damsel. Her banter with Reid had me laughing out loud multiple times — there's a scrappy chemistry between them that works because Mahurin lets them clash authentically before any feelings creep in. Reid, for his part, starts as a frustratingly rigid rule-follower, but that's the point. Watching his worldview crack under the weight of actually knowing a witch is one of the book's strongest arcs.
Now, let's talk about what everyone really wants to know: the narration. This is a dual-narrator production, and the split in quality is stark enough that it shapes the entire listening experience.
Saskia Maarleveld is phenomenal as Lou. She carries this husky, breathy energy that perfectly matches Lou's personality — equal parts seductive and defiant. Her French pronunciation sprinkles a romantic atmosphere over the whole production, and her delivery of Lou's wittiest lines lands with impeccable timing. When Lou is being reckless and clever, Maarleveld makes you feel like you're right there conspiring with her. She's the reason many listeners, myself included, stayed hooked on the audio format.
Holter Graham as Reid is... more complicated. His baseline Reid voice works well enough — it's deep and earnest, which fits the character. But when he attempts female character voices, things get rough. There's a caricature quality to his women that pulled me out of scenes more than once. His Cockney accent pops up in spots and can be genuinely hard to parse, and his pacing runs noticeably faster than Maarleveld's, which creates an uneven rhythm as the chapters alternate. Some listeners love his take on Reid, and I can see why — he does capture that stubborn, almost painfully sincere energy. But for every moment that works, there's another where his delivery feels rushed or nasally in a way that undercuts the emotion.
For a better showcase of what Graham can do when the material plays to his strengths, my review of Yellow Birds: A Novel is worth a look — that's a performance where his pacing and earnestness genuinely serve the story rather than work against it.
The story itself has its young adult fingerprints visible — some plot developments are telegraphed well in advance, and a few secondary characters feel like they're waiting in the wings for sequels rather than fully serving this story. But Mahurin's magic system is genuinely clever, the central romance earns its payoff, and the final act delivers twists that hit harder than I expected. The pacing in the middle section sags slightly, but Maarleveld and the escalating tension between Lou and Reid carry you through those slower stretches.
At fourteen hours, this is a substantial listen, and the dual narration keeps things from feeling monotonous even when the plot takes its time. The bickering scenes between Lou and Reid are the audiobook's highlight reel — the back-and-forth vocal chemistry between the two narrators gives those exchanges an energy that reading on the page probably can't match.
Who Should Listen (And Who Should Skip)
If you love witchy enemies-to-lovers romance with genuine bite and a heroine who steals every scene, this is your audiobook — especially if Maarleveld's narration is enough to carry you through the uneven stretches. If narrator consistency is a dealbreaker, though, you might want to read this one instead. And if you need tightly plotted, no-filler fantasy, the saggy middle section could test your patience. But if you can keep your expectations flexible during Reid's chapters, Serpent & Dove delivers something special in audio form.
