Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin | The Perfect Example of a Filler Book
Blood & Honey was one of my most anticipated sequels of 2020. I was so excited when I finally found the time to listen to the audiobook this year! Unfortunately, it let me down – big time. As the title states, it’s the perfect example of a filler book; one smacked right in the middle of a trilogy. It was enjoyable enough to listen from start to finish, but when thinking long and hard about it for this review, I found only a few positive things to say. Here’s my two-star review.
“When a person brings you more hurt than happiness, you’re allowed to let them go.”
My Review
I consider Serpent & Dove to be one of my all-time favorite books. Last year’s review made that pretty clear! Blood & Honey, though… Not so much. I loathe writing negative reviews. It makes me sad and it’s just not for me. However, there are only a few positive things I can say about Shelby Mahurin’s latest book.
Plot
First of all, Blood & Honey lacked almost everything I loved about S&D. The city of Cesarine, the French-ness of the story, lovable characters, and most of all… a plot. It’s most definitely a stretched out filler book, which is a shame. Nothing much happens at all. I can count the bigger events on one hand; which just seems crazy to me, it being a 14-hour long audiobook and all. The thing is, it took a little while for me to get into S&D, so I thought that be the same with Blood & Honey. But no such thing happened. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more. Then suddenly a whole bunch of stuff happened all at once, I could barely follow the storyline anymore. And then it was over. What. The hell. Even. Happened?! Now, maybe this was just the audiobook, but the end only made the entire book worse.
Characters
I didn’t recognize any of the characters I fell in love with. Lou who I loved in S&D was very unlikeable in Blood & Honey. Sometimes characters do unlikeable actions, but you still love them. There was nothing to love, or even like, about Lou anymore. Her change makes sense when you think of the bigger picture; her being a witch finally coming out of hiding and all, but it still wasn’t fun. Reid annoyed me half to death, and the book was mostly narrated from his perspective. He’s so stuck up his butt, about himself, about Lou, their relationship, and magic. I hate how he was constantly trying to change Lou. Everything I loved about their relationship was just *poof* gone. As for Coco, Ansel, and the rest of the ensemble… They weren’t memorable at all, unfortunately. I genuinely liked Ansel for the most part, though!
There Are Good Things, Too!
I want to end my Blood & Honey review on a positive note because it wasn’t all bad. I loved being introduced to Claud Deveraux. He was so mysterious, seemed to know things he shouldn’t and it was such a joy to listen to the way he was narrated. The narration of the audiobook was once again done brilliantly by Holter Graham and Saskia Maarleveld. If it wasn’t for the audiobook, I’m not sure if I’d manage to read/listen to it all the way through!
My Rating
Blood & Honey came nowhere near my expectations, and it breaks my heart. It was simply too long and uneventful. A filler book smacked right into the middle of a trilogy. If it were anything like Serpent & Dove, it could’ve been amazing. I’m still undecided about whether or not I’ll pick up the next book. I guess it’ll depend on the blurb and the reviews!
About Blood & Honey
The stakes are higher. The witches are deadlier. And the romance is red-hot. The eagerly anticipated sequel to the New York Times and Indiebound bestseller Serpent & Dove is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and is an instant New York Times bestseller!
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.
Did you like Blood & Honey? Will you be picking up Gods & Monsters when it releases?
