A new title set in the Gunnie Rose world but focused this time on Lizbeth's sister, Felicia. I enjoyed finding out more about Felicia's backstory but it wasn't as satisfying as it could have been. I would have liked more meat to the story and I didn't feel there was a lot of resolution. This isn't so bad, maybe, if there will be future entries (for the resolution) but you only get to meet someone for the first time once and I feel like this was a wasted opportunity more worthy of a side character short story than a major character taking center stage.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is not about Lizzie, and in a way, I really liked that. As much as I like her character, we were left at the end of book 3 with her in a happy place. In this book, we get to jump to her half-sister, Felicia. She’s looked like a small child for years, much younger than her true age, and is now allowed to grow and learn, both figuratively and literally. She’s finding out how she feels and how she’ll go forward in this new place in the world, and somehow, she’s got her own problems following her. She’s not just a Rasputin, but she’s more.
I really liked how her character is fleshed out, and through her, this whole magical world. In the future, I think seeing Lizzie pop up might be awesome, but now I’m really looking forward to seeing Felicia grow as a character.

Meh. I love the idea of Charmaine Harris, but I forget that she is a little less literarily rich than I’d like. Wait for the Netflix special, which will be outstanding.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery/Saga Press for gifting me an advanced copy. The following is my honest review!

I've really enjoyed the Gunnie Rose series so far, and this one was so refreshing! We got a story from Felicia's perspective, and I think it was a breath of new air that we needed - I mean how often can Lizbeth get into trouble? Her sister is just as big of a trouble-magnet, so I'm glad we get a turn to see some of her shenanigans.

Felicia's got a lot to deal with. She's literally growing up fast, she's in a new place, and she's got chaos around her in the form of unknown assailants.

This one has a little big of everything - magic, romance, intrigue. Definitely recommended, but I'd strongly suggest that you read the three prior books before picking this one up for some important context.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
THE SERPENT IN HEAVEN is the fourth installment in the Gunnie Rose series. The first three narrated by Lizbeth. The novel (and I assume going forth) is narrated by our gunnie's little sister, Felicia. This cannot be read as a standalone without massive confusion, start with AN EASY DEATH.

Gunnie Rose is such a unique series, across the board. From the dystopian setting, in an alternate early twentieth century, the inventive world building, and intriguing magical and political system. I've never read anything like this before. The Gunnie Rose series is truly one of a kind.

Felicia is in a precarious situation. She is seen as little else than a blood donor for the tsar, as well as a scholarship student at the school, with little to no magic. Since she has been keeping her magic under wraps, I understood the bias when it came to students at a magical school not accepting her. What I don't understand is the bias when it comes to being the blood donor. In order to be of aid to the tsar, that means Felicia is a direct descendant of the tsar himself (his niece and lifeline). Felicia is of royal blood, keeping their precious tsar alive, and they can't even give her an allowance. I felt this was a bizarre mindset. She ought to be one of the highest paid members in the kingdom, not the lowliest.

From the streets of Mexico, Felicia is still shouldering the burdens of her past. Her drunk father and cruel uncle using her for their own gains, while suppressing her natural age and shape for her supposed protection.

Now a year later, the effects of her father's spell are finally dissipating, Felicia growing into the shape and size of a young woman of fifteen. Not that Felicia is sure of her age. Felicia's excitement was easily relatable, as was her worry. Now that she is considered a fully grown woman, everyone is plotting the best way to marry her off for their own gains, no differently than her father treated her.

The girl is lonely, no friends and only a sister far away, which makes her vulnerable. She would do anything to have a support system and family. This is where I'm confused. In order to be a blood donor, she must be a blood relative to the tsar. Why doesn't his family see her as his family? They're her uncle and aunt, and their children are her cousins. The other donors are her father's siblings and her cousins. Yet the entire system is in place to see her only as a cow – cows that keep being slaughtered to eradicate the tsar's blood source.

Action-packed from the first page, Felicia is being hit from all sides. As an orphan who has been thrust into her father's family as a donor, she never gave thought to her mother's family, who shows up out of nowhere to attempt to kidnap and kill those all around her. At the same time, someone is still offing her donor relatives. Added in with the constant need to marry her off.

Eli (Lizbeth's husband, Felicia's brother-in-law), his family takes to Felicia, his sisters and brother; Eli's brother, Paul, he takes to Felicia too much as she grows into her womanliness. This draws a wedge between Felicia and the matriarch of the family, which makes Felicia rightfully insulted. I appreciated Felicia's setting of boundaries and not just accepting those unkind words from someone she felt loved her.

There is also hesitancy in Felicia when it comes to Paul, which I appreciated. Even though she is far beyond her years in life experience, after struggling to survive day to day, she has not yet grown into her body. While kind and supportive, Felicia senses Paul is a Nice Guy. Hopefully he grows out of those toxic tendencies.

Just as with Lizbeth, Felicia is a strong character, and I adored looking at the world through her lens. She is a fighter and a survivor, but also kind, selfless, compassionate, protective, and empathetic. She does the right thing, especially when it's hard. She stands up for herself and others. She doesn't resist authority, but she does speak up when she recognizes they're on the wrong path. A leader who knows when to follow someone worthy. A good role model.

Highly recommended to Charlaine Harris fans. I look forward to watching Felicia grow into womanhood and into her magical power. I cannot wait to see what is in store for her in the next installment and the next.

I have thought about how to review this novel. I enjoyed but again didn't. There were some places in the story that just was slow or not interesting. It wasn't as action packed at her first three novels in this series. It was almost repetitive through out the book. I am a huge Charlaine Harris fan but not really a fan of this series.
Felicia is the half sister of Lizabeth who is a gunnie.. Felicia is kidnapped and she escape to face the same people hired to grab her. This goes on and on through out the book. There are some deaths. She is giving the okay to be trained as a grigori as a reward for saving the school.
Felicia did discover a lot about herself and her family which was the basis for this whole novel.

In the fourth book in the Gunnie Rose series, Felicia is the focus. She is Lizbeth's younger sister and is quite important. Not only is she needed for her blood for the tsar but her grandfather, unbeknownst to her, is an important man back home. The problem is that he is not a great man and needs her for his own purposes. He sets off trying to get her and Felicia must keep herself safe.
Opinion
If Harris writes it, I read it. Her books are captivating. This book was a great addition to the series. While I would loved to have read more about Lizbeth, Felicia's story held me hostage until I could finish it. When I walked away from the book, my thoughts were with Felicia and what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this book, as well as the rest of Harris' books, to anyone looking for an escape and who enjoys alternate realities.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Gallery Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris in exchange for an honest review. This was the fourth book in the Gunnie Rose series and the first told from the perspective of Lizbeth's sister, Felicia. At first I was a little distracted with the change in narrative, but it was really interesting to see Felicia's point of view on events and her life. More was explained about her family and her magical strength. I really enjoyed this book and now wants to go back and read all my Charlaine Harris books again.

It seems like if you enjoyed the series so far, you'll enjoy this book as well. I did not quite realize it was a series until after I go approved for it, but I caught myself up and thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is good, the characters and premise is interesting. Definitely a series worth giving a shot.

This was a lot different than I thought it would be. The book is actually about Lizbeth's sister Felicia. It was really easy to get into the book and just whizzed by. Lots of action. I actually want to give the book I definitely highly recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for a digital copy of this book for my honest review.

Book 4 of the Gunnie Rose series was as fun to read as the previous three.
This one follows Lizbeth's half-sister, Felicia, while she is going to school and helping the tsar.
I enjoyed the fun banter, the action scenes, and the overall flow of this story.

Thank you #NetGalley for sending #TheSerpentinHeaven for me to read and review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Saga Press, and Ms. Harris for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I’ve been enjoying the Gunnie Rose series and, while I would probably have preferred another adventure with Lizbeth, I was pleasantly surprised by Felicia. (I was waiting for a bye, Felicia! Joke, but Ms. Harris clearly took the high road here.) I will say this, Felicia’s book comes across much more as a YA title than its fellows. Felicia is 15 (she thinks), and thinks and acts like it. There is some sulky teenage girl behavior here, for sure. On the other hand, Felicia provides an invaluable medical service to the tsar of the Holy Russian Empire (formerly, California) and is increasingly demonstrating a reserve of magical power that she never expected. She also discovers that she isn't exactly as alone in the world as she had thought. Felicia, like Shrek (and onions) has LOTS of layers, and it's fun peeling them back.

I really enjoyed this overall. There was a lot going on, but the pacing kept everything moving quickly and smoothly. I liked Peter’s character and it was nice to see Felix get developed more. One thing I was really impressed by with regards to Felicia was her relative unflappability. Like her sister Lizbeth, she is cool and effective under pressure. I look forward to more books featuring Felicia (although I wouldn’t say “no” to checking back in with Lizbeth!)

⭐⭐⭐1/2 stars

For all my talk about not liking westerns, I really enjoy this series! There is something wonderful about the combination of this alternative dystopian past that just works for me. I was thrilled to get to know more about another character in this world. Felicia has had an amazing life so far and it was wonderful to read her evolution within the Grigori school where she has been packed away to be on hand for the Tzar's blood needs. It is easy to see that Felicia could hold future installments in the series all on her own. She has a lot of growing and learning to do and could be a formidable Grigori. Not that I don't want more of Lizbeth, I just want more of the Gunnie Rose world! I also appreciated Ms. Harris' inclusion of the Spanish Flu. With many authors either specifically including or ignoring Covid in their contemporary works, I thought it was a great touch to include a pandemic situation that existed at the supposed time of this supposed alternative past. I sure hope this series continues!

This was really good! I was a bit worried when I found out this book would be from Felicia’s perspective instead of Lizbeth’s like the first three books in the series have been. I had no cause for concern because Felicia is just as interesting as her sister, maybe even more so. I was hooked by this story pretty early on and found it very hard to put down. I found this book to be an incredibly entertaining addition to the series.

Felicia attends the Grigori Rasputin. She has been given admission based on the Tsar’s need for her blood since he needs regular transfusions of a very particular type of blood. She does not receive magical training and keeps her talents hidden. That is until she is abducted and it becomes obvious that she is very valuable to someone quite powerful. Before long, Felicia must demonstrate just how powerful her magic actually is in order to keep the other students safe.

I loved getting to know Felicia better. She is such an interesting character and I have a feeling that we only scratched the surface in terms of her ability. I really appreciated that there was just enough romance in the story to keep things very interesting. The mystery was very well done and kept me guessing until the very end. I love the magic system in this world and the fact that anything really seems to be possible.

I would recommend this book to others. This is the fourth book in the Gunnie Rose series which I would recommend reading in order if at all possible. This was such a fun and entertaining read and I hope that we get more books featuring Felicia as the main character. I cannot wait to read more of this series!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Gallery / Saga Press.

The series shifts from Gunnie Rose to her half-sister Felicia who now attends school while still attending to the Tsar.

One of the things that I enjoyed is the comparison of ability Felicia makes with Gunnie Rose and the bond that it strengthens even under the unusual circumstance of their births and first-time meeting.

Felecia in some ways is a juxtaposition to Gunnie. She has strong magic but does not have the same physical skills or prowess as her sister but manages to thwart an attempted kidnapping and overcomes a surprising enemy.

Seeing San Diego—capital of the Holy Russian Empire from her perspective along with the other characters that carry over makes this a new novel an enjoyable tie back to the rest of the series.

Although I love this series, I wasn't loving this particular novel. Probably because it features Felicia, Lisbeth Rose's half-sister. I suppose it's because Lizbeth is settled w/ Eli in Texoma and Charlaine Harris maybe felt she had to move the story forward w/ the grigoris, etc. Anyway, Felicia is fine as a secondary character but I wasn't really loving her as a protagonist. Hopefully, there will be more to this series and hopefully we'll get more Lisbeth.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for this e-arc.*

I absolutely loved this book!!

I loved getting to know Felicia in this book that was focused on her and her life. We’ve known from the previous books in the Gunnie series that there was much more to Felicia, but this was even more than I was expecting. We also get to see more of Peter in this book. He’s shown in a different way and he’s not the “immature little brother” character that we’re used to seeing him as. I really hope to see more of both of them!

While this is part of the Gunnie Rose series, it’s able to be read as a standalone. If you’re a fan of GR, you’ll love this latest installment!

I loved this. I loved the characters, I loved the writing, just another example of the great things I have expected from Charlaine Harris. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series because this the the first that I have read. I like the way the back story was woven in. I felt like I didn't miss anything but I also want to pick up the rest of the series and read it.
Felicia is such a badass. She is a spunky but also super-wise and intelligent teenager. A lot of exclamation points around her. Peter frustrated me because I was so invested in Felicia.

I would recommend this book to a friend.

Comfortably ensconced in the Rasputin school after a lifetime of poverty in the slums of Mexico, Felicia finally expects to be safe, well fed, and to hopefully learn enough to eventually be self sufficient. She may not like being a blood donor for the Tsar, but that price beats the alternatives she's lived through. When she's kidnapped and faces multiple threats to her life and to the lives of those who protect her, Felicia will need to look to her past for answers. Why would anyone want to kidnap her, a penniless orphan? With some help from friends, and with her own hidden strengths, Felicia seeks answers that may require revealing a few secrets of her own.

We knew from Gunnie Rose's books that Felicia was keeping a few secrets. This story is told solely from Felicia's perspective, and it's just as good as its sister series. Felicia is just as brave and gutsy as her sister, and even though she doesn't use guns, she's definitely not shy about fighting with magic.

I really liked her personality - Felicia is very honest with herself, as much as anyone can be when it comes to emotions and life, and she's refreshingly pragmatic. She's scared when she needs to be, strong willed and contrary, like any teen her age, and as practical as any teen in her position can be, facing the circumstances she finds herself in. She doesn't lose her head to romance, and she's smart enough to realize when she's been outplayed.

We also get to see Peter, Eli's younger and immature brother, in a new and better light. In previous books, Peter was just Eli's young and immature brother. Whether because he's matured since then, or because he's closer to Felicia's age, he comes across much better here. Still young and innocent, but also showing hints of the grigori he may become. He'd only recently graduated from school, and his character fluctuated throughout the book, reflecting his struggles between the innocent teen he was, to his potential as an adult.

Both Lizbeth and Eli are mentioned only in passing on several occasions. While I miss the duo, their characters and relationship had already been well explored. Taking up the story from Felicia's pov is a smart way of continuing the series in a new and refreshing way. Felicia is similar enough in character to Lizbeth that the transition is nearly seamless. Even though the characters are somewhat new, I strongly recommend reading this only after Gunnie Rose's series. There's too much history mentioned here to start without any knowledge of.

Facing Mexican witches either trying to kill or kidnap her, Felicia needs to rely on her magic, wits, and friends to keep the safety and comforts she's begun to enjoy. But while her adversaries keep coming, her hardest fight might just be among the very people she trusts, a mother who's not ready for her son to start dating, and those she thought of as friends.

FANTASTIC!!! This may take place in the world of Gunnie Rose but can be read standalone. In this book we get to know Felicia, Gunnie Rose’s half-sister. She may be small but she is as deadly as her sister (in a totally different way). This book has her growing into herself and uncovering secrets from different corners of her life. This book sucked me in and swallowed my existence from the first page till the very last. Just amazing.