The world building was ok but you never really feel satisfied. I feel like all my questions never fully get answered?
Normally I’m obsessed with a enemies to lovers but the slow build and choppy writing took from it

This just wasn’t my favorite. I really struggled connecting with both the plot and characters which was upsetting. It took me a while to get through this one. I will continue the trilogy though.

I wouldn’t consider myself a romantasy super fan, but I did have a great time reading this book. Overall, I feel like the storytelling and plot was a little heavier on the fantasy side, with a little steam thrown in to make this story boil. Robinson has built a world that sounds incredibly beautiful and intriguing. You find yourself wanting to know more about the various kingdoms and their inhabitants while also admiring the political system that they have put in place. Female centered magic abounds in the book, so expect strong confident women who are willing to share their knowledge and love with each other and their realms. This book is a little heavier in court intrigue and inter-kingdom drama, but it is a book one in a series, so it is needed to lay the groundwork for all the conflicts to come. The romance aspects of this book are not over the top so if you prefer less spice and more tropey moments in your books, you should be happy with this book. The characters all have strong well-defined personalities and a few secrets up their sleeves, so you will have fun getting to know everyone and may find yourself a little sad when you turn the last page and have to say goodbye to them.

Honestly I think this book is a sleeper. When it finally gets more attention, I feel like it could be right up there with The Cruel Prince.

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for the review copy.

The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson is one of those books that completely swept me off my feet. I was totally enthralled from the start — the world-building, the characters, and especially the slow-burn romance. This book is YEARNING at its absolute best. The tension between the characters builds up so naturally, and I found myself holding my breath during those moments when you just know something is about to happen... but it doesn’t quite yet. It's that perfect slow burn that keeps you on the edge of your seat, desperately hoping for more.

Now, about the ending — wow. It absolutely broke my heart, but in the best possible way. It was one of those endings where you're torn between wanting to scream at the author for THAT cliffhanger, but also knowing it was exactly the ending the story needed. It left me needing more, so now I'm impatiently waiting for book two. If you’re into an enemies to lovers romance, with absolute perfect slow burn - this is for you.

While I am absolutely happy I got an early review of this book I am sad to say it wasnt my cup of tea. I tried to enjoy the read but even the writing fell off. The drama also left me not as interested and it felt like a hassle to power through. Im sure there are readers out there that may highly enjoy this book, but there was nothing remarkable enough for me to rate it higher.

I could not get into a rhythm with this book. I liked the plot and the two main characters, but the writing was super disjointed. The descriptions were all over the place and many of the metaphors made no sense. I’m bummed because I thought I would love this book.

I appreciated the political intrigue. There was a lot of scheming throughout the book due to an upcoming election for Reid and it was so much fun to read! I wish some of the politics could have been a little more clear like there were a lot of names and places dropped and sometimes I struggled to follow along but idk if that was just me

Overall this book was a fun time and had a lot of potential to be great but the execution just fell a little short for me.

3.5 ⭐️. 3🌶️

The book has a strong beginning and it really hooked me I could stop reading it because I wanted to know what was going to happen between Reid and Vaasa. But once she got to his side again the story became too heavenly political. It took the focal point from the love story. I would’t have mind it if this have been the focus of the book since the beginning or if it had not been part of the majority of the book. I would say 65% of the book it’s just politics. I know it is on the blurb but I wanted a balanced in all tropes but politics seems to over take the majority of the story.

Also Vaasa was the one with the powers and Reid had none she seemed kind of weak I like equally strong character for the MFC and yes it was said that he was strong and feared but I never saw that in fact he was saved twice by her.

What saved the book is the magic it was interesting to see Vaasa used her magic and those scenes were my favorite.

In summary I wanted more romance, Reid to be stronger, more action, more magic, and less political intrigue.

The serpent and the wolf by Rebecca Robinson was a fast paced story that follows our main character Vaasa as she is forced into an arranged marriage with a foreign ruler, Reid of Mireh by her power hungry brother. Their father is now dead, leaving her brother to rule their land. Their mother died from a mysterious dark magic that Vaasa believes that she has now inherited and feels will kill her. She wants to learn more about it and learn to control it. To do that, she has to escape her new husband, Reid of Mireh. They find each other again and come to mutually beneficial agreement before they realize their connection is more.

I really enjoyed this Romantasy with themes of found Family, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn. I will be impatiently waiting for the next book!

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for the e-arc!

I really enjoyed this one sm!! If you're interested in a unique magic system, deep love, political intrigue, and forced proximity and slow burn, this is absolutely for you. Vaasa and Reid, along with the supporting characters, were so well crafted that I felt like I was in their world with them. Vaasa is one of the first main female characters that I've read in a while where she wasn't just tough for the sake of it, and all of her decisions, worries, and insecurities led to her growth in a way that made so much sense.

Had high hopes for this. But the writing was choppy and I never felt like I got the answers I needed.

2 stars!

I think that I might have the unpopular opinion in this book because it really wasn't for me. The entire time I was reading this, I was so confused by what was going on. I think normally I can handle books with politics, but I literally had to reread pages because I was so lost. Because I was kinda confused, I tried to lock into the romance, but I found myself not enjoying that either. They were enemies? But it never really felt that way. I also didn't really care about either of the main characters and I don't know if I cared about either of their fates. All that being said, I might still read the sequel? Because things started to make sense and then I kinda got intrigued?

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I think this was a solid debut and had a lot of potential, but unfortunately the execution fell a bit flat. This was marketed as an enemies to lovers and while there is slow burn, the MMC was already quite taken with our FMC from the very beginning. I loved the progression of Vaasa and how she was able to come to trust and create a strong friendship with the witches - that was very well done. Unfortunately the writing style for me made it hard to connect to the characters in a meaningful way and made the plot a bit convoluted and hard to follow. I think I will likely not remember the plot in a month or two so I don’t think I will find the motivation to continue the series.

I ate this book up! This one is for the romantasy girlies for sure. It was built on those incredible tropes that we all love, but they still kept me so engaged and turning pages deep into the night. I read this in less than 48 hours, which is HUGE for me. I will absolutely be forcing my book besties to pick this one up!

Took me a while to pick this up but once I did, I couldn't figure out why I didn't read it sooner!! I am an extreme FAN of enemies to lovers and almost every time I love it. Vaasa and Reid’s slow burn was amazing, and I loved the anticipation of their relationship through Robinson's well written chemistry between the two. Vaasa was a strong female main character, and I loved reading about her journey. For fans of high fantasy, enemies to lovers / arranged marriage, and magic and witches this is a MUST read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC.

I'm not gonna lie, my expectations for most romantasy range from neutral to expecting the worst. This managed to surprised me in good ways, despite some writing flaws. The romance was actually nice to read about. It's not enemies to lovers like advertised, Reid was super into Vaasa the moment she tied him up at knifepoint and left on their wedding night. It seems like a trend in romantasy to have a dark romance with a guy that's misoginistic in every interaction, with borderline rape in some books, and not everything forewarn it, unfortunately. So it's super satisfying to have a love interest who checks with the fmc before initiating anything, constantly letting her know he's there for her but gives her the time and space to process her traumatic past on her terms. Another great thing is how the romance is not the only focus; Vaasa joins a coven to learn more about the curse she inherited from her mother, and she forms a strong bond with each of the women. There's nothing more disappointing than to get a book that pits the women against each other, so the heroine's gets to be "not like the other girls". The worldbuilding is interesting, I enjoyed the political intrigue, but I feel like it dropped us into the world very suddenly. You start right away on Vaasa's wedding night that she immediately ditches. I kinda wanted more before that to give a sense of what she was expecting and why. Especially where Reid is involved, he comes across as a decent guy from the start, so I didn't understand where she got the idea that he would be a barbarian. Otherwise, this is a pretty good debut, and I can't wait for the sequel.

This is a political fantasy with romance, enemies to lovers, slowburn, and a whole lot of fun. Recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC gifted in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, the fact that this is a debut is astounding because it’s so well done. There’s romance, magic, political intrigue, and a huge number of badass women between those pages.

For the first half of the book, I was enraptured as we learn about Vaasa and her battle with her curse. The second half slowed down for me quite a bit and while the ending was quite good (I see you setting up for book 2!!) the pace of the second half wasn’t quite as good. The second half also had a lot more political intrigue and people that I needed to keep referring back to/remembering — honestly probably wouldn’t have been a problem if I had just binged it all in one go like I wanted to from the beginning. 😂

If you’re a romantasy lover you’ll like this one!!

Huge thank you to Saga Press for my gifted copy ❤️

this was an enjoyable time for romantasy lover. i believe this is the author's debut novel so of course it's not perfect was not expecting it to be. but it was good nevertheless. the ending did leave me intrigued about what might happen next - this series has potential.