I love nothing better than a good enemies-to-lovers trope. However, this book didn't get there for me. I felt the pacing was too slow and frankly lost interest a couple of times. I can see there being an audience for this book though. I liked the world building and characters.

I don’t know if this book was for me or not. While I very much enjoyed the political intrigue and the sisterhood of the coven, the pacing was incredibly slow and I felt it focused on the wrong things at times. I also don’t know that I would qualify this as enemies to lovers because Reid was nothing but kind to Vasaa from the very beginning. I did however enjoy that it wasn’t an insta love situation between them. I know I will be reading book 2 simply to see where this all goes.

I ALWAYS love a good fantasy! And although this had some classic romantasy things going on, I felt like they were done in a really unique way.

This is technically a slow-burn (because nothing really happens until the end), but the tension is there and obvious the whole time. And no one is denying it...maybe because it is so obvious that they can't because it would make them look silly...I don't know but it was so much fun!

I love political dramatics and schemes, betrothals to random kingdoms, newly discovered dark magic, and so much more!

Our main character, Vaasa, is an absolute badass with a blade. And she is not afraid to hold it to anyone's throat AND WE ALL LOVE THAT IN THIS HOUSEHOLD! (By household, I mean community of readers...everyone loves that, it's just the truth.)

If you're looking for a new fantasy to dive into, I would definitely recommend you check this one out. I was instantly engaged and invested in the story, and that is so very important to me when reading a fantasy novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for letting me read an advanced reader copy of this book!

I want to start off by saying that I absolutely loved this book. I loved everything about it and I couldn’t put it down. I’m already impatient for the second.

This book was incredible. It was so real, so flushed out that I could picture everything in my head so easily almost like a movie. Vassa was an amazing character. She was strong and flawed but had such incredible, but real growth that she was easy to connect with as a main character. And I adored Reid. He was patient and kind. I liked how their romance wasn’t insta love but developed so naturally. It is one of my favorite romances that I’ve read in years.

It was the perfect blend of fantasy, thriller, a dash of mystery, magic, romance, and action, The Serpent and the Wolf had every single thing I could ever want in a book. It was perfection.

Romantasy is my favorite and I was so excited to start this one. The beginning really hooked me but it fell off for me after a bit. The pacing was at times hard to follow and I wanted more from the romance and plot. Thank you to the author, Netfalley and the publisher!

All I have to say is wow. Robinson is a debut author and this book is a powerhouse. First and foremost, our main character Vaasa, is beautifully complex and unique. She’s morally gray insofar as she believes she has to be. Being told from Vaasa’s perspective, the reader is initially led to believe that is Reid, the MMC that is the morally gray one. Within the first scene it becomes obvious that that is not the case. We learn that Vaasa was born and raised to be politically vicious and she immediately feels torn between who she was raised to be and who she wants to be. Add into the mix her sudden dark magic capabilities and you are left with a character who is really struggling with their identity. As she comes to terms with her new self, she also comes to terms with her arranged marriage with Reid, who is not as he seems.

I related so strongly to Vaasa’s disconnect she feels from her body due to her magic, and as someone with a chronic illness, I felt it was deeply relatable and heart wrenching. The enemies to lovers slow burn tension between Vaasa and Reid is also *chefs kiss*. The banter, the swords, the teasing is all beautifully done until they finally admit their feelings for one another. And when they do, it is magical.

Overall, I devoured this book. As Robinson’s first novel, I cannot wait to see where she goes from here.

Wow! I really enjoyed this fresh take on an enemies to lovers romantasy. I feel it is so hard nowadays to find a true enemies to lovers and I was quite satisfied with this one! I loved the FMC and the politics/world building was spectacular. Very excited to see what else this author produces and so excited I was chosen to read this ARC.

The premise was good - and I love a romantasy - but this book didn't quite live up to that potential. The plot was strangely paced, which made things a bit hard to follow and meant it dragged a bit at points. It wasn't a bad book by any means - but just not the one for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy

Unfortunately this book really didn't work for me. But it may work for you and thats great!

What I liked about this one:
The world, cast of characters and the different magic covens. I absolutely adored the scene where they all crawled under the table. <3 Also all the fun action happened right at the end! Definitely a crazy plot twist and I did not expect some things.

What didn't work for me:
The amount of "telling" over "showing" was way too much for my personal taste. I grew frustrated as huge time jumps happened where relationships grew, powers were learned, & training happened that we just didn't get to see. We would be told some things like, "this character always does xyz. Oh xyz would totally do something like that." And I sat there as a reader thinking, oh ok I guess that's true. We don't get to see the growth or personality come out of character, we're just told after a certain amount of time and that's what frustrated me.

One thing this was marketed as, was enemies to lovers but it truly never felt like "enemies" for me. The main male did absolutely nothing to justify that he was ever Vaasa's enemy besides just being a leader in another country. He was kind to her from the second she met him. So maybe arranged marriage would be better to label.

Thank you NetGalley & Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster for the free review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to say that I jumped for joy when i saw that sagapress approved my digital arc request for this book. I been following the author and the process of this book for years. and let me tell you... this is 100% booktoks next obession i am calling it now. Amazing writing, amazing plot, amazing story, amazing characters. This book in my opinion has no skips *i am easily entertained once a fantasy book is in my silly little hands* and this book really delivered for me. If there are no lovers of this book -consider my accounts deleted. I cannot wait to see this on shelves and instagram. everything about this book deserves so much hype. Thank you once again for the chance to arc read this novel. 5/5 stars *because i cannot rate a book 6

Amazing!
The Serpent and the Wolf is a thrilling romantasy debut book that had me turning pages until the very end. This author wrote an amazing book with so many twist and turns. I loved the world building in this one and all of the characters were great. The ending was so well done and had me on the edge of my seat. The book is one of my favorites this year and one I will be thinking of long after I read it. I loved this book and recommend it to any reader and if you love romantasy then you need to read this one. Thank you to Saga Press Books and NetGalley for this ARC read in exchange of my honest review of The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc.

I’m always looking for a new fantasy series and this one did not disappoint. I really liked the female character Vaasa, I found her to be very strong and passionate. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Wow! I finished this book a couple weeks ago and I'm still thinking about it. I'm always looking for a new fantasy series that will really hook me in and I think this will be one of them!

Vaasa is a compelling leading character who we follow as she escapes from an arranged marriage and seeks answers for the magic that she believes will kill her. The book started strong and then slowed down a little bit with some world building, but that's to be expected for a first book in the series. Once things really got going I found myself very engaged in the story. I love Reid's character and he's definitely swoony book boyfriend material. I also really loved the female friendship that develops in this book! I'm always a big fan of FMCs that have rich friendships with other women in the story. The ending of this book had me screaming and I need the next book ASAP.

I received an advanced copy of this book and this is my honest review.

The premise of this book really intrigued me and it lived up to all my expectations. I also love the cover, it is so eye popping and I would definitely pick it up if I saw it in the store. .I loved all the characters and found myself invested throughout the whole book.

This book has a great premise. I loved the connection between the magic systems and the deity behind the power. Interesting world building. Opening scene really hit the ground running.

This book contains:
Arranged marriage
One horse
"Wild One" nickname
He's turned on by her violence
Coming into her own power
Found family
Coven of women helping women

The main characters work really well together. The ending was well done. The family dynamics were intriguing as well.

There were parts that I would have like expanded. I would have loved to have read about some of her lessons as they unfolded instead of just summaries. I would have liked to see how she is evolving and changing. There were parts of the story that didn't flow as well as others that could have benefited from more story editing. I would have loved to have read the conversations that were glossed over and summarized. Show me their comparability through their words and actions; don't just tell me that they are compatible and work well together.

The above made me feel a good bit of dissonance and disinterest in a few scenes because the foundation for it was glossed over. A certain scene towards the end especially would have been more powerful and devastating if I felt connected to the characters involved. There were a few time jumps and word repetitions as well. Overall, these issues made the book feel unfinished.

I still enjoyed the book. I appreciated what I thought the author was going for, but it just didn't hit quite right. The main storyline was, for me, five star potential. But it was needed help with the execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

2.5 stars

When Vaasa is forced to marry Reid, her brother expects her to die. The two nations are on the brink of war, so her death is the much needed spark for his invasion. After she abandons Reid on their wedding night, he offers her a deal; in exchange for helping him win the election that will give him the country, he will help her control the dark magic swirling inside her veins. But as the two pretend to fall in love to win the affections of a country, very real sparks begin to fly. The only problem? Dark foes are waiting in the wings and the peace they fought so hard to maintain is about to come crashing down.

I love political intrigue. I love marriages of convenience. I especially love forced proximity and fake physical affection for a political purpose. But I didn’t love The Serpent and the Wolf. I had two main issues. The first was that no character outside of Vaasa felt fleshed out, limiting how much I could be invested in the story. Reid was a shadow with very few personal qualities beyond his connection to Vaasa, making their romance feel kind of boring. Sure, Reid said many wonderful things, but I didn’t buy the romance because Vaasa was the only one with a character. Additionally, the story was full of amazing female characters who were basically indistinguishable from one another and simply filled the role of “strong female friend.” The villain was also simple to understand and really just read like the author really needed you to know that he was the villain.

My second issue was the pacing—the story was slow and focused on subtle political maneuvering until it completely changed gears at the end. There was no consistency with the direction of the story and the moment I got invested in one plot, the plot changed. A good middle portion of the book was also an exhaustive training sequence that never seemed to end. I love character development and I’m even okay if character development is the focus of the story rather than an external plot. But even that requires internal conflict which was missing here.

With that being said, Vaasa was an amazing main character. She was cold without being condemned for it, and dealt with her new world in a way that felt human and raw. I loved watching her struggle with her power and her loyalties, especially as she started to find a community. Watching her values change was a seamless process and she truly felt like she could walk off the page. The writing of the novel was also descriptive without being overly so and the dialogue felt natural and hid veiled insults perfectly.

While I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to, I recognize that the author has a gift for words and main character creation—she only needs more practice with the surrounding characters. I would recommend this book for fans of The Bride Kingdom, A Shadow in the Ember, and The Shadows Between Us.

This book jumps right into the story which hooked me. The magic system in this book is really interesting and I love how witches are a part of it.
There is also great world building and going into enough depth about the political aspects of this world. The characters are also so strong in this book. Fantasy lovers are going to really enjoy this book.

Epic fantasy adventure at it's best! Rich and lush fantasy world, magic, machinations and betrayals among the courts, intense battles and face offs, and through it all a slow simmer that you know is going to just keep building. A must read for fantasy fans! FYSA, ends on a cliff ...

Thank you NetGalley & Saga Press for this ebook ARC!

Overall: The closest book that comes to mind when reading this one was A Court of Silver Flames (which I loved).
Our MFC is dealing with past trauma, making choices that only make sense to her until we get to know her better as the book goes on. There’s a steamy man just waiting there to help her when she needs it.
She gains powers and learns how to control them (I won’t spoil the ending but it was also similar in certain ways), all while paying attention to the political strategies going on that were as equally driving the plot (or more) than the romance.
Even though the outline is very similar it felt unique in its own world and magic and characters. I enjoyed it and will be looking forward to the next book!

Characters: Vaasa our MFC has a good arc that a lot of people will be able to connect to. It’s hard to understand her motivates at first but as the story continues it makes more sense why she makes the choices she does. We get like two chapters of POV from our MMC Reid, which I enjoyed. We don’t get too much of his ARC but he’s likable from the beginning.

World Building: Sometimes it was a lot of information about witch covens and their powers or warring countries and all their exported goods in big chunks so it was a little bit harder for me to want to follow along, which made some of the political plot twists not land as strong for me but overall it wasn’t complex and easy to grasp.

Writing: The writing was easy to read and didn’t detract from the experience. Sometimes the paragraphs of action or internal dialogue were a bit long.

Romance: The beginning kind of sets up more of a romance heavy plot but the middle/ending was more of a self-discovery/political strategy forward plot with the romance sprinkled in. The ending was more romance driven again. I wish it had been a little more consistent (especially some of the fun banter at the beginning) but it all ended up fitting the story.

Ending: The ending was strong. We see some character arcs completed and some new ones beginning. It wraps up the first book with leaving you excited for book two. I enjoy a more punchy, cliff hanger-y ending and this was a pretty satisfying one.

I DEVOURED this book. I could not put it down; I have severe story hangover from this and I am entirely unready to leave this world. Such an incredibly well written story with twists and turns. I could go on and on, there truly is only one thing to do and that is to tell the world to go read this book. Thank you for the chance to read this! I can't wait to talk with more people about this book and to read the next.