“There are stories written in blood, not ink—and some lore doesn’t want to stay buried.”

The Rose and the Serpent opens with a compelling premise: a grave robber unearths a girl who isn’t quite dead, and neither of their lives will ever be the same. Lyndsey Hall’s gothic novel brims with atmosphere, mystery, and the ache of lost identity. Set in a shadowed version of York where souls can be severed and the past refuses to stay buried, this book opens the Mortal Souls series with a whisper rather than a bang—but the echoes linger.

💙  What Worked

Gothic Atmosphere & Lore
If you love hidden passageways, haunted legacies, and books that feel like they’ve been steeped in candlelight and secrets, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here. The setting is vivid and eerie, and the soul-separation premise adds a chilling layer to the world-building.

Cash as an Unlikely Hero
Cassius Watkins is a memorable lead: a grave robber with a reluctant conscience and a sharp edge. His perspective adds grit to the otherwise ethereal tone, grounding the story in human survival and skepticism. I like that he’s scrappy.

All Souls Academy: A Late Arrival
Though the story is marketed as a dark academia novel, we don’t reach the academy until about a third of the way through (chapter 10, 34%) the story. When we do, it’s deliciously gothic—but fleeting.

I found myself wanting more time in those cloistered halls, uncovering whispered truths behind locked doors.

Series Potential
The core ideas—soul severance, resurrection, hidden societies—are strong. The final act picks up steam, hinting at deeper threads yet to be pulled. There’s definitely room for the world to grow in future books.

💔  What Fell Short

Pacing & Time Flow
The book has a curious rhythm. The first third of the book takes its time—but once we reach the academy, the pace accelerates so quickly that some transitions feel rushed. Emotional and relational shifts happen suddenly, and it’s not always clear how much time has passed between scenes.

Pacing
The soul-based magic is fascinating, but its rules and consequences remain fuzzy. For a book so rooted in identity, I wanted to better understand what losing a soul meant—physically, emotionally, spiritually. Without those stakes, some tension felt undercut.

Audience Expectation Mismatch
Readers expecting a traditional romance or richly academic setting may find those elements too light. The romance is clean and subtle (which I appreciated), but more atmospheric than emotionally developed.

✍️ Final Thoughts

The Rose and the Serpent is a story of buried truths—some mythic, some personal. While its pacing and clarity occasionally stumble, the gothic tone and conceptual promise make for an intriguing start to the Mortal Souls series. It reminds us that the stories we inherit—like the ones we create—have power, even after death.

Would I continue the series? Yes. I want to see where the roots of this lore reach next, and what’s still waiting in the dark below All Souls Academy.

Have you read The Rose and the Serpent?

What books have drawn you into a world of unquiet souls and tangled legacies? That blend of magic, mortality, and myth?

Let’s talk about it.
Drop your thoughts below or join me on socials to chat more bookish thoughts and theories. 💙

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