DNF at around 65%.
This book was just not doing it for me. If you're into angst, vampires and those who hunt them, sapphic pining, and not a ton of world building, then you may really enjoy this one! It definitely could be a good read for a lot of people, just not for me at this moment.

At about 50%, the book still hadn't made it anywhere. The first few chapters were pretty engaging, setting up what I thought could be a wild ride. But then there were just chapters upon chapters of travel to a place I had no context for in terms of distance or expectations, and when the two main characters finally got there, there was an anticlimactic setback. For me, a big problem was the world-building. It just wasn't there, and there was not enough showing. Too much telling. I couldn't picture anything.

Side note, the e-arc itself was just messy. Chapter 13 looked like someone let a cat jump on a keyboard to edit it. After that, I could not stay interested.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the e-ARC!

I wanted to like this one so badly, I really did. I kept trying and trying, it just wasn’t what I had expected from this book.

On the surface, it sounds so wonderful. And while I enjoyed the world-building, the characters and the magic fell a bit flat for me. I would’ve liked to see more of the magic. And I really hated that no matter whose chapter it was, it read the same. There was no difference in tone or anything between the two characters and that just didn’t work for me.

I’m sure there will be people who adore this book. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of them.

I didn't finish this one.
I was really looking forward to this book and initially, the cover is what drew me in but I just couldn't get into the story. I put it down to give myself a break and tried again later and still this wasn't working for me.

I might have faired better with the audio of this.

Thank you so much to the publishers for this ARC to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of this book, however, it made me want to yeet my Kindle and later my phone out a window. No electronical devices were harmed in the making of this review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am grateful that I was provided with an eARC of this book and I tried reading it several times on my Kindle, but just couldn't seem to get into it. No matter how many times I tried to approach it I just couldn't bring myself to care. And when I could muster something, it was anger and I wanted to throw my Kindle in frustration. Then I saw my library was going to get the Audiobook as soon as it was released. I saw a new light ahead, sometimes audiobooks really help me out... this one did not. I wanted to yeet my phone across the room. So, I have just given up at getting past the 30% mark of this book now.

I didn't find the worldbuilding and all the angst (which really comes across in the audiobook) particularly interesting. I can see exactly where this story is going based on the first 30% and a skip ahead to just check it out confirmed it. Ava and Kaye, the main characters, are....there. Ava's tone is mostly a whine and Kaye's tone is mostly a roar. We know exactly what they're thinking and feeling and dare I say it: So does everyone else. It's slow burn and barely what is mentioned in the blurb. The writing is telling and not showing. I'm talking like huge paragraphs of background information (which comes off better in the audiobook). Honestly, I just can't. Sorry.

Not going to lie, I struggled with this one. The plot wasn't as developed as I'd have hoped and felt like it didn't really go anywhere. The romance didn't do it for me. I didn't ship them and their connection was lacking. Overall I had a difficult time wanting to continue reading/listening. I was lucky enough to get approved for the audiobook and I also had a hard time with the narration.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy.

If you like high drama stories with lots of action, peril, and angst, this story is for you. I told a friend that it reminded me of the extremes that characters in The 100 (CW show) go to, with the two main characters continually shifting between enemies to allies to enemies, and on and on. While I did get an eARC of the book, I ended up listening to the audiobook when it came out. I think, otherwise, I would have had an impossible time getting through the book. It felt like Kaye was always assuming the worst, and she has a stab first, ask questions never mentality that was exhausting. On the other hand, Ava, for all the abuse she's endured, seemed a bit naive (makes sense, she was locked up for two years but still). All in all, there's a big lack of communication, continual life and death struggles, some shakey bonding, and loads of betrayal. By the end of the book I was just waiting to see how things would turn out. I wish more time had been spent developing Ava and Kaye's relationship. In the end, this book was not for me but I think others might enjoy it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I ended up DNFing this book around 10% in unfortunately. I originally wanted to DNF at around 6% but pushed myself to get to 10% at least and give it more of a chance. I tried to push through more but it was darker than I was looking for, I didn't particularly like the characters, and I just wasn't compelled by the world.
I cannot really rate this because I did not read most of it. However as NetGalley requires a rating, I'm going to give it a 3 star for that purpose as this book was just very meh for me and not compelling to continue at all.

I've been excited to read this one for a while. The cover is beautiful and I love the sapphic witch and vampire couple. It ended up being an okay read, just not quite what I'd hoped for.

The main characters have been estranged for a while, ever since Ava was turned into a vampire and Kaye blames her for her mother's death. When they reunite, there's attraction but also a distrust, especially on Kaye's part. I didn't mind the slow burn and understood that they'd need time to re-establish their bond, but Kaye kept going back to being the enemy and after a while I was sick of it.

I thought the worldbuilding was lacking, not really showing us how things are and instead just telling us about it. I also wasn't sure at times what the goal of the story was. Ava escaped and was trying to get to the vampire queen, was that it? This could have been clearer and maybe the plot could have been beefed up a bit.

Overall, this was okay and pretty easy to read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the copy.

This was a book I was very excited to read, but I was extremely disappointed in the execution.

"The Witch and the Vampire" is meant to be a queer Rapunzel retelling but also with witches and vampires and an adventure through a dangerous forest. I at first was like that sounds amazing but have now realized that sometimes adding many elements to a book only muddles the plot.

The Rapunzel retelling elements were not super present. I know there are multiple versions of the original Rapunzel story, each with their own quirks, but all have some similarities. Our Rapunzel, Ava (the vampire), had long hair and was locked up by her mother. That was the main part of the Rapunzel story that was incorporated. I feel as though a very important part of Rapunzel is that she is raised in this tower and truly does think that anyone outside of it is going to harm her. Here, Ava is locked up by her mother after being transformed into a vampire and knows how wrong it is to be locked up in this way. I think they could have played into perhaps her memory isn't the best since she was transformed or even that anti-vampire sentiment has gotten even worse since she was transformed during an attack. Do they do this? No they have her wanting to break out to save the world because her mom apparently has some dastardly plans that only she can stop.

The writing style is also very simplistic and reminds me a lot of YA fiction that came out in the late 2000s. One book I was reminded of a lot was "The Forest of Hands and Teeth." Do I remember all of the plot to a book I read in middle school? No but I do remember that it was about zombies and that the forest was a dangerous place to journey and the danger was hyped up by the rulers of the main character's town. It is different to say all the zombies in that book are evil as they are mindless and have no autonomy, but to say that about another sentient race.... is problematic which I do not think was dealt with great (one of many topics I do not feel as though was not treated great including Ava's mother's abuse towards her). I did enjoy reading that simplistic style of book when I was reading it in middle school, but there was so little atmosphere and description that I could not connect at all.

The author also decided to introduce an obvious enemies to lovers trope by making Ava's former best friend and the other POV character, Kaye (the witch) believe Ava killed her mom and deciding to vow vengeance on Ava by the end of chapter 2. This is the perfect set up for friends to lovers as they are literally former friends but no it had to be enemies to lovers because that is popular. I think some tension surrounding speciesism (I guess that is what it is when it is different supernatural species) and the stereotypes they have towards each other would have been all that was needed for plot purposes, but why not just throw enemies to lovers in there with the hints of a potential betrayal on Kaye's part.

Needless to say, I did not enjoy this book and was let down by the interesting premise and the beautiful cover. I am so sad because I really wanted to enjoy it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in an exchange for an honest review.

I am sad to say that this book was just fine. Honestly I probably should have DNFed it because it was not keeping my attention most of the time but I kept going. I think it just wasn't the book for me but I know it will definitely be the book for others.

A fantastic Rapunzel retelling! The tone was perfectly moody and the descriptions were incredible. An overall enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I dropped the book at 30% of the way through.

It's got a really interesting premise but the writing falls flat. The two POVs sound exactly the same and it's a lot of telling not showing in terms of emotions/plot/development.

Supposedly this is a Tangled/Rapunzel retelling but I didn't get that vibe at all, aside from the one character being locked in a tower.

Too fast-paced with its world-building, that's for sure.

The Witch and the Vampire has a strong premise with queer supernatural romance & friends to enemies to lovers.

Ava is a root witch turned vampire who was trapped in a mansion by her evil vampire mother and evil human stepdad. Ava's childhood best friend Kaye, a flame witch, suspected Ava was behind her mother's murder because Ava disappeared right after her mother was found dead.

Does that reasoning sound a bit naive and ridiculous? Yes, and unfortunately there are a lot of other similar reasonings that don't make much sense other than to string the story along.

The world-building and backstory felt a bit underdeveloped. We never got a full explanation of how the different witches came to be or how Ava can be both witch and vampire.

The ending also felt like there will be a book 2 and then just....ended

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting premise but it just needed…more. More character depth and personality, more world building and magic system explanation, more emotional connection. This just felt too flat, it lacked punch in any of the threads / sub plots and the cover and synopsis are a bit misleading regarding the romance plot. This felt more like middle grade than YA and thus, it’s more of a friends to enemies to friends arc than a romance, though I applaud the queer representation and normalization.

So I went into this book knowing it was fantasy and sapphic. I missed the part where it was YA, which I think altered my enjoyment slightly. YA is a perfectly wonderful category, I just tend to avoid it because the younger characters act like younger characters (as they should) and it stresses me all the way out.

That being said, I enjoyed this book much more than I usually do with YA, perhaps because the characters have such high stakes or because their growth is rapid but believable. The internal conflict Ava and Kaye deal with is so real and delicious. There's definitely a big turning point moment for each of them, but the build up is paced just right and the arc is so satisfying. Not to mention the twists!

I also really enjoyed the world building of this book and the way the author describes the forest, the people, and the different creeds, and then subverts them with these tiny nuggets of solid gold. The writing is very atmospheric without being bogged down with description and most of the characters feel real and three dimensional.

Overall, despite this not being the usual book I go for, I still really enjoyed it! It's good for people who love mixing of magics, high stakes, and analysis of self and friendship in trying times. The romance is mainly a subplot, but it's done well, and a good addition to the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher and Author for a advance copy of The Witch and the Vampire for a honest review. I have been putting this read aside for a bit as I thought I made a mistake as LGBTQ is not in my genre of book reading. but was I wrong. I give this book a 5 star. I could not put it down. I love the storyline. There was a hint of romance and tastefully written. Go out and buy this book you will not regret it. I am not against LGBTQ, I just don't like reading about it. I was wrong as there is a hint of romance I will read LGBTQ books again. Thank you for extending my outlook and genre in books.

buckle up folks because i’ve got a rant coming for y’all.

let’s start off with the main thing that made me worried about reading this book in the first place. the concern over the vampire story relying/mirroring too heavily on blood libel. i’m not going to go into the specifics on what blood libel is or exactly how it impacts my community, the jewish community. but, this was brought up as a potential worry by non-jewish reviewers. and i’d have to say, i definitely agree with their worry. now, i doubt the author probably knows much or even realized how much their story parallels with it, but let’s get into it. i think the most obvious note that stuck out to me in terms of the vampires, was that they were genuinely called blood beasts with pure hatred by humans and witches. not excluding our MAIN CHARACTER for a decent portion of the book. (she said it with chutzpah. it was truly some deep rooted hatred that she harbored.) but more than that, they’re locked out of society by a literal wall. they’re called lifeless, soulless, monsters. they’re hunted by witches and humans. they’re seen as irredeemable and othered. see the picture i’m painting? so yeah, i’d say that borders just a tad too close to blood libel for my liking.

but okay, let’s ignore that for now, there’s still a ton of other things that just fell right through the cracks with the world-building. starting with ava and her mother. ava was turned by her mother, our supposed mother gothel figure (although the similarities to rapunzel are sparing), eugenia. a big part of the lore is that only those who have the same witch affinity could borrow/steal powers from someone younger than them. additionally, witches in their late teen years are at their strongest and essentially need their powers siphoned off so they can control it? or do they? because the only one that happens to is ava. sure, fine. all is dandy. except wait no, it’s not. because the other big part of the lore is that only witches who are turned into vampires as teens can retain their powers. so shouldn’t eugenia have NO power. how is she conveniently able to steal her daughters powers when she’s an adult vampire. don’t you think that would mean OTHER witches turned vampires would do that to young witches. and yet, we only ever see ava’s mother do it. make it make sense.

now not only that, but WHAT is the witches magic system. time and again we’re told that there are witches with different affinities. but how many? we have nine clarity members, but then also two of them were flame witches, so are there only eight types? we only ever see flame and root witches in action, and are told of only one more type. do these other type of witches not care? and where are they? what’s the purpose of mentioning them then? it’s just so many little things like that that make the details fall through.

anyway, we’ve spoken about the witches lore, let’s move onto the vampire lore. so, vampires have to feast every few days. if they don’t they’ll become more aggressive, more erratic in their need for blood, right? why doesn’t this rule apply to ava? time and again at the beginning of the book we’re told that she was fed a lot more often, making her even more reliant on having a steady source of blood flow. sure ava doesn’t want to kill people, fine whatever. but she still needs to feast in some way. why is it after one or two mentions the first day in the woods about her thirst, it’s pretty never brought up again. all of the sudden, she’s fine. she can just be stronger than needing blood like she used to a DAY ago. no hunger, no desperate desires. yep, that adds up. she does eventually get blood periodically through the events (although i’m still not quite sure how many days pass during the book events). but it seems like it should have a bit more grip on her. but nope, ava is just that willfully strong that she can just say no. idk y’all… like, am i missing something here?

but okay, lets move away from any more of the world building. we’ve established pretty well how i feel about all that. let’s move onto our main girls ava and kaye. oh... yeah, and some tristan dude i guess. i’m sorry but you could’ve removed tristan from the story and it would’ve turned out the exact same. like the poor boy had the personality of cardboard and was literally there just a character to be there when kaye or ava needed an extra pair of hands. but enough about him. let’s talk about the girls. i just did not believe their love story, their chemistry. it was a pretty big case of “i can change them for the better”. ava was this pure, understanding person who wanted everyone to have their own better lives. (i mean until she totally wasn’t anymore, but that’s neither here nor there, i’m not really surprised with her arc). but kaye? kaye deeply hated vampires and especially ava, who she somehow thought killed her mother. that was all overturned for their “budding” relationship after a couple days together. we’d be told that they have this massive friendship through flashbacks. that they have very important, sentimental items (like scarves that are only mentioned TWICE). but in the present? i don’t see it.

there’s so much more unexplained things about the book that i could get into. the glowing lake, the forest swallowing the people, the arkana speaking to ava (why though?), the writing, the pacing and order of the chapters. but we’d genuinely be here all day. and i don’t want to think about this book anymore right now. it took me over two weeks to finish a book that usually only take me a few days. i’m exhausted by this world. so that's it, goodbye.

A queer retelling of Rupunzal?? What more could I ask for! I loved this book so much. Witches and vampires are something you see together in books too much so this was an exciting read. Thanks netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Thoughts

When will 2023 offer me some good fantasy? Not yet, apparently. I wanted to love this. I didn't.

Pros
Tangled Touches: This book is Rapunzel-inspired, so of course it will bear similarity to Disney's Tangled. But the similarities go beyond that. The wicked-witch-slash-captor-mother here also siphons power from her daughter, just like in that iconic Disney film, and the similarities don't end there. The Tangled vibes are obvious. And I think that's a good thing. If you're a Tangled fan, you might just want to take a peek at this witchy vampire tale.

Not-So-Hidden: Our Rapunzel in her tower isn't quite so hidden as her counterparts tend to be. And I like that. I thought, heading into the early chapters, that a lot of that beginning tension would revolve around Kaye discovering Ava--or somebody else discovering Ava, maybe. But Kaye already knows. She's already seen, and she's been watching. And I love that. I love that this book revolves around not discovering a hidden vampire but instead centers on a vengeful witch who has her eyes on the vampire that has been under her nose all this time.

Consuming Forest: I've read a lot of spooky forest stories. I've read a lot of spooky forests in the last few months alone. But this one really takes the cake. It is ultra creepy. Something is wrong. Something is rotten. Something is hungry. Ultimately, this is one of the most goosebump-inducing forests I've read in a while--vampires not even included.


Cons
Veggie Vamp: I'm sorry. I just don't like it. It was fine in Twilight, but Twilight was a long time ago, at least as publishing goes. "Vegetarian" vampires had their time. They still have their place. But I'm over it. I really want some good, vicious bloodsuckers back in my fiction, and that just wasn't the case here. Ava wants to be a good person. She doesn't want to hurt anybody. And I'm tired of it. This book doesn't improve upon the "vegetarian vampire" subgenre. In fact, it might make the overall picture worse.

Magic Vamp: I guess a vampire who can also do magic adds an interesting element to this world... but it doesn't play out that well. Turning a witch in her prime helps her keep her power when she's a vampire, but this isn't common knowledge. And yet, everybody seems to know and recognize what Ava is right away? Nobody is supposed to know about this loophole, and everybody does. Also, it does feel very much like a loophole, a loophole purely intended to make Ava a cooler vampire. Add to this my hatred of "young" vampires or "young" witches being more powerful than their aged counterparts, and I just wasn't here for it.

No Chemistry: Look at that cover! There's supposedly a significant romantic subplot here, and yet... There's no chemistry between Ava and Kaye. They don't play well together. And they also don't play well separately. In fact, none of the characters are particularly well-rounded, and for a group that all have complicated histories with each other, there isn't any banter. There isn't any chemistry, romantic or otherwise. I would like to say that this book has some of the flattest characters I've read in a while, but it's actually just in keeping with this year's fantasy, unfortunately. Disappointed all around.


Rating
⭐⭐⭐
3/10

Fans of the magical misfits of Kaylie Smith's A Ruinous Fate will enjoy this new quest through a cursed forest. Those who loved Janella Angeles's Where Dreams Descend will like this cold, dark realm of magic and monsters.

A friends to enemies to lovers Rapunzel retelling with witches and vampires was everything I didn’t know I needed in my life.

Kaye is a flame witch hell bent on revenge after vampires killed her mother. Ava is a reluctant vampire confined to her mothers’ home with a cruel stepfather. They find themselves both searching for freedom and redemption, and reunite in order to reach their destination. As they begin to embrace who they truly are, deeper betrayals are revealed that might ruin the relationship they just started to rekindle…

This book was dark at times but I couldn’t put it down! The magical world-building and imagery was amazing. I felt for Ava so much throughout the book because she had been through so much trauma and still managed to want to do the right thing. Kaye was a bit single-minded and was great at jumping to conclusions, but I couldn’t really blame her given her past. I think both characters were great examples of what it means to be morally gray. I didn’t quite understand everything that happened at the end with the heart tree (spoiler: it seemed like Casieopia gave up too quickly after being so adamant about keeping the tree?) but I still enjoyed the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this arc!