This books begins with a very interesting concept, and at the very least it follows through with what it says, though I would say it leaves the realm of a retelling fairly early on. The love story is altogether sweet, if a bit simplistic, and I can appreciate after finishing it how queer-normative the world is, even if there aren’t a lot of romantic or adjacent relationships explored. Plot-wise, there isn’t anything too unique or shocking and was fairly logical. The pacing felt a little bit off and made it hard for me to ever fully feel immersed. As a whole, it’s a decent debut that I would have loved to see fleshed out even more.

THE WITCH AND THE VAMPIRE takes the story of rapunzel and sets it in a pretty recognizable fantasy world, but this time with witches and vampires, and it makes it queer. Ava was turned into a vampire 2 years ago and has been trapped in her house by her mother and stepfather ever since. But before that, she was best friends with Kaye, who is now one of the flame witches who’s being trained to hunt down vampires. When Ava escapes, they’ll have to trust one another as they make their way through a vampire and vampire hunter infested forest, that’s peculiarly dying. And there is more evil afoot than they believe.

The story itself is pretty easy to follow, and doesn’t necessarily push any boundaries. This didn’t ruin the book for me, but I also don’t necessarily think I would return to it. If you’re looking for a more simple fantasy with some fun and queer elements, this could be well worth the read!

This is a fast and engaging read. I think fans of Margaret Rogerson will love this one. It's dual point of view and both characters are really distinct. I connected with Ava (the vampire/Rapunzel character) especially right from chapter one and was super invested in reading about her and hoping she escaped her prison. I haven't read a Rapunzel retelling before and thought this was super original.

3.5 ⭐️

Once I read that The Witch and the Vampire is a queer retelling of Rapunzel with witches and vampires, I knew I was in. I really loved the premise of this story and the major plot points were great.

I felt attached to the main characters and I loved their character development, both apart and together. There were some details from the story that I wish were touched upon and that certain parts of the story were discussed further. I felt that there was a really great shell of a story and that I wished certain plot points didn’t feel so lacking.

I found this to be an incredibly interesting fantasy tale. Obviously it places its focus on witches and vampires and the way this book tells the tale of these supernatural beings is so interesting.

We have basically a tale of witches versus vampires. Vampires drink blood (because of course) and witches would prefer they stop drinking humans and witches (again, because of course) so naturally these beings don’t like each other much. However, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Following friends from different sides, we unravel the true story of witches and vampires and join the fight to save the land.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to the audiobook and the ebook, I was able to enjoy this book in multiple formats. It was fast paced and interesting with plenty of action to hold the readers attention.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you netgalley and wednesday books for an Earc in exchange for an honest review.
Oh my goodness I actually really loved this one! Definitely super amazing. It was a bit slow in the beginning but once I got into it I totally enjoyed it. Some parts confused me but overall I thought it was really amazing. The slow burn enemies to lovers was so well written, I loved how they took their time getting from enemies to lovers and that they developed and grew as people before becoming lovers. Amazing character development and it was very believable and realistic, I liked the internal conflict and tension with the characters. Super enjoyable, such a fun read, and I totally loved it.

Blood Beast is a new one for vampires. It’s something different than you normally hear. Ava and Kaye’s relationship through out the whole book was a steady pace. I want more.

This was an okay read. It said it was supposed to be a Rapunzel retelling but it really wasn’t. There were Rapunzel aspects (Ava being locked in the attic for two years by her mother and then escaping) but not really a retelling. I enjoyed the queer friends to enemies to lovers romance plot. However, it was a littler more slow paced than I prefer my books while also having too many different plots at once shoved in. All in all, not the greatest but not the worst and if there is a sequel, I will read.

Tangled, the story of Rapunzel is my most favourite Disney movie ever!! Its my comfort movie and I watch it atleast twice a year!! The Witch and The Vampire being a Rapunzel retelling, I know I had to read it!! Although it didn’t satisfy my expectations much, it was a decent read… The story isn’t very predictable and doesn’t quite read like the lore except for the part where the girl with magical powers is confined in a house.

The two main characters Ava & Kaye are friends, when their witch town gets attacked by Vampires, Kaye’s mother is killed and Ava is turned into a vampire. To ruin their friendship further, Ava is kidnapped because she is a vampire with witchy powers! Kaye hates her for that. At the time Ava tries to break free , Kaye wants to turn her in, but her feelings come in the middle. With Vampires on one side and witches on the other, this was an interesting read. It does have some slow moving parts, but the world building and character development are very good. The sapphic romance is cute to read.

The writing is simple and the story reads easy, this is a good starter book for someone who wants to read fantasy but doesn’t know where to start. 3.75⭐️

Thank you Wednesday Books for the gifted ebook!

The Witch and the Vampire was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023. A sapphic Rapunzel retelling with witches and vampires and friends to enemies to lovers? Um, yes please! That sounds like everything I want in a book. And while this one unfortunately didn't live up to all my expectations, I did enjoy reading it.

First, I loved the relationship between our MCs, Ava and Kaye. The two had been separated after years of being best friends. Kaye's resentment was left to fester after tragedy had struck, she had no answers, and no friend anymore. Ava, meanwhile, was completely unaware of Kaye's growing anger and couldn't wait for the day the two would reunite.

When they finally did, it was a moment filled with tension, longing, confusion, and hurt. Ava had been turned into a vampire, beings Kaye had sworn to eliminate from the world. However, Kaye soon started to question everything she knew when she got closer to the girl she once knew so well.

Their relationship was a slow burn with the perfect amount of tension. It was the most compelling part of the story, and I really enjoyed watching it develop. Both girls had certain ideals stuck in their heads about how things are supposed to be, but being close to each other forced them to challenge those thoughts and question everything they knew. I was rooting for them the whole time.

Now, while I did enjoy the romance, the pacing of the rest of the story was a bit off. There were parts of the plot that dragged, and others that went by so fast I almost got whiplash. I wish it had been smoothed out a little better to give a more cohesive feel to the story.

Additionally, the world building fell flat for me. Most of it was done through info dumping (my least favorite), and the parts that were shown through exposition were a little confusing and didn't entirely fit with the rest of the lore. If there had been less telling and more showing, I think it would have strengthened the story substantially.

One thing I did appreciate about the plot was the lack of black and white thinking. As it is in their world, witches were good, and vampires were bad, but the story revealed just how false this ideology is. Both the vampires and witches were capable of evil deeds, but also of doing good. This discussion was one of the highlights of the book for me.

Overall, if The Witch and the Vampire had gone through a few more rounds of edits, I think it could have really hit it out of the park and met those expectations. As it is now, though, it's a story I enjoyed, but one that I had issues with. However, I am still glad I read it because I did enjoy the romance, which had me smiling constantly throughout. The ending was left kind of open, so I'd definitely be interested in reading more about Ava and Kaye!

My goodness, did I like this book! The atmosphere, the characters! It was SO GOOD! And the love story really drew me in, ahhhhhh absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to recommend this one left and right!

The Witch and the Vampire is a fantastic tale of young love in a ever-evolving world. Truly a wonderful read I am excited to share with my students.

Unfortunately I didn't get very far into this one, the worldbuilding didn't quite work for me and the backstory felt very muddled even halfway through the book. The writing also felt very young compared to the themes at hand, and I say that as someone who reads mainly YA. I do think a lot of the elements will work for a lot of people, so I'm keeping it in mind for recommendations, but not for me in the end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

The Witch and the Vampire is a sapphic Rapunzel retelling which follows Ava and Kaye, two best friends who were separated one fateful night when Kaye's mother was killed and Ava was turned into a vampire.

Though more of a Tangled reimagining than a true Rapunzel retelling, the plot of The Witch and the Vampire was entertaining enough. Where this book really fell apart for me was the writing, which felt like it was relaying the idea of the book more than the book itself. For all the magic and vampires, I didn't feel like I was ever grounded in the world of this book, and I also never really felt like the characters were unique or interesting enough for me to become emotionally invested in. A lot of these shortcomings in the writing ended up preventing the novel from exploring many of its potential themes, which ultimately contributed to a shallow-feeling reading experience.

While The Witch and the Vampire offers an interesting concept, it ultimately lacks complexity and depth due to poor craft.

That cover was enough to suck me in and the plot seemed pretty cool. The beginning was interesting but oddly enough reading about Ava and Kaye felt as if they were strangers. It didn’t feel like a comfortable bond between two former besties. Ngl, I didn’t really get the magic system and characters sounded so similar I would often forget which point of view I was reading. The story had some intriguing parts but often I found my mind wandering. Not a bad read but didn’t really stand out. Other readers have some issues with the book so I’d suggested checking out more reviews but for me it was just an okay read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I think I got 25% into this before I decided to DNF. I was enjoying the characters, but I've heard in some reviews that blood libel or something of the sort is used, and I don't want to read that.

I also felt like the writing was a little choppy. I don't think I could've finished it even if I tried to continue.

The Witch and The Vampire seemed promising to me from the synopsis. I believe the premise of this book was immaculate, but unfortunately fell short of many aspects for me.

As some who is constantly listening to marginalized communities, I feel this book is high into the blood libel. Something I feel most authors and publishers should be doing is extensive research on vampirism and how certain aspects can be harmful to the Jewish community. I don't believe the author had any ill intent in writing this book. It had a great story line for sure.

Another thing that bothered me was the ending. I was expecting this huge fight between Ava and her mother Eugenia, and was let down. Same thing with the fight between Liander, Kaye, and Tristan. I was completely let down by this.

This review should also go to show that making sure hiring sensitivity readers for this subject is highly important so we can make sure no more harmful content is put out there for the Jewish community.

I didn’t read the description for this book, “Sapphic Rapunzel” and I’m glad for it because the only real commonality is Ava being in a tower and her Mother being abusive. Had I started reading this book expecting a Rapunzel or Tangled retelling I think I would’ve been disappointed. This novel was a friends to enemies to lovers tale, and the story overall was entertaining but I found that any characters beyond Ava and Kate were barely fleshed out. They seem to either be “good” or “bad” until they were given a brief personality to further the plot. However, the worldbuilding was thorough, all my questions were answered by the end of the book and the ending was tied up neatly so I have no complaints there.

2.75

The thought of a vampire x witch retelling of Rapunzel really made me excited, but I ended up being disappointed. The Witch and the Vampire was more of a Tangled retelling more than a Rapunzel one. The writing was easy to read but it didn't work for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a queer Rapunzel retelling - but to be honest I didn’t really get that connection until I read it somewhere else. That aside, I enjoyed the premise of this novel, the political and magical components of the world building, and the way that the forest was alive. But the infodumping and the predictable plot (even for me, I never guess book endings but this one I guessed!) kept it from being higher rated for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for giving me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not in any way affect the contents of my review.

In the Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores, we meet Ava (a vampire), and Kaye (a witch). They live in a town that borders a forest where vampires are trapped, and Flame witches (of which Kaye is one), are trained to capture and kill vampires. Kaye and Ava used to be best best friends, until Kaye’s mother was killed and Ava was turned into a vampire and locked away in an attic. Ava still has her powers from when she was a witch, and her mother, also a vampire, steals them so she can pass for a witch herself. One night, Ava escapes into the forest, and Kaye follows, determined to kill her. What follows is a story of two young women must navigate a deadly forest while forced to confront what they thought to be true.

This was a good story. While it did not sweep me away or anything like that, I still found myself entertained! There was a lovely sapphic romance, with elements of a Rapunzel retelling. I liked how Flores really got us into Kaye’s and Ava’s heads, and how emotional the storytelling was. I think the growth they both showed was great, and I liked how they mirrored the others.

The worldbuilding was also very good. I would be interested to see more of the world, and also more of the different types of people mentioned throughout this book. I have no idea if this is a standalone or the start of a series, however.

This book comes out tomorrow, March 21st, and would be a good read for anyone who loves vampires, YA fantasy, and queer fairytale retellings!