Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book early! I love fairy tale retellings, especially when they’re queer and I was so excited for this book. The premise is intriguing, as a young witch turned vampire is held hostage by her mother to steal her power and her childhood best friend believes she killed her mother. Kaye was a well-rounded character, who was flawed in her hubris and her skepticism of Ava, but Ava, especially at the beginning, read too much like a damsel in distress despite her power. It becomes clear that Ava has been abused into submission by her mother and stepfather but I sometimes found her blind faith in the journal and naïveté frustrating because she has lived in the real world for the first 16 years of her life. In contrast, Kaye read like the kind of fantasy heroine that you root for.
Despite the intriguing premise of this book, I was disappointed by the clunky info dump in the early chapters. Ava explaining the world and the magic system does its job by introducing the reader to the world, but some of it could certainly have been shown rather than told as the story unfolded.
Nevertheless, I’m glad I stuck with this story and read Ava and Kaye’s story through to the end, because their relationship trajectory from their history as best friends to one-sided enemies to lovers was one I found myself rooting for.
Once the world building was established the story became more seamless and fluid. This bloody romance rife with betrayal and plot twists is one many fans of young adult fantasy romance will enjoy.

DNF @ 15%. This is a sapphic Rapunzel retelling that just isn’t for me. The writing is too middle grade and I am not the right audience for this book. There was too much telling in the little bit that I did read and not enough showing.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Touted as a queer Rapunzel retelling of a vampire imprisoned by her family and a witch trained to kill vampires.

Ava and Kaye were best friends until the night Kaye’s mother was murdered and Ava was turned into a vampire by her controlling mother. Ava is unique in that she’s also a witch. There is a Bone Wall that contains the vampires in the forest, outside of the populated villages.

The plot centers around preventing the wall from coming down and escaping from Ava’s cruel stepfather and mother.

The idea of the book was good. Though the plot didn’t always hold my attention. The last third was a tad underwhelming. I had trouble envisioning what was going on.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.

the cover: THIS COVER IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH
FMC: Ava- a Root Witch who was turned into a vampire by her mother as a teen. Her mother and stepfather keep her locked away and keep her witch and vampire powers low by only feeding her small vials of blood and siphoning her witch powers as they grow. After plotting for years, she finally finds the perfect day to escape but vampires attacking the town she grew up in makes her pause to check her old best friend Kaye stays safe.
FMC: Kaye- a Flame Witch who needs to keep herself at the top of her class ever since her mother (a vampire sympathizer) was murdered. Desperate to prove her worth and show whose side she’s on, she tricks her old best friend and childhood crush Ava to follow her to a neighboring town pretending she is leading her to safety… she is only pretending to save her right? Lines get blurred as new sides of Ava come to light and Kaye starts to reevaluate her priorities.
POV: 1st person, dual POV
HEA: yes
spice: no spice, barely-there steam with a couple shared kisses but nothing graphic
TWs: physical abuse of child, mental abuse of child, torture, negligent mother, murder, death of parent, death of animal, kidnapping, bullying, magical speciesism (is that a word? Initial hatred due to species)
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this sapphic friends-to-enemies-to-lovers Rapunzel retelling featuring witches and vampires had me immediately hooked from the title, had me fall in love with the cover, and kept me interested with the storyline! I found the storyline and worldbuilding to be very interesting and easy to follow but there are definitely some “holes” that I feel leave enough movement and clarification for possible future books. I loved the internal push and pull from both girls of wanting what they feel is right for them vs what their families/towns want from them and the character growth was so great to watch.
The audio book was easy to follow with the dual POV and both actors brough plenty of emotion to their role to keep it interesting

read this book if you love
🌈 LGBT+ representation
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
🔮 supernatural creatures- vampires and witches
🪄 magic
💖 paranormal romance
🌍 world building
😳 forbidden lovers (rival species)

The story is more on the simplistic side which at times seemed to border more towards MG fantasy. I like fantasy in all its forms so this didn’t deter me in any way. The story it’s self was interesting and unique enough to keep me pulled in, and I think the dual pov was done nicely. As far as it being a Rapunzel retelling, I didn’t get that vibe at all but I had forgotten it was part of the blurb so I didn’t feel let down by it in any way. I think the characters were likable, and given the nature of their journey felt their actions and thoughts were consistent with the story. There were some really dark aspects to this story that were touched on and eluded to with any real dives into them. This honestly didn’t bother me at all as I didn’t think they were meant to be bigger in the story than they were. Overall I found this to be a great little fantasy novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC of The Witch and The Vampire in exchange for my honest review.

I think the cover is gorgeous and I really thought the plot sounded intriguing. The primary issue was that the pacing was off and the execution of the plot overall did NOT work. This felt like it was more middle-grade than YA, which is fine but it was not marketed that way. It feels like it really skimmed the surface of deep topics to SOUND older than it was, but it didn’t work.

1.5 stars.

I really really wanted The Witch and the Vampire to fill the hole left in my heart from Netflix stupidly canceling First Kill after one season. Vampire/Hunter enemies-to-lovers is one of my all-time favorite tropes. Unfortunately, it didn't really do that. I felt no chemistry between any of the characters. I don't understand the timeline or the world-building. And I was bored by the 20 percent mark enough to set the book down and not really wanting to pick it back up.

The two narrators for the audiobook are fantastic. They did the best with what they were given. It was still hard to tell who was who at times. And I just have too many other books I need and/or want to read.

As I always mention, I am a mood reader. So I may pick it up at another time and complete love it. I have found some of my favorite books that way. I definitely still recommend checking it out for yourself. I will consider purchasing it for my library.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for providing me with a review copy.

Ava and Kaye, once best friends, now enemies. One a witch, one a vampire. The two come together to make it through a treacherous forest.

Oh my, I had such high hopes for this sapphic retelling of Rapunzel with vampires! And that cover! That gorgeous cover! Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I found the writing to be juvenile (more so than what's typically expected in YA and I read A LOT of YA), Beyond that, Ava and Kaye were just so flat. They sounded exactly the same (despite having two completely different narrators). More than that I just felt zero chemistry between the two. Sadly, this book just wasn't for me.

I really wanted to love this one.
It's said to be a retelling of Rapunzel so I guess since Ava has long hair and is held captive for a very small part of the book, that could be true.

What I liked:
💥 There are vampires and witches
💥 There is a lot of world building
💥 There is a lot of action
💥 Ava and Kaye's characters are very likable in their own ways

What I didn't like:
💥 I felt like it was missing some backstory it started at an odd point in the timeline
💥 it was all over the place - geographically, it could have used a map.
💥 it kind of droned on
💥 there was a lot of time spent on history in general and on the training of witches (which we see none of)

It isn't a bad book. It just wasn't for me. I like young adult books but this one was almost too young in my opinion. Definitely geared to a young audience. I felt it was lacking in delivering me any wow factor.
And it almost seemed like this should have been book two in a series with book one showing us Ava and Kaye's friendship and their training and that book ending when Ava was turned and held captive.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book sounded like it would be perfect – A sapphic Rapunzel – how could I say no? But, I quickly lost interest in this book and just felt it was inconsistent throughout. I dislike reading books where I don’t like any of the characters and that is what I got here. The book was also super slow, which I get for a fantasy and world building – but I didn’t connect or care enough about this one to become invested. It was just off for me. I just wanted something more from this book than it was able to provide.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this one.

This isn't the worst book I've read but it needed more edits. I think think the author should have leaned in more to the romance. The book is about the two of them but they didn't start talking about their feelings until almost the end of the book and still they never had an actual conversation about them. Also the world building was not good #tome. I still don't really understand the magic.

I received an arc through netgalley.

The Witch and the Vampire follows Kaye and Ava as they struggle against the societal expectations put on both of them and as they battle all of their preconceived notions about their world. Two years before the events of the book, Vampires broke into Aborren through the Bone Wall that is supposed to protect the city and murdered humans and witches alike. In this dual POV book, we get a sense of what the past two years have looked like for each girl and how each has suffered. Kaye's mother died in the last big attack, and she has spent that time trying to be the best Flame Witch she can be and prove to her commander, that she is worthy to graduate. Ava, was turned into a Vampire and has been kept under lock and key by her mother since the attack. When these two who used to be best friends meet again - they will need to overcome everything that they thought they knew and dig deep to rekindle their friendship, and maybe something more?

The cover for this book is absolutely stunning and encapsulates everything that the book is in it's essence. While reading, Overall, I enjoyed this book. The world building and story telling was enough to keep me invested, but not hooked. This read would be good for those who love quick YA stories with female heroines.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Francessa Flores for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW// murder, death (including animals and parents)

It sucks that one of the most interesting concepts for a book that I’ve seen in a while turned out to be disappointing. A sapphic Rapunzel retelling sounded so perfect, but it just didn’t work for me.

First of all, this book isn’t exactly a Rapunzel retelling. It’s a Tangled retelling. The only thing in this book that was a retelling of the original Rapunzel story was a girl being locked in a tower. All of the other retelling plot points where based solely on Tangled. I guess you could say this book is a retelling of a Rapunzel retelling if you want to get technical about it. If you’re going into this wanting a retelling of the original Grimm’s fairytale version, then you’ll be really disappointed.

I have two major issues with this book that made me dislike it. The first issue was that I found pretty much all of the characters to be unlikeable, especially the two main characters. Ava acted like a little kid for most of the story even though she’s almost an adult. I would understand her behavior if she had been locked up since she was a baby, but she was locked up for only two years. She had been alive for sixteen years in a vampire infested world before she was trapped. I just feel like her personality shouldn’t have been so innocent and childlike given her life experience before she was imprisoned. Her personality changed toward the very end of the book, but by that point, I just wasn’t invested in the story enough to care about her new personality. I didn’t like Kaye either, but that was for different reasons. Kaye was mean and rude for most of the book. I understand that they needed to be enemies at the start of the book, but her behavior was often too extreme for my liking.

Since I didn’t like Ava and Kaye, I didn’t enjoy most of the romance. Their first kiss was cute, but Ava and Kaye’s personalities prevented me from enjoying the other romantic moments in the story.

My other big issue with this book was the pacing. It was super slow and constantly dragged. There were several times in the book where it was so slow that I almost fell asleep while reading, which is a rare occurence for me.

I do have to applaud the author for how much effort and passion she put into creating the fantasy world in her story. The worldbuilding was truly phenomonal, so I feel bad for giving this book such a low rating. However, this book just wasn’t that enjoyable for me and I feel like a lot of the book’s potential was wasted.

I’m so disappointed!!! I wanted to love this so much but I realized about 20% in that I just couldn’t handle the writing style. I’m sure others will love this but it was a DNF for me.

Thank you for allowing me to read and review.

I knew this book was going to be good just from the cover and title alone, but holy cow did this exceed expectations! This was an amazing read and I wish it didn’t end! I loved Ava and Kaye’s struggles to come to grips with what was happening around them and themselves. I thought the romance was perfect and the ending was everything I would have asked for! I received this advanced reader copy for free and am reviewing it of my own free will and without compensation.

I give this book 3-Stars. Mostly because I finished it, but also because there are some good elements in the story.

First, I want to talk about the book overall-
It's a YA book that definitely reads on the younger side, despite some potential TWs for abusive parental figures and some willful neglect. The combination of how it reads and the kind of content the author tries to deliver are at odds with each other throughout the book. As an adult, I'm uncertain if this book is just too young for me or if the writing doesn't know what age group it wants to be in.

The surface level of the plot is definitely very interesting. We have humans, witches, and vampires. The vampires are kept separate thanks to the Bone Wall, though sometimes they slip through in areas where the wall becomes thin. The witches have a variety of sorts, namely the Flames and the Root witches. There are only three root witches discussed - none of them entirely alive, so it does make it difficult for me to talk about them. But the Flame witches are really popular and important to society. They are the number one recruit for protecting society from the vampires. They manipulate light, flame, and shadow. It allows them to burn vampires if need be.

But as you delve into the world, things start getting murky. For instance, the Flames shouldn't/can't burn vampires in the woods. If they do, then the woods can catch fire. Instead, they're instructed to deliver them somewhere else. Why make Flames the most important if they can't even really use their abilities to take care of the vampires? Or is it the shadow part that becomes helpful? I'm confused.

Actually, their magic confuses me altogether. The same can be said for physics and the vampires' abilities. How is it the main characters can easily master their abilities, but all the other witches/vampires seem to be normal (despite doing it for longer)? How is it the superior hearing and sight of the vampires doesn't seem to work right when the main characters are trying to be sneaky? And why can some seem to use their abilities all the time but others can't? It's all far too convenient to the plot.

The actual relationships and interactions between the characters also seem very "telling" and not so much "showing." There's a lot of repeated dialogue as though the author doesn't trust our ability to remember facts/plot points (which is part of why it reads younger). We don't really see the action, but we're told the facts of what happened through the internal dialogue or being told what happened in the character's absence (as it rotates between two main points of view). And unfortunately, the relationship between Ava and Kaye, as well as the connection with Tristan- it all seems just...meh? We are never given the opportunity to really feel the connections. We're just told what those connections were/are like. And this is an odd fact, but, it's all very dramatic. There's a lot of crying. A lot of almost dying too. It really pulls away from the real highs and lows of the plot.

It's very possible this book is just too young for me. I did see the Rapunzel retelling elements early in the book, which is great as I didn't even know it was a retelling at first. I loved Casiopea's character. She was the most well-written, Liander being the least well-written. This book definitely has a lot of potential. At the end of it all, it's just not the book for me.

2/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an eARC for review.

This is one of those times where I realise that I am /definitely/ aging out of YA books. Don't get me wrong--I think this book will be important to a lot of readers and it will definitely resonate strongly with some people, but I don't believe the way it was written impacted me personally. I found the writing and prose to be quite juvenile, and the ARC itself clearly was not ready to be distributed: there were paragraphs missing and moved around everywhere, and it made it difficult to follow the story and become immersed in it (I realise that isn't the fault of the author, but it did affect my reading experience so I thought it was worth putting in and mentioning.)

Overall, I don't think this book was for me, and it's unfortunate because I think that a lot of people will actually really like and resonate with it. If it weren't an ARC, I doubt I would have even finished it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: March 21, 2023

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The concept and ideas were great but I struggled with the execution/writing. It is marked as YA but the writing felt younger to me than that and I would say this should be aimed more at middle school/junior high age. There are two POVs which I love but everything was written in the first person which I can struggle as well (not always, it really depends on the author). The writing just didn't draw me in or really evoke much emotion in me. The ending picked up a bit though and I loved the growth of the characters throughout.

I started reading this but could barely get through the first few chapters. The writing style feels very repetitive and most definitely not for me.

I loved the world this story is set in. I thought it beautiful and well thought out. Learning lore in a new world is one of my favorite things and this book didn’t disappoint. I will say there was a bit of info dumping in the beginning, which is always a tricky thing to balance. Still, I liked the world building. I especially loved the magical and dark forest. The vampire lore was intriguing and I loved it.

Ava’s and Kaye’s relationship was something I adored. From childhood best friends to enemies. They’re both trying to find how they fit into the world and grow into themselves. I think they complemented each other and loved seeing them together.

A compelling story that was both exciting and cute. I had an enjoyable time reading it. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!