Despite being really intrigued by THE WITCH AND THE VAMPIRE's concept, the execution fell flat for me. I had to drag myself through this book and since I didn't love the writing either, it wasn't an enjoyable experience.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Witch and the Vampire is a young adult Sapphic Repunzel retelling following Kaye, a flame witch taught to hunt vampires, and Ava, a vampire being kept locked away by a mother who refuses to see the harm it causes her child.
This set up is so clever honestly. It hooked my attention from the get go. The middle dragged for me, but the ending did redeem the story some. I liked seeing the hopefulness mixed in with the grittiness of the world, and the revelations we got on the world building was pretty cool. The creepy forest vibes got me intrigued to know more about why the forest was dying, and I liked how that aspect of the storyline wrapped up.
Unfortunately, the story didn't continue to go as well for me as I initially thought it would. I found myself rather bored, and because of this, the repetition in the story really got to me. The same sentiments, phrases, and facts were repeated so often that I felt put off. I honestly think Kaye states five or more times that the invisibility magic she learned from her mother. Something would be stated in a sentence, and the following sentence would repeat that same information. I hate to let things like this get to me but it really brought down my enjoyment.
The characters were pretty one note, and while there was development, it wasn't anything exceptional or emotionally impactful. Kaye just learns not to hate vampires and Ava accepts her ruthless side a little more (which is very predictable from just the synopsis so I don't feel like this is a spoiler). I also think this book could've used some more showing and less telling.
I would for sure recommend this to YA readers who love retellings, because I think there's much to enjoy about the story, it just didn't work for me as much as I'd hoped.

I do love a good retelling of past stories - so when I read this was a vampire retelling of Rapunzel - I was ready to love this book! - i wanted to like this SO BAD- there were so many good ideas in there but the execution was very poor & all the characters have the personality of a wet blanket :') I decided to not finish the book as I was not engaged

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC

a solid romantic read. some of the worldbuilding was shallow and the characters could’ve used some more development, but otherwise it was sweet.

Thank you to St. Martin’s press for this opportunity to rate and review this arc which debuts March 21,2023.

This is a queer retelling of Rapunzel. Ava is a vampire locked in a tower. Kaye is a flame witch out to burn the vampires who destroy lives. Ava is desperate to flee to the forest outside of town to escape her scheming mother and finally be free. Kaye is at the end of her training and wants to rid the world of all vampires that threaten her town including Ava. There is betrayal. Sapphic love. Creepy men. A human eating tree. Flame witches and vampires. The pacing was okay. The story was meh. I think it lacked something but I can’t put my finger on it. I felt bored reading this book. It didn’t excite me, or make me wish I knew what happened next. It just felt flat.

If you love Rapunzel and love Nina and Matthias' (from Six of Crows) storyline/‘I was sent to kill you’ dynamic, you will definitely enjoy this book. The Vampire and the Witch is full of magic, adventure, and longing. It did read more middle grade than YA and I do wish the characters were a little more fleshed out but it was such a fun read! I will recommend it in my library for any tweens or teens that enjoy fantasy or fairytale retellings.

The Witch and the Vampire is a YA fantasy novel following the two protagonists, who are just as the titles states. Ava, a locked away vampire with Rapunzel-esq hair who escapes her family's clutches, and Kaye, a flame witch who despises vampires. Previously best friends, they become reacquainted and the story follows the struggles of them travelling together when they are supposed to be enemies. This book is exactly YA, it is not one of those YA novels that reads slightly older. The characters can be naive and blind to their own prejudices, they act their age and they fit perfectly into the YA demographic. There is the classic enemies to lovers trope, good vs evil, morally grey areas and a few surprises. It was lovely to read a young sapphic novel and there is bipoc representation. However, I did feel the story and characters lacked depth. The characters could be very repetitive, and I didn't get attached to either of them. The story was predictable and there was a lack of development of side characters. Tristan had as much personality as a dead tree, but I don't think that was how he was supposed to be. Overall this book was okay but, I will admit I am no longer in the YA demographic so, perhaps younger readers may enjoy it more.

Spoilers: A large criticism from me is that almost everyone other than the protagonists die at the end. This just felt cheap and easy.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the ARC of this book.

Let me just say, the premise of this book is so fun and I did get swept up in the plot and the action of the story. That being said, unfortunately I was left disappointed with the writing, which overall had a clunky feel to it. This book was much more interested in telling, rather than showing, and there were several parts that were extremely repetitive. I think Kaye says something about "becoming the strongest Flame which I can" or "I will get revenge my mother's murder" about three separate time just in chapter 2. It's also dual POV, but the voices of the characters weren't particularly distinct, so I often had to remind myself of who said what. They also made decisions or thought things that made no sense. Tell me, if Kaye was able to see Ava so clearly through her attic window that she could see the blood on her face, how did she miss the silver bars over her window, clearly showing that she was a prisoner??? Also, if you read the ARC, there's so clearly a scene missing at the end of Chapter 13, that it's difficult to understand exactly what's happening in the next chapter without quite a bit of confusion. I understand that ARCs haven't finished their editing process and typically have another round or two of editing to go through, but the whole book felt like it maybe had only gone through one round and still needed several passes through. Overall, fun premise and plot, but the writing just was not there for me.

What a fantastic read! I would like to disclose that I got a ebook copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A sapphic Rapunzel retelling?! Count me in! I loved the development of our two characters throughout the story. It was a interesting retelling which duel perspectives and many twists throughout the story. There’s both mystery and mayhem. The story has a good pace and introduces you to the world and magic system very quickly. It does feature the miscommunication trope which I always find frustrating but I think the ending more than makes up for it!

I was so excited for this book, and it was unfortunately a let down. It was marketed as a sapphic Rapunzel retelling, and honestly the only Rapunzel aspect was one of the girls having long hair. As several other reviewers have also said, this was much more middle grade writing than young adult writing. It felt more appropriate for maybe 13-15 year olds than 18-25 year olds. The writing is incredibly repetitive and I really had to push through it to finish it. It also feels a bit clumsy as well. I honestly probably would have dnf’d if I hadn’t wanted to write an accurate review.

TW for emotionally abusive/manipulative/negligent mother, physically abusive/negligent stepfather, emotionally abusive/manipulative father, murder, and death of a parent.

So I am not sure what to rate this book as I decided to DNF. The concept of this story is what brought me in and was immediately excited to read it. The pacing wasn't that great and there were moments of randomness, in other words it wasn't thought out. The fight scenes were rushed and I didn't feel chemistry between the two characters.

Thank you to the publisher, authors, and NetGalley for the ARC!

This just did not work for me. I made it maybe 20% in before I had to call it quits.

I love a good middle grade. I read more Riordan Presents titles than a post-college grad should. This felt like it written as a middle grade yet it was definitely a YA title as far as themes and characters go. The dissonance from that alone was enough to sour my opinion of it.

I am also 110% a character-driven reader. A great plot and beautiful prose can be completely lost on me if the characters are flat or too 'cookie cutter' YA tropes. This, unfortunately, felt very troupe-y to me so that was the nail in the coffin.

I really hope the last 80% of this book was fantastic and charming and everything the cover and synopsis promised and more.

I hate when a book that is one of your most anticipated reads of the year -- turns to disappointment. This book had a summary and a cover that was to die for. Not to mention -- sapphic witches AND vampires. I mean?!?!

There were several things about this book that bothered me.

First off, the writing definitely felt more middle grade than the young adult it was advertised as. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, the content it was supposed to be would have been better off at a YA level. I got about 120 pages in, and then it started to lose my interest. The writing made it hard to keep interested in the book.

I did not find the characters very convincing either. I felt that they were flat and lacked dimension. We know they both have goals -- freedom and revenge. And yet, somehow, I didn't find myself rooting for them. Of the two, Ava was more convincing. Had it just been in her POV I think it might have worked better.

Everything also felt piecemeal to me. I didn't think it was a cohesive enough for me personally. The fact that it was advertised as a Rapunzel retelling is a bit misleading. It definitely wasn't -- only for the first 50 pages which were, unfortunately, the most interesting and the best part of the book.

While this didn't end up being the book for me, I think this sapphic romance with a witch and a vampire will be interesting enough for younger teens.

I have so much to say about this book! First off, thank you to @francescafloresauthor and @netgalley for allowing me to read and review this Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of The Witch and The Vampire!
I finished this book in two days and thought about it the whole time I wasn’t reading it!
This book is a sapphic teen fantasy book and a Rapunzel retelling. The book surrounds two girls who at one point were best friends before having their worlds completely turned upside down. The two of them are forced to help each other through the many trials they face hroughout the plot.
I’m my opinion, this book has a lot of character development for our main characters and was beautifully written. The side characters were very enjoyable as well. There were points throughout the story that had me laugh and points that had me reading as fast as I could due to anticipation! The author does a lovely job with helping the reader form a mental image of the setting as well.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:
-“My whole life, I’ve wanted people to only see me for who I am rather than what they want me to be, or what they’ve been told I am. I’ve been trying so long just to be accepted that I stopped thinking what that means.”
-“I’ve spent so long trying to be what other people want me to be that I don’t know who I am. But I’m only going to make my own choices from now on.”
-“Trust looks like a girl who wants to live so badly she forgot she’s already dead. I know now I’ll do whatever I can to make her feel alive again.”

My downsides for this book is that I thought there may have been more romance but that doesn’t really bother me that much because of the other categories this book falls into. By the end of the book there was more romance but it almost felt a bit rushed. Another downside I had with this book is that after the halfway point I started losing track of it being day or night because of all that was going on. The book ended pretty quickly for me and some characters had fates that were very sudden.
I would really love to see this book turned into a trilogy! If the author does decide to write a second, I would definitely read it. I also would 100% recommend this book! It’s full of adventure and growth. Reading how the characters come to understand themselves and be more accepting of who they are.

Marketing this as a queer Rapunzel retelling really set this book up to fail. By the hundred page mark the retelling is largely abandoned which is depressing since the beginning was the best part.

The book follows two main point of views, Ava and Kaye. Ava is the stronger POV and her journey is much more believable and enjoyable. I really liked the relationship between Ava and her mom and how it was handled. It was one of the most developed parts of the book. Kaye on the other hand was pretty unbearable. Several times she swings from one extreme to another with very little explanation as to why. The world building is paper thin and inconsistent. The magic was especially frustrating as witches are randomly able to do things just because the plot demands. The ability to create shackles? Where did that come from? How is the barrier made out of bone dust? Vampires can only be killed by fire or decapitation, but then later are killed by vines squeezing them to death.

The writing also gets super repetitive I felt I was reading the same things over and over again.
“The girl” “the girl who….” “This boy who…”
“the realization crashes into me like a wave”
“the realization hits me like a cold gust of wind”.

This book falls on the younger side of YA; I would recommend this book for an age range of 12-16. After a couple more rounds of editing I imagine most of the problems I had with this book will be less glaring. The action, the fast pace, and Ava’s character arc was enough for me to consider this a solid read.

Thank you NetGalley!

The cover, the title, the synopsis, how can one not like this book? It is a work of art and the content is actually even better. It has a rather poetic but easy to read and understand writing style. It’s even perfect for reading slumps. It’s comforting. The characters feel like your close friends and the author created a wonderful universe.

I absolutely loved the magic and world building of this one! The witchy magic was delightfully new, and I loved the friends to enemies to lovers sapphic romance!

Wow, after that amazing cover and the intriguing title, I was really hyped for this, but it was a complete and utter letdown.

Where to start? First off, it's clear no one took time preparing this ARC for distribution because passages are missing and moved around. Words appeared in the middle of sentences, words are used incorrectly, and ... the end of chapter 13 is a disaster, with a scene cutting off abruptly, and the next sentence mid-action of another. It was mortifying to parse through.

The writing is juvenile, telling rather than showing, almost no description, and no effort put into the worldbuilding, the lore, the relationships, and as a result the romance, the stakes, everything felt formulaic and not at all engaging. It's also a short book and while it tries to jump right to the action, reading pretty quickly, at the forty percent mark almost nothing has happened.

Trigger warnings for Ava's mother - Ava is emotionally manipulated, physically imprisoned, killed and turned into a vampire by her mother. The material is pretty dark in that regard - or it should be, but it feels as if the manuscript deals with this really flippantly. There's also some weird racism and potential genocide slash species eradication in between the lines, and again, it is treated very...lightly? Like how do you introduce racial and species prejudices but in veiled, flowery language and never really come back to it? It's like the writer was checking off hot topics for a modern YA audience but not coming through with anything deeper than surface-level treatment for all of them.

I can't mince words, this was awful.

The premise is interesting but I don't like how it was written. The pacing was off. The characters didn't have a personality, the two POVs sounded the same. And I didn't like the insta-love romance.

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores was a very enjoyable read. I think this book will appeal to anybody who is a fan of enemies to lover stories but I do think that it was unoriginal in its approach.. It was a fun read but overall, I don’t think it was very memorable.