Marketed as a queer Rapunzel retelling. I’ll be honest that I’m not as familiar with Rapunzel as I probably should be - but I can see where the correlation existed at least once.

Anyway, this is a well-done sapphic friends-to-enemies; enemies-to-lovers story. Ava & Kaye are witches who were the best of friends growing up in an isolated rural community on the outskirts of a magically sealed forest. The forest contains dangerous vampires, trapped by the magical seal which protects humanity from them. Both girls are raised to believe that vampires are evil murderous monsters that must be destroyed.

When one of the girls disappears at the same time that the other’s mother is killed by vampires, their friendship is severed and their lives are launched in different directions. Ava’s life becomes a nightmare of captivity and abuse at the hands of her mother; whereas Kaye has been left alone after the death of her mother, but she is certain that her old friend Ava is her mother’s killer.

This background is where our story begins, beyond the boundaries of a magical but dying forest and where predators hide in the dark.

As the truth begins to come out, can these two reconcile who they were to each other in the past with the fact that they are supposed to hate each other in the present?

This is a story about the strength it takes to decide for ourselves who we want to be in a world that has already decided who we should be.

Trigger warnings: parental death; domestic abuse & captivity

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*

I really enjoyed the sapphic romance portrayed in this. The characters were also well developed and likable, and the romance was good. I thought the magic system was really cool but easy to understand too. Highly recommend, overall.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

I loved the creative license the author took while keeping some features of the Rapunzel tale true to form. The magical aspect as well as the relationship between the friends, one a witch and one a vampire make this an exciting read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing an ARC in exchange for this review!

The Vampire and the Witch markets itself as a queer Rapunzel retelling. While there’s some elements to it that align with the folk tale, I think it’s a bit of a disservice to this book to market it that way. The story is about two former friends, filled with bitter feelings and broken hearts, who are trying desperately to find where the other fits in their life. I think the friends to enemies to reluctant allies is well done.

But my biggest complaint: there’s so much telling and not showing. I have been out of my YA reading for awhile, so this may be my fault for requesting. I understand why they feel upset and angry, but HOW do they feel? Are they shaking with anger? Do they feel frustrated and near tears? While we knew that Ava’s mother and stepfather are horrible people and have hurt Ava, how does that actually affect her? Beyond that, there’s lots of repetition in not only words but in thoughts. We circle back to the same three stories every chapter. We didn’t even know the story of how Ava is changed until the last hundred pages. Unlike what truly happened to Kaye’s mother, Ava’s change is not a secret. While trying to build the past friendship between the two, there wasn’t much progression forward.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of this title.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I really thought the first half was a little difficult to get into, but the story picked up quite a bit in the second half. I enjoyed the LGBTQ+ representation. I liked the actual plot quite a bit. I didn't love how the book ended, but I can see why the author may have done that. This book reads very YA. I'm a fan of YA and read a lot of it so that's not really an issue for me, but this is definitely a very YA book. I think overall, this book was fine for me. I would recommend it for older teens who want a fun vampire/witch story.

Thank you NetGalley, Francesca Flores, and St. Martin's Press for this Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review of The Witch and the Vampire (coming out March 21st!)

I was so excited for this read. I love YA, I love vampires, I love witches, I’m queer. But in the end, it just didn’t grab me. The writing style distracted me, and I think it could’ve used a few more editing passes to eliminate filter words and repeated phrases. It felt too long, and the characters and their relationships felt underdeveloped.

Even though it wasn’t for me, maybe it will be for someone else. If you like friends to enemies to lovers, paranormal, and lots of action, this book may be for you!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book!

When her mother leaves the city, Ava knows this is her chance to escape her captivity and get to the vampire queen in the middle of the forest. But she has to avoid the human hunters and the flame witches--such as Kaye, her best friend from before her mother turned her.


I really liked this! Friends to enemies to grudging allies to lovers? And sapphic obviously! And witches and vampires and all the more!

This plot was really interesting! I really liked digging into the lore of the world- especially the little bits at the beginning of chapters. Ava and Kaye are great characters. I did feel that there wasn't enough difference in their povs and wish they were slightly more unique voices. Overall a really good book and the cover is so pretty!


CW: blood, emotional abuse, physical abuse, murder, injury detail, death of a parent, torture, racism

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of The Witch and the Vampire in exchange for a review. We love queer representation!

TWATV is told from a dual POV including Kaye our witch and Ava our Vampire. It follows their journey of love, betrayal, and sacrifice into a mysterious forest while they hunt and simultaneously protect each other. While their perspectives change and grow so does their relationship with each other and themselves.

I have to give this novel a 3.75 out of 5 stars. The world-building was done in a way that equally balanced being functionally understandable and sufficiently complex. I found Ava to be very likable, but I struggled to understand Kaye. In my opinion, the characters were not equally matched in depth despite having almost equal page time. Their relationship is written phenomenally with tiny details that you may miss if you're not paying attention.

With the dual POV, some descriptors became very repetitive when switching between Kaye and Ava. If one described something, sometimes the other would say it in the same way immediately in the next chapter. i.e."droplets on my skin". There was some confusion for me regarding the setting once they were on the move and I really wish there had been a map (I'm unsure if that's something usually provided for an ARC) to clear some of that up.

Overall, this was a fun read, and I enjoyed it!

A queer retelling of Rapunzel featuring a vampire who has been trapped in an attic by her mother and drained of her powers and experimented on by her stepfather and a witch who wants revenge against the person who murdered her mother... they have a complicated past and their reunion will be unlike any other. Ava is a root witch, she was turned (killed) by her mother who is a vampire and a root witch too, all so that Ava will be turned into a vampire... and an immortal power source for her mother to use to drain her of her powers. All the while her stepfather Zane experiments and abuses her while her mother turns a blind eye. Ava is chained and trapped in a tower and wants nothing more than to finally escape. She yearns to be reunited with her best friend and the one witch she loved, Kaye... yet Kaye is not as she remembers. Kaye is a flame witch, branded as an outcast and a traitor after her mother betrayed the town. Her mother was murdered leaving Kaye all alone in her grief and anger. Kaye wants nothing more than to finally kill who murdered her mother and she has been training to become a deadly vampire killer... and she particularly wants to kill Ava because on the day her mother was murdered Ava suddenly disappeared and the Kaye saw her mouth covered in blood letting her know that Ava has become a vampire.. and is probably the one who killed her mother. When Ava finally escapes she runs into Kaye and Kaye is determined to turn her in and finally be accepted by the town... yet things are not as easy as they seem as both girls find themselves involved in a much darker web from the killing of humans, a deadly vampire queen, betrayals, pain, and secrets all come out as they must figure out what is truly going on and how their mothers both were involved in this secret all the while working on their own complicated feelings for one another. Unfortunately this one did not work for me, I was so excited for this book and it just did not live up to my expectations. I mean queer Rapunzel with vampires and witches?? It sounds amazing, but I found myself bored with the storyline, not really invested in the characters or the romance, and the overall reveal was meh. I didn’t really like Kaye at all and the romance between Kaye and Ava barely felt believable or even there. I just didn’t see it working out between them and they had zero chemistry. The murder mystery and the overall town mystery wasn’t all that interesting and I honestly found myself just wanting this book to end. Sadly no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get into the story or like the characters. While this one didn’t work for me, maybe it’ll be a better read for you. I would recommend this for fans of fairytale retellings with a twist.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Okay I was not expecting this to be as good as it is! I mean I knew it would be good but this is ABOVE EXPECTATIONS GREAT! I didn’t know a Rapunzel retelling was something I needed but I really did. Throw in vampires and I’m sold.

Ava is locked away in a tower being fed human blood for survival all so her mother can steal the witch powers she still has after becoming a vampire. But she’s done being locked up and plotting her escape.

I was 20 pages in when I decided this would be one of the best reads of 2023 so far. Just the brief world building I’d experienced in those first pages had me hooked. I looooved The Witch and The Vampire so much. I adored the representation and it was just chefs kiss. I will be retreading this before the year is over. I will be buying a copy just to annotate and mark all my favorite parts. The cover is stunning too.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for allowing me to read this book. I thought it was good but definitely could be expanded on. It felt really rushed at the end but I liked elements and I did also like the romance between the two main characters. I am gonna give it a 4 star ⭐️ rating for I did enjoy reading it.

A sapphic vampire/witch book? Yes please! I really enjoyed this book. While it was a little more YA than I thought it would be, the story was really good. The main characters, Ava and Kaye, were best friends almost lovers before Ava disappeared. After years of wishing they could be friends again, Ava finally thinks they can be but Kaye had other plans. They go through most of the book unsure if they can or should trust each other but they don't just forgive each other easily in the end. They have to build trust again and realize they don't need to be apart. There were a few inconsistencies and grammar mistakes but this is an ARC so that is to be expected. Overall, I was very pleased with this book and I think everyone should read it.

I really liked the premise of this book, but I didn't feel it was particularly well executed. The plot twists were obvious (particularly the real killer of Kaye's mom), and the plot and characters and relationships all felt underdeveloped. Overall, I didn't hate this but I also don't think I'll remember much about it.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores in exchange for an honest review. Budding romance, witches, vampires, quests, this book checks a lot of themes. I really enjoyed this book.

FLEW through this excellent, incredible book. Tightly written, earnest, laugh-out-loud funny at several parts—one of the best sapphics books.


I loved these two. They were so great. I loved their background history and their chemistry, the love and support for one another, the angst, the push and pull, the sexual tension between them, everything was so well executed by the author. The characters were not perfect, they had their own struggles and obstacles they had to overcome before they came to the realization that they are better together than apart. I’m so happy with how everything wrapped up at the end. It was such an enjoyable book.

This book is written so beautifully!!! From the character descriptions, to the plot, and even the internal dialogue from both characters’ perspectives. There were so many moments were I had to stop and reread a line because of how impactful and lovely they were.

I loved the relationships between the characters and how both Ava and Kaye were true to their morals for so long. I loved Ava’s POV so much because of how much she cared for others and how that played a role in every decision she made. I loved the magic system and how it interacted with vampirism throughout the story, as well as Ava’s abilities keeping her in perfect balance with life and death.

This is such an easy, descriptive, and pretty read, and I definitely recommend it to people who enjoy a lot of action, slow burn but mild romance, and strong female characters!

Thank You Netgalley and the publishers for sending me and allowing me to read this E-ARC.
This was very very very good. When I finished this novel I could not stop talking about it.

Queer Rapunzel retelling? Say less. This book was if Flynn had been sent to kill Rapunzel but then fell in love with her instead (except they’re two queer women). With witches and vampires of course. It was a friends to enemies to lovers and it was so good! I was living for the angst and memories of when they used to be friends and all the conflicting emotions. The ending felt a bit rushed and had a lot going on but was overall still really enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

A decent book overall, though I felt like certain elements weren’t completely fleshed out. The vampires were super solid though.

So… Casiopea really reminds me of Cassiopeia which is a type of photosynthesizing jellyfish. So yeah, some weird images happening. I’m still not sure how Casiopea’s powers transferred to Ava, but I liked the direction of that.

The romance overall was really lacking. Like the fact that Ava and Kaye liked each other preciously was made clear, but there was no chemistry. And their final let’s kiss moment was out of the blue no true lead up.

While the beginning had Rapunzel themes, they didn’t persist throughout the book. But this worked in the story’s favor I think.

I was very excited to receive this book. Sapphic? Yes please! Rapunzel retelling! Yes! Witches, and vampires? It all sounded amazing. However this read as an upper middle grade rather than a YA for me. Which there isn’t anything wrong with that. I read it fairly fast. I really like the world that Francesca created. The romance was adorable, and I loved the world building as well. Overall it’s a quick and easy fantasy read!

Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.