Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this earc

This book was not for me. Let me just start with the fact that it is very hard to write a fantasy standalone. This book was an example why.

First, the world felt absolutely tiny and flat. If you ask me to draw a map, it would have two towns and a forest. That’s it.

Second, the magic/vampire system was completely undeveloped. Some vampires were incredibly bloodthirsty when first awoken but for some little glass of blood was enough? Ava cannot last few hours without blood for some of the book, but when “she’s strong” she can go days?
Also, if vampires are just messed up witches, does using the witch magic makes them more thirsty for blood? Because it clearly doesn’t work that way for Ava.

Even after finishing this book, I’m still not sure how many types of witches are there. And if they whole purpose is to fight vampires, what’s did they do before?

Kaye was super boring character who couldn’t make up her mind. Where the heck did she get the fact that Ava killed her mom? And then after spending two days with her, she let go of all the prejudices and its love? Makes absolutely no sense. Don’t even get me started on the fact that Kaye was okay with being turned into a vampire after having their whole existence.

And the forest? I needed a lot more explanation on what happened after the tree was destroyed.

Don’t forget Tristan, who was probably the most useless character in history. He couldn’t stand up to his father, did basically nothing and then died for no reason.

This book should have been a series or at least had a better world building. I honestly didn’t like anything about it.

This book started off really good. But then it just went down hill from there. This book was a little to much on the fantasy side for me. And this made it hard for me to connect with the characters. If you like fantasy this will be a good book for you to read. But if you are like me and don't like fantasy then this would be one that I suggest you skip.

A sapphic, queer and dual POV retelling of Rapunzel, this is the story of Ava and Kaye, a vampire and a witch, and their journey through a cursed, dangerous forest to try and stop the destruction of their town.

When I say I JUMPED at the chance to read this the moment I realized it was a sapphic rapunzel retelling but with vampires and witches, I mean it. I think there's so much promise with this one that I hate to say it let me down. I think this would and could be top tier for a younger audience who are finding their reading niche. There isn't as much depth in this story and characters as I would have liked to see. The beginning was enjoyable I loved the bit of back story we were given and the similarities we're shown to the original rapunzel. But I do think there could be a lot of improvement with the story as we continue past chapter 10. With that being said though, I love this idea and hope to see it again.

3.5⭐️ (rounded up)

Who wouldn’t want to read this book?! The premise alone, “a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must joinery together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn” SIGN ME UP! Its also dual POV, which I LOVE.

I am a huge fan of fairy tale retellings but this is my first Rapunzel retelling! It doesn’t really follow the story of Rapunzel but rather takes inspiration from small details from the story, like the fact that Ava has long hair. If I didn’t go into it knowing it was a Rapunzel retelling I definitely wouldn’t have known just by reading it.

First off, the world building is intense and every well done! So the beginning is a little slow, especially with all the history and background information about the characters, but once the story gets going it is very fast paced. It is a quick and easy read but it does leave the readers with wanting more, hopefully a sequel in the future 🤞

Another note is that there is instalove! Theres very much an enemies to lovers style going on at first but the switch from enemies to lovers was a little to quick but adding in the fact that Ava and Kaye used to be best friends makes it a lil less insta. Reminder this is YA, so there is some steam but no spice.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for an advanced reading copy for an honest review.

“She pauses, then whips around to face me. Raising my hands that glow gold with the flames waiting to be unleashed, I whisper, ‘Hello, blood beast.’”

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a galley of this book for review! When I tell you I was so excited to read a sapphic retelling of Rapunzel with witches and vampires…

Honestly, I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. Obviously the concept seemed really intriguing, but it takes a certain type of finesse to pull off a retelling of a familiar fairy tale and still keep the audience invested. The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores does that, and does it well.

Ava is a Root Witch who has the magic that allows her to influence the earth and plants. Her mother, a vampire who has been pretending to be human, turns Ava in order to siphon her Root Witch powers and keeps her locked in the attic of their home. Kaye is a Flame Witch, training to be a vampire hunter. She also used to be Ava’s best friend, before Ava turned and Kaye’s mother disappeared mysteriously the same day. What happens when Ava decides to escape and Kaye decides to follow her and bring her in? A whole lot of fantasy action and sapphic romance, that’s what!

What I appreciated in this book is that there was just the right amount of world-building. The magic system and nature of the vampires were introduced to us right off the bat, but it didn’t feel overwhelming. And there wasn’t a super deep dive into why all of it exists in this world, it simply does, and I appreciate that.

We LOVE a best friends-to-enemies-to-lovers! When I tell you I was squealing from this G A Y romance. I was so invested in the dynamics of Ava and Kaye’s relationship, especially because they started out as close friends who bonded over their mommy issues. It was also so interesting to explore the dynamic of what happens when friends change over time. If you really love someone, what happens when they wake up as a different person one day? Would you still fight for them?

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, it was COOKING. Once you get past the exposition, the plot keeps the novel moving pretty well. There were some twists that KNOCKED me out; I did not see them coming at all. The plot was also made a lot more interesting because of the dynamic between the two main characters. Flores does a great job of weaving their conflict (internal and external) into a larger story.

Overall, The Witch and the Vampire was a pleasant surprise for me. The ending of this novel seems like it could offer at least one more book, and if that’s the case, I would definitely read it. I want to see more of Ava and Kaye’s relationship! If you’re looking for a high-stakes, queer, heartfelt fantasy novel, this is for you. Highly recommend for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree, Cinder, or A Curse So Dark and Lonely.

The Witch and the Vampire

A sapphic story about witches and vampires?! Of course I had to read it.

With a flair similar to an anime or webtoon, this book felt both too long and too short. Heavy with world building, history and character introduction, it was overall fast paced and left me wishing for a prequel about the vampire queen, Cassiopeia.

With a slow start, and heavy exposition about the main protagonists’ mothers, it was often hard to keep track of all the information that was thrown in throughout the story, which is a shame since once the story truly kicked into gear, a lot of the exposition felt unnecessary.

Being able to read from the perspectives of both protagonists helped flesh out their development, and truly helped to enrich the characters and their journey.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read The Witch and the Vampire.

This book has a great concept of a vampire and witch falling in love, but I'm not sure of its audience-too simplistic for adults or older teens, but it might be beyond younger readers.
Other reviewers have said what I also think-telling not showing, flat characters, and a low-impact ending. It still is an easy quick read. Maybe a sequel will give us more.
#NetGalley

Wow wow wow.

More, please!

I loved this story and the different take on vamp lore. Great characters and wow, what a twist on Rapunzel.

Issues I had: so slow and then sudden dramatic shift between characters. Hate/ love that's a fine line but the instalove was a bit too insta. 😜

Ending was phenomenal. I want more!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and author, Francesca Flores, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review. The Witch and the Vampire release on March 21, 2023. This a fun is standalone that I would recommend you preorder!

Pick up this series if you like:
-vampire hunters
-friends to enemies to lovers
-Strong female leads
-Rapunzel retellings
- WLW
-Lots of steam

I love fairy tale retellings and have read very few rapunzel ones. I also love sapphic fantasies, especially witches and vamps! I really enjoyed the characters, fun plot, and great ending. Disappointingly, this book is VERY YA and leans slightly toward middle-grade in fact. I wish this premise leaned more adult.

4.2/5 stars

The story follows two main characters, Ava and Kaye. Ava is a root witch that was turned into a vampire. Kaye is a flame witch tasked with hunting vampires. The girls used to be best friends until Ava's mother turned her into a vampire, kept her caged in her house, and told everyone, including Kaye, that Ava left for some witch school in a different area. After many years apart Ava and Kaye run into each other and the two friends are now enemies on either side of a "war", Kaye hates Ava for being a vampire and Ava tries her best to show her that she not like all the other vampires. Their journey takes them through the woods to find Casiopea, the queen of vampires.

The story follows a friends to enemies to lovers trope. The character development in this story is phenomenal as the girls learn to love one another and themselves. I did think that the love story itself was lacking in some regards. While reading, I could see that the friendship was growing between them once again, as they go to know each other, but I didn't really catch the love connection until the last few chapters of the book. This book didn't have to include the lovers trope, it would have been good without it. Either way, I enjoyed reading about their individual character development and the relationship development from enemies to friends to lovers.

I wish I could have seen more on the background of the witches and vampires. We get a good look at the vampire history on how vampires were created. But the witch history was lacking. We get some insight about root witches and flame witches, but others are barely mentioned. We also get a brief history for the witches but there could have been so much more, especially pertaining to the academy that Kaye attended.

The story was good and I would recommend the book for anyone that would like a supernatural Rapunzel retelling or just wanted to reach about witches and vampires.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Basically this was a contemporary supernatural retelling of Rapunzel. Ava, a root witch turned vampire, and Kaye, a flame vampire hunter. Their friends to enemies to lovers relationship was what had me going with the start of the book. But there were several other additions that did not perhaps, add to the story, but added more detail for the reader to keep in line. At the end, this was a good retelling and it had a good vibe, but just wasn't my type of story.

As I started this book and up until halfway through I didn't think it was anything like the description. Now that I have read the description again, I'm wondering if they changed it or I just really misremembered it. This is marketing as an LGBTQ+ Rapunzel retelling, in the YA Fantasy genre. So for that it kind of aims true.

Overall the pacing of the book is decent. It moves along at a fast pace through most of the story. While at other times we do slow down to have a fight (words mostly) or take in the scene our characters are traveling through. Details through the book are really well described. The forest they enter feels very real and picturable to the reader.

Our main characters for this novel are Ava and Kaye. Both were born witches in Arborren, a town on the edge of the forest. Witches are valued members of the country as they are the most able to fight the vampires. However Ava has become a vampire, two years before the book starts she is turned. Now she is kept locked away in her attic room by her mother. Kaye, a flame witch has spent the last two years training for the day she can go on patrols to hunt vampires down. Dreaming of the vengeance she can get for her mothers murder. These once best friends are now on opposite sides and hate has bloomed in their time apart.

Ava is determined not to hurt humans and fight against what most people assume vampires to be. She does a really good job at this until she just decides to give no cares for a bit. Then she is slightly horrified of herself. I didn't feel like that was a true to character moment. I could have understood it more if it had been a fading belief to that moment of biting someone. But really it was more of a chapter of bad decisions and then bam.

Also at that same time we see through Kaye perspective. It took over half the book for her to stop with the I hate you and plan on stabbing you in the back thoughts. Then finally we get some truth and trust for her to flip right back over. Seeing Ava at her weakest moment Kaye just goes cold and turns her in without a second thought.

I was kind of okay with the end. It did not really wrap up the story line. Not sure if this is due to it leaving the door open for more installments. However Ava character direction at the end worked really well. I liked that she was confident in herself and in control. The romantic conclusion to the story was well done. The relationship building organically through their memories and getting to reknow the other person was subtle. This worked really well for the storyline overall.

The Witch and the Vampire is a very straightforward title for what was a pretty straightforward book. Told in dual POV by Ava, our vampire, and Kaye, our witch, both 18, former best friends who haven't spoken in two years. We quickly get our only reference to Rapunzel, of which this book is supposedly a retelling: Ava is locked away in a "tower" (top floor of their house) and has really long hair. That's it. It feels more like an "inspired by" than "retelling of," but that didn't really bother me. On to the plot:

Ava is desperate to escape and get back to Kaye; Kaye hates Ava, believing that she killed her mother. They happen across each other due to various circumstances and although Ava is happy to see Kaye, she realizes she doesn't really know her anymore and should be cautious. Kaye realizes she can use Ava to stay safe in the woods which are overrun with vampires, and turn her in once they reach the next city. But they both miss their friendship, and wonder if things had been different, could it have been something more?

There is a lot of telling in this book, which doesn't usually bother me, but it felt almost like an extremely detailed outline at times, like maybe the author was going to come back and give us something a little more exciting. I only mention it because there are several seemingly random and unimportant facts thrown in. They do end up all being relevant, and the story pulls together beautifully by the end, but it did feel very out of place with the writing style. I actually ended up loving it, it's just that the journey was a bit of a struggle.

4 stars, a little higher than I might have rated it in recognition that I am not the target age group and probably would have enjoyed it much more as a teen.
Thank you to St Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the eARC.

I like that the MCs have parallels based on mother-related issues. Kaye’s motivation is strong and makes total sense on all fronts.

Based on the cover and title, I was immediately invested but I had a hard time getting immersed in the world. I think the introduction to Kaye was far more gripping than Ava, and I found myself wanting to be in her head more. It might be much more compelling if we started the book with her competition with Tristian. But I’m not sure I understood what the Bone Wall was truly comprised of.

Ava’s voice tends to take me out of the story after Kaye draws me in. There are parts she dwells on like justifying self-defense against her stepfather but then she glossed over part of the escape. Some of the aspects of Ava’s situation in the introduction didn’t track for me when it came to her stepfather, like she wasn’t strong enough to overpower him as a vampire but was strong enough to access magic? Or how are coals related to root magic? I am curious about her keeping her powers—in a lot of lore magic tends to go away when people are turned and in this case, it might be hard for people to sympathize with a character with double powers.

This book was pretty good. I enjoyed it but not as much as I had hoped to. The plot was promising but the execution fell flat for me. I found that I couldn’t relate to any of the characters and I just couldn’t get wrapped up in the world that was being created. I wish there was more imagery and less descriptions. Overall I wouldn’t read this again but I don’t regret reading it. It was a very middle ground book for me.

The Witch and the Vampire is a retelling of Rapunzel. It sucks you in from the beginning. It has a slow build, but I enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Book: The Witch and the Vampire
Author: Francesca Flores
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me an ARC.

Let me start out by saying that I enjoyed the author’s other two books Diamond City and it’s follow up. I thought that they both had great character development and a well developed world. I was expecting the same thing with this one, but I found that it was lacking in both. I was highly disappointed by this one. Had things been a bit more fleshed out, I would have enjoyed this title a lot more.

This is a retelling of Rapunzel. In this world, there are witches and vampires, each with their own powers. Witches hunt vampires to stop them from killing people. We follow two ex-friends, Ava and Kaye. These two used to be unstoppable. They were witches and on their way to high places. Then, Ava becomes a vampire, the worse thing in Kaye’s mind. Now, Kaye has mostly completed her training as a witch killing vampire and will kill them all, even her former friend. Ava has been locked in a tower for two years and has finally made her grand escape. She and Kaye find each other and start out on an adventure-only Ava doesn’t know that Kaye is there to kill her. From here the girls find themselves in situations that require them to trust each other.

This is an amazing set up. I don’t know how many of you feel the same way, but I love retellings. I love seeing others take on classic fairy tales. I like the idea of the prince being female too. It’s different and will make this one stand out. However, I felt that the overall plot was lacking and underdeveloped. There was this disconnect that I kept feeling between what was happening. I think that a lot of this has to do with the fact that the events that got us to this point have already happened. Whenever we do get things explained to us, we are told what happened and not really shown. This takes away from the emotional impact that we are supposed to be feeling. Had we been shown why these things had such an impact on the characters, the punch would have been more meaningful.

The characters have been through a lot. Their pasts should have had more of an impact on who they are today. I know the author can do this. Her first two books do this so very well. I felt that the events in the past had no impact on the characters, which is fine. If this is the case, though, I don’t understand why their past events keep being brought up. I would have liked to have seen both Kaye and Ava fleshed out a little bit. Other than them being a witch and vampire, I felt they were very difficult to keep separated. Their voices were one and the same. Had it not been for the fact of knowing who had what powers, I probably would have been able to remember who is who.

The magic system was okay. Again, I would have liked to have some more details about it. Had we gotten a little bit more information about it, it would have been a cool system. Like so many other things in this book, I felt that it was underdeveloped and shallow. Had we gotten to see the very complex nature of it, it would have been a home run.

Overall, I was disappointed by this title, having greatly enjoyed the author’s other two books.

This book comes out on March 21, 2023.

The misunderstanding that leads these friends into enemies is sad. Manipulation and plot twists keep the excitement going from the first page. Of coarse character development is so important in a story and I wasn’t disappointed. Great ending even if it isn’t the normal fairytale.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Witch and the Vampire releases March 21, 2023

First off, the cover art is STUNNING.

Dual pov, Sapphic Rapunzel retelling with vampires and witches.

Francesca Flores's The Witch and the Vampire is a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn.

Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.

Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.

But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat—and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.

Overall the book was good I’d rate it a 4/5 i just think the world building could’ve been a little better but I’m obsessed with the story and idea of it.