3.5 stars rounded to four because I want to send love and strengh to the author and I'm really hopeful for the next one.
I wanted to start this review by saying how the whole idea made me so so happy. Sapphic vampire is always a must read for me. I was beyond happy when we could get a free ARC on Net Galley and not to have to wait until august to read it. This was to say thank you and to make you understand that I really waited this book, and I was excited to read it.

First good points. I loved every idea in this book. Of course the sapphic vampire/ vampire hunter pairing : perfect. The idea of the characters in general, the childhood best friends, the found family who's not quite that great, the toxic family dynamic, the dream of each other that are working together ( music and dance, complementary you know).
Even the sides character were awesome ( obviously my favorite one died like right away) Sterling the friend/brother, Mei (but kinda not like her relationship with Layla because of the age gape and how young Layla is), the cat dad gangster ( love him).Elise's dad was also great in a terrific way, hated him but in the way the author wanted it.
So characters : YES
The Plot was really really cool too, murders, secrets, gangsters, vampires, scientists and greed around a possible cure to vampirism? YES. All the politic is also incredible.
I think I liked every idea that was present in this book. Everything was well worked together. But I didn't rated it five stars for one reason.
I have some quote that have such a hold on me to omg. Like this one : "She's not fair game, she's mine"

My main "problem" with this book was the writing and the rythme. I would like to remind you ( so it stays in your mind during this paragraph) that this is the first book she published, stay nice. The ideas were incredible but the application not as much. Some scenes were looking a lot like each other, the vocabulary was really repetitive and sometimes it just felt like reading the same thing multiple times throughout the book. The rythme was to slow for me, if you are against the clock, if you're searching for a murder it has to be faster. I don't think saying it is kinda a murder mystery was great because it don't really feel important in the way it is written ( but it should have been because the plot was saying it was important). The writing wasn't always focusing on the right thing to make the story going. But as I said earlier it's the first book.
The ennemies to lover wasn't that smooth, the whole relationship between Elise and Layla wasn't that smooth. It wasn't really building up, the tension wasn't constant and it felt like Elise just changed her mind some time in a radical manner. Some chapter had such tension ( and extremely cool) but it was kinda going from nowhere. Because there was no build up the whole romance fell a little flat. It was good but not as much as it could have been ( It was not bad don't get me wrong). The writing really didn't worked that well , it was to scattered, going to one thing to another...Elise feelings alone could take chapters (it wasn't romance or plot really, it was as if it was another story of it's own) and it was too long and it was one of the thing that really felt like going over again and again,she was saying the same thing again and again. The lasts chapters were so weird. I'm not going to spoil anything, but like the ennemies to lovers, what happened had no build up and was TOO surprising to happen, and i'm not even sure to have fully understand what was at stake and how it would set the context for the next book.

I think that the thing that worked the best in the writing was the whole relationship between Elise and her family. The dynamics with her father and her dead sister was specially interesting. Elise was really an interesting character, and very unique as was the other main character Layla, who was a little darker ( which I liked a lot). I would like to give a thank to the author for having a vampire love interest whois not 100000 years old and in love with an 18 years old. Really, thank you.

Anyway this book was really cool and if you're reading this to decide if this book is worth your time the answer is yes.

The dynamic between Elise and Layla is complex and compelling, adding depth to the story.

The plot is fast-paced and keeps you guessing until the very end. The mystery of the mysterious killings keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the stakes feel high as the threat of a new kind of evil looms over the characters.

The writing is engaging and evocative, drawing you into the dark and dangerous world of the reapers. The action scenes are well-paced and thrilling, and the emotional moments between the characters are poignant and well-written.

For a debut, I think that you writing is very well done. This is a story I think I could widely recommend to readers without issue. Unfortunately, this story didn't fully work for me. From the head bouncing in chapters and being written in third person made my attention often drift to other distractions around me while I was reading. The plot didn't captivate me until 60% into the story and even then I felt myself waiting for a twist or waiting for the end. I wish that this story was a little shorter for my preference but I can understand those who love this story will be pleased by its length. Overall I enjoyed being with Layla more than Elise but I cannot complain about a childhood friends to enemies to lovers sapphic vampire story. Their motivations confused me at times and I never connected strongly to a character, but I did enjoy the more tender moments between our two main characters and the surrounding cast. I will likely finish this duology when the sequel comes out but it wouldn't make my most anticipated release list.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

I had gotten this as an ARC and ALC from Netgalley. Thank you to RBmedia, SOURCEBOOKS Fire, and Netgalley for letting me receive an E-ARC and Audio.

I really liked this book so much! I loved the characters Elise Saint and Layla Quinn. Elise Saint is a human and Layla Quinn is a reaper(Vampire). I hated Tobias Saint, he is Elise’s father; with a whole ass passion. I don’t know how to feel about Sterling and Valeriya.

I did not like the fact that the vampires are called reapers but it is what it is.

I absolutely loved the narrator Tamika Keaton-Donegal. She did amazing with all of the characters. She brought all of them to life.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc !
All thoughts are mine !


HELLLLOOO BLACK SAPPHIC ROMANCE BETWEEN TWO EX BESTFRIENDS WITH ONE OF THEM BEING A VAMPIRE HELLO ??? What do you need more ??
The writing was EXCELLENT, both Elise and Layla are awesome characters and I was so rooting for them.
I loved their story, how they had to work together while despising each other. How their whole world revolves around their relationship. Like damn give me more obsessed sapphic pls.

Elise is the heir of an empire who was built on the business of killing reaper. Layla was her childhood friend who was turned into a reaper because of Elise’s family few years ago. Layla even tried to kill Elise after her change. So you can imagine their relationship was a bit strained at first.

I loved the setting, everything was so well described and it felt like I had a movie playing in my head. There is something really photographic about this book. ANYWAY.

I LOVED IT. GIVE ME MORE SAPPHIC vampire book pls and thanks.


Cannot wait for book 2

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcefire Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up This Ravenous Fate now.

I really thought this book would get me out of my reading slump -- black queer vampires in the 1920s?! What's not to love? But I found that while reading, I was skimming and not really absorbing in it like I would for a story I was actively invested in. I didn't connect with the characters and their emotional journeys the way I would've liked, and while the stakes seemed high, they weren't propelling me through the story effectively.

Maybe this is one I'll pick back up when I'm in a better headspace, but for now, it's a DNF for me.

This was a lot of fun and I NEED the sequel NOW! I loved the unique take on vampires and the romance was absolutely chef’s kiss!

Definitely give it a shot if you like books with:

🥀 The Roaring ‘20s
🥀 VAMPIRES
🥀 Sapphic longing
🥀 Family drama

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

4.5/5 Stars
Lesbian vampires in the 1920’s? I feel like I barely read books set in this time period so when I got this arc I was absolutely delighted. I knew it’d be a breath of fresh air and it truly was. The worldbuilding in this book was enjoyable, you have the vampires, who in this world are classified as “Reapers” and then the humans. We have Layla, a Reaper who was once human, lost her parents when she was turned and the protection of her best friend's family, the Saints.There is also Elisa, the Saint heir who is just returning after being in Paris for 5 years and she knows the Reapers in Harlem want her dead and gone. They end up working together because there is an issue, reapers are somehow turning human again and they cannot figure out why.
I loved the relationship between Layla and Elisa, although it is definitely an enemy to lovers they have so much tension it's impeccable. Watching them be forced to work together to try to figure out why the reapers are turning human again was interesting because I couldn’t wait for them to kiss or for Elisa to share her blood. Although I do think the mystery was super obvious there was a plot twist I wasn’t expecting when it was revealed what was happening. The ending has me absolutely wondering where this story is going to go also!
Thank to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

THIS RAVENOUS FATE follows layla & elise, two childhood best friends turned enemies when layla is turned into a vampire and elise’s family’s business is vampire hunting. they are forced to become a team to solve a mysterious string of crimes that might just lead to what the city needs most: an antidote for vampirism.

this book takes place during 1920s harlem and the vibes were right! dennings started out STRONG with that prologue because, honey, i was HOOKED. that being said, i do feel like this book could’ve used some extra editing. some of the sentences were strange and i didn’t love the longer chapters with random POV shifts. i would've preferred shorter chapters dedicated to one POV at a time. this led to the pacing feeling a bit slow, but this could totally be a preference thing!

i loved the extra layer that the mystery added, but i found it to be a little muddled in the middle of the story.

now let’s talk characters!! i LOVED layla. she was angry, vengeful, and violent but at the end of the day she just wanted to be happy and ‘normal’ again. she really carried the book for me.

the chemistry between layla and elise was lacking a bit. i felt like they were never on the same page, but then randomly they’d be cute and tender, and then the next moment they are fighting again. there is definitely potential here, but they’ve got a ways to go before i’m fully rooting for them. given the length of the novel, i wish more real estate was used to give us insight to their backstory and how things used to be.

overall, this was a good read and i will definitely be picking up the sequel. i’m excited for what hayley dennings has in store for us because this is only the beginning!

3.5⭐️

The first book in a decadent fantasy duology set in Jazz Age Harlem, where at night the dance halls come to life-and death waits in the dark.
It's 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York.
But the Saint family's thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire.
Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago. The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she'll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her.
Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city's underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.
Forgive me for copying and pasting a lot of the plot for this book. I’m very bad at describing books and my brain decides to just short circuit.
Tropes in this Book:
Romeo and Juliet kind of vibes.
Queer Romance
Betrayal
Friends to enemies to lovers
Dark Family Legacy
This book for sure was a nice little twist on what I perceived as a Romeo and Juliet kind of romance. Both love birds are on the opposite sides of a uneasy species truce. While also at odds in a political and sometimes racially decided lines.
I enjoyed this book mainly for its unique spin on vampires and the time period it was set in.
Being able to listen to and read a long was an enriching experience that left me engrossed in this novel. The narrator was perfectly chosen and brought this tale of danger and romance to life. The author was able to mix themes of race, queer romance and the weight of a family legacy into a fantastic story.
That ending left me thirsting for more like the reapers( aka vampires) in this story. I’m thankful for it being only a duology because they are my absolute sweet spot in story lengths. I can’t wait to see what book 2 will take Elise and Layla. I’m sure it will love me shooketh.
Overall: I would recommend this book to fans of vampires, queer romances and looks into species/racial divide.
4 star Read for me.

Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for audio and ebook edition of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟎’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬, 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜. 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥! 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭! 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝....𝐧𝐨. 𝐈𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC

(3.5 stars)
As soon as I read the description of this book I knew it was going to be exactly up my alley!
I enjoyed the the take on vampires in the story, it was classy but with it's own little twist that added to the narrative and the characters were all quite compelling and I felt myself emphasizing with most of them a lot.
Although, as much as I enjoyed this, I have to say that the plot wobbled quite a lot by the end. It felt very rushed and the execution of certain plot points and twists was rather unsatisfactory. I felt like the book should have ended sooner and the ending part (most of act 3) should have been the begining of the next book and should have a way slower pace.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the prose and writing to be fascinating, and allowed me to fully appreciate the era and the various characters.

DNF @ 53%

Unfortunately, I feel very disappointed. I was really looking forward to this book but I felt like I was forcing my way through it. While this book was not for me, it may be for someone else!

I first saw this book on the author's Twitter page and just from the description of the book I knew I had to request it: Harlem Renaissance! Vampires! Sapphic romance!! Black women!! Literally just from these key words alone I was SO excited to read this!

I have to say Hayley Dennings knows how to create atmosphere, this book really transports you to 1926 New York City and not only that but changing the circumstances of the world during this time to include the reapers presence within this world. The tensions within the world relations caused by the havoc that reapers have brought on is so fascinating as well. Needless to say, the world building was great in this book.

Another factor that I absolutely enjoyed was the vampire vs. daughter of the vampire hunter (but she's also lowkey a vampire hunter) type of dynamic that was cemented into the story's framework. It reminded me of season 1 of Teen Wolf for a second there. I do have to say I wish we could've gotten more flashbacks of Layla and Elise's friendship before Elise turned into a reaper, I especially was waiting for a flashback on that incident that caused that whole spiraling effect onto their friendship. But I will say the enemies part was SOO good!! I wish we had gotten more of the enemies as well as the lovers, but the part of them having all this tension really dragged out was also really well done, the little taunts and jabs they would throw to one another was so enjoyable to read!

There's a couple things I didn't like about this book for starters, part 1 was so great and set up the story really well, I was super invested but then, that momentum slowly died down during the middle bit of the story. The side characters weren't fleshed out enough so their subsequent actions just didn't hit as hard as it was supposed to. Another thing that had me a bit confused was Layla's motivation for wanting to take the antidote, like I get it but I don't. She was the one that brought a lot of amazing dialogue to the story regarding white privilege and the experimentations that was done on black bodies for her to then, trust a white man? It made no sense to me, it felt inconsistent to her character. But one could also say it was her desperation for wanting to have a normal life as a human that clouded her judgment in that regard.

Also I know that Mr. Wayne was the villain of the story but Mr. Saint........he was running for worst father of the year oh my god!! He was so cruel to Elise, my heart continuously broke for her wanting to prove herself to her father but being met with the cold shoulder. He was the villain of the entire story in my eyes.

If you want to read an enemies to lovers, sapphic vampire book...this one is for you!!!

Thank you NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the early digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I am so disappointed. I heard of this book on tiktok and I love the author's videos, so I immediately requested the arc thinking I would be discovering my new favorite book. I mean, it has all the buzzwords I love. Black sapphic vampires murder mystery set in the 1920s?? Sounds like the perfect recipe for me.
Unfortunately it just did not live up the hype that I built for myself and that the early reviewers on tiktok built up. I wanted to love this one, and I really thought I would.

The first problem I had is with the murder "mystery". Not only was the reveal obvious from the start, but it also just didn't feel like the stakes were there. It seemed like not much investigating was actually happening, and I just didn't feel a sense of urgency to solve it from the characters.
The other problem I had was with the romance. I was so excited for sapphic enemies to lovers, but I just never felt the chemistry between them. It felt forced overall, like the characters did not actually care for each other. A deep connection was mentioned, but I never really felt it if that makes sense.

One thing I loved though was the discussions about race and inequality, and how your social class can carry weight in how people view you as well as your race. I thought the discussions it brought up were very important, and I believe it was done well.

I've seen people both love and dislike this book so don't take my review as gospel - if it sounds good to you, pick it up!!

This was so much bloodier than I expected, and I do not mean that as a bad thing (although I was sad about some of those deaths). It was every bit the vicious, enemies-to-lovers vampire book I was promised--and a proper slow burn, on top of that! These girls hated each other for like 70% of the book. I did feel like the transition was a bit closer to a switch being flipped rather than a gradual shift, but I was also reading it on very little sleep by this point, so that may be on me more than the book, to be fair.

I also really liked how connected to history vampirism (or reaperhood, rather) was. While I'm a big fan of "I put it in because I liked it," I also love when the supernatural elements interact with the setting with as much purpose as they do here, and I'm looking forward to how that develops further in the next book.

I didn't love where some of the relationship dynamics went in this book (relating to side characters more than the leads), but as this is only the first book in the duology, I am holding out hope that they will be resolved in a satisfying way in the next book. Either way, I was invested.

I've been looking forward to this book since I heard about it, and despite a few quibbles, I also got some really nice surprises. I definitely recommend it, and I look forward to reading the next one.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the ARC.

DNF 16% in.

Thank you to RBMedia and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an e-arc and alc.

I really wanted to love this one and I do want to retry it with the ebook eventually but the audio didn’t work for me and I just at 16% in didn’t care about any of the characters. I couldn’t have cared less what happened to them and if I am not caring 16% in I tend to put the book down. It was okay and I liked the 1920s world but I wasn’t connecting to the characters.

It is 1926 and the reapers are on the rise in New York City but the Saint family has a thriving Reaper hunting empire that holds more power than the organized crime families in New York. Elise arrives home after 5 years in Paris to take her role as heir to the Saint family but she has this lingering worry that weighs more than her family’s obligations, the reapers of New York want her dead. Layla is still a new reaper and is haunted by her past, the night she lost her life, her parents, the protections of the saints, and her best friend Elise betrayed her. But when things start to go wrong for both the reapers and the Saints, they have to team up to try and figure out what is happening and save lives.

The world was the most interesting part, we see this fantastical 1920s world at the peak of the harlem renaissance with elaborate parties. I did enjoy that but it wasn’t enough to keep me engaged when I didn’t care about the characters. I do think it may have been that I wasn’t clicking with the audio so if I come back to this with the ebook I’ll update this then but I do think this will work for a lot of people it just currently didn’t work for me.

The book is slow burn and unputdownable. There are saints and reapers. When a newly turned reaper attack on one of the Saint’s family member, It turns Layla’s life upside down. While something happened five years ago that broke Layla and Elise’s friendship. There were so many mysteries in the book. When people begin to get brutally killed, Elise and Layla teams up to get to the bottom of mystery and conspiracy. The ending was totally unexpected.

Thanks to the Publisher and Author.

Sapphic friends to enemies to lovers to enemies hunter x vampire romance set in Jazz Age Harlem? Need I say more? It is 1962 and reapers, once-human vampires with a terrible affliction have risen in New York. The Saint family is a lucrative reaper hunting family and business that makes them the most powerful in the city. Elise Saint is the eighteen-year old daughter and heir to the empire but she's spent the last five years in Paris and now she is home... yet every reaper will want her dead now that she is back. Layla Quinn is a young reaper who is haunted by her past... and she was made five years ago, on a night where she lost her parents, her humanity... and was betrayed by Elise Saint. Layla and Elise have a complicated past but when reapers begin turning part human again and more brutal killings are rising.... Layla is framed for one and Elise is sent to investigate if the murders are linked to the reaper cure. Now they have to find a way to work together while dealing with their complicated past and feelings for one another if they want to stop the killings. This is the first book in a duology and the cliffhanger ending has me so curious for the second book and how this will wrap up. I love the setting and how the world was created in this one. The relationship between Layla and Elise was so interesting and I love the progression from friends to enemies to lovers to once again enemies. I can't wait to see where they go in the second book and how they will grow. The historical setting also was super fun and the vampire element in this book was really well done. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants a unique vampire read!

Release Date: August 6,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire | Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*