the only thing i really loved about this book was that the characters were lesbian. and that's kind of it. which isn't to say i hated it—i didn't. elise and layla were well fleshed out characters, and the "mystery" was intriguing. mystery is in quotes because anyone with functioning eyes could immediately tell you who/what the culprit was, but apparently, elise and layla have a monopoly on all the world's delusions. (the second half of the book is just elise walking in circles so she doesn't have to confront a certain someone. like this could have been 200 pages shorter.) but it was written in a way that had me invested in how they would solve what was happening despite me already guessing the culprit. while i was mostly neutral throughout the book, the ending annoyed me so much. there's a very important death shoehorned into maybe the last five pages, and we barely get to see how it impacts anything. yes, i know how cliffhangers work, and yes, this is a series, but there was no buildup, no anything, and it felt so random. this was the death of one of the most powerful characters in this universe, so??? and #her being the one to commit the murder just annoyed me even more.

and also, i really, truly hate the supernatural with self-hatred trope, and layla did not change my mind at all. especially with mei's death scene, like hello?? she knew damn well that cure wouldn't work? stand up???

10/10 for lesbian yearning. 6/10 for everything else. thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This Ravenous Fate: 3.5/5

Synopsis: This Ravenous Fate is set in the 1920s and centers around 2 teenage former best friends, Layla Quinn being a reaper (vampire) and the other, Elise Saint coming from an empire of reaper hunters. When all of a sudden some reapers are turning human again and vicious murders start piling up, all eyes turn to Layla and to clear her name she must partner with her former best friend and current enemy Elise and together they investigate who and or what is behind these killings and the mystery of these reapers turning human again all while also navigating their complex feelings for each other.


Review: I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed the story and I think it had and still does have a lot of potential to be great especially now knowing that it's going to be a duology. Black lesbian vampires/vampire hunters is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY and I was so excited going into this because there is such few representation of these kinds of stories including black people. With that being said, I had quite a bit of issues with it. The first thing being the setting and the language of the book. I feel that a lot of the dialogue in the book was a little too modern for the time period that it's supposed to be set in and it honestly took me out of the book quite a bit because of it. The characters and their history together wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked them to be, I cared about them individually and together as a romantic pairing and the tension was AMAZING but I really wish we would have gotten more backstory or more flashback scenes between them as friends when they were younger to really establish the depth of how much pain they were in when their friendship ended and how it contributed to them hating each other so much. The pacing was little too slow, and honestly before we got halfway through the book I had already figured out who the bad guy was so FOR ME it was pretty predictable but that doesn't mean that I still didn't have fun reading it. All in all this was a solid debut but a lot of the issues I had with it that I stated above were a little too glaring for me to give it a 4 or 5 but I absolutely will be picking up the second book when it comes out!

I just reviewed This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings. #NetGalley

Urban Fantasy, Sapphic, BIPOC, Vampires, 1920's

I honestly was quite disappointed in this book. I was excited to start, and just felt like it wasn't my vibe. I think that this could be a great book for a lot of people, but it wasn't for me. Writing is good and story is good.

this is a third person POV book based in 1920s Harlem with vampires, which are known as reapers. there's black and queer representation here, which i LOVE. it even mentions segregation, racism, and classism amongst humans (and reapers) that was unfortunately historically accurate of the time. i also liked the added mention of the prohibition. honestly, it almost reads like a historical fiction and i love that.

The Ravenous Fate pretty intense and bloody and suspenseful. the two FMC, one human and one reaper, have to come together to solve the mysterious deaths happening around the city. there's a lot of tension between the two, as they were former childhood friends. as you follow their journey, they unravel just as much between themselves as they do with the things happening around them.

Layla was an interesting character. she's only been a reaper for a few years. even though she's shut off many aspects of her human life to survive reaperhood, she somehow still has traces of her humanity. between her and Elise, i really liked Layla.

i enjoyed this book, BUT there were some pretty slow moments. it helped that things kept happening or being revealed. i just feel like a couple of chapters could have been shaved off and still kept the intensity of the story.

nonetheless, i'd give this a 3.5. i would still recommend this though! we need more queer, POC vampire stories!

thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. i received this book as an ARC and leave this review voluntarily.

This was what I wanted from a ya vampire book tbh (hint: gay!!!!). The setting and vibes are impeccable, the chemistry between Layla and Elise so tangible, and the murder mystery the perfect amount of intriguing to scoot you along. While I did find the pacing a bit slow at times, the relationship between our main characters and the promise of more cool vamp lore to come was always enough to sate me. For a debut this is incredibly promising for the future of Hayley's writing, but I do believe that it needed just a touch more editing, as the major plot twist of the experimentation was not super well hidden, and I feel that this book could've culled 80 pages or so and been better for it mostly to speed up the plot! I definitely plan on reading the sequel though!

Vampires are so so back!!!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I love that vampires are getting a resurgence in YA. I love that we now get a wlw vampire book ON TOP of Black vampires.... ohhh I can't be normal about this and it will be my annoying personality until it publishes.

The premise for this was so interesting! However, upon reading the book, it fell a bit flat for me. There's so much that happens that feels like filler. I've been telling my friends that it feels like "a lot happens but simultaneously nothing happens."

I think this would be stronger (and as a result would probably be a faster paced read) if the story was focused in on one or two plot points. Focusing solely on the conflict between Elise and Layla/humans and reapers and the mystery of poison would have really benefited this book. As is, I had a difficult time focusing on the story because it felt all over the place.

While I did not love this, I also did not hate it. It's a solid 3 star read for me.

This book is BLOODY!!!

The vibes for this book were just as promised--bloody and vicious yet decadent at every turn. The fact that it was set in the 1920s in Harlem was so interesting, and it really brought this book to life.

As for the story, I kept wishing the scenes connected a little better. At times, I felt like there was a disconnect between each chapter, or even each scene within the chapters. Most of them ended abruptly, and oftentimes the plot felt too convenient. I wanted to experience trying to uncover the mystery with both Elise and Layla, but most of the times the scenes showed the aftermath of finding something or it was all done way too easily that I never got the chance to appreciate the scene. I also felt like there should've been more time to flesh out the characters. Many of them were so interesting, but I felt like their time on the page didn't do them justice.

I did adore Layla Quinn. She was definitely my favorite character, and I hope all the best for her because she deserves it. She was so nuanced and it was so interesting to see her dealing with her reaper hood while also craving to get her human life back.

Overall, I thought the book was cool, but I really wish it had been fleshed out better

THIS BOOK WAS PHENOMENAL! set in the heart during the Harlem Renaissance it features two black girls, awful share Ruby twisted in dark past and have found themselves in a bind when one is a vampire and the other is the daughter of a renowned vampire hunting family. Its is a sapphic, love story that has you hooked from being to end. Elise is a well rounded character who has decide between love and duty

1920 Harlem!! Sapphic dark queer vampire novel, little slow for me but still enjoyed the book.

Felt rushed in the end however I’d still give the book a chance.

This was such a good fantasy read and now I'm not going to shut up about the book. It takes place in the 1920's in Harlmen and the vibes and setting are so thought out and written well. In this world, there are vampires, reapers, humans, gangs, and vampire hunters. The main characters Layla and Elise are opposites and have a complicated relationship as they are 2 different beings that normally shouldn't work together. The chemistry and tension between them was so good especially them working together to see what was happening to the vampires in their city. I liked how their relationship developed and I'm rooting for them so bad. There were so many underlying themes in this book like segregation, systematic racism, class differences, and so many things the black main characters in this book had to go through. That added layers to the story and characters and how they developed. I liked the action, lesbian romance, and vampire lore in this though it was slow in some parts of the book. Overall this was a good debut, i enjoyed the writing and characters and I'm ready for the sequel. Thank you Sourcebooks Fire for this arc for an honest review.

Set in 1920s Harlem, This Ravenous Fate tells the story of two women, one vampire and one human who is part of a vampire-hunting family, who have to team up with each other to figure out why sime vampires are turning human again. The fact that they have a history and also want each other makes this even more complicated.

I'm so thankful I was able to catch this ARC on Netgalley because I've had this book preordered for a WHILE. This YA historical fantasy debut has me ready for the sequel already. The setting is the first thing that stood out to me while reading because I can picture every setting. There's this rainy, gritty vibe to the story that made me feel so immersed and ready to go along with these characters to solve the mystery of what's happening in their community. Because the main characters, Elise and Layla, have such a complicated dymanic, I wasn't sure how they would get anything accomplished and that plus the action scenes really kept me turning the pages. The constant romantic tension between Elise and Layla was just a delight and the vampirism plays such a big role in that - I just love seeing women yearn for each other in such an intense way. Lastly, I really want to praise the way this story uses the history of the time to enhance the plot points. We're dealing with prohibition and the Harlem Renaissance and the way Paris was seen as a refuge for Black artists during that time and this isn't just happening in the background; it really is part of the story. That's what I love about historical fantasy and I love what Dennings does with that here.

There's a place or two where the pacing feels like it slows down a bit but I don't think that's too different from other books in this genre so I'm not mad at it.

I think that if you enjoy These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong or almost enjoyed it but felt like maybe the romance wasn't as strong as you hoped, this could really work for you. I had a similar sense of excitement while reading this This Ravenous Fate and I'm stoked to receive my final copy on August 6.

I really enjoy the setting and themes for this book, but overall unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I think that the characters needed to be developed a little more and given a lot more backstory. We were told about it, but not shown enough to make the betrayal between them make sense and there really wasn’t much romantic chemistry between Elise and Layla.

LETS GO WE ARE IN A LESBIAN REINASSANcE and we are winning *this is such a good read omg i cannot erase it in my head. 6/5 stars

When I saw this book get announced I was foaming at the mouth for it. Sapphic, black vampires?! Absolutely sign me up. Unfortunately, this fell flat for me.

🩸I did not like a single character. Elise & Layla, our main fmcs, I found both to be so annoying and frankly one dimensional. The side characters? All forgettable. If I had to read the word gangstar one more time I was going to pull my hair out. Also, said gangstar, was scared of a teenager...

🩸There is a huge murder mystery aspect here and it is not giving. Our FMCs are forced to work together to solve some murders & that basically just consist of bad interviews & going in circle. Boring circles. It is very obvious from the jump who the "bad guys" are.

🩸The pacing did not do it for me. I was so bored.

🩸The "chemistry" we are supposed to be feeling between our FMCs is laughable. They stop hating each other after Layla, the reaper, is nice to another reaper? That is not enemies to lovers. Nope.

I wanted this to succeed & I wish nothing but success for this author. I hope to enjoy something she writes in the future but this was a DNF @ 59% for me.

Perfectly well written Black queer vampire story. Action packed throughout the book. I loved every single second of it. Layla and Elise’s friendship went through so many hurdles but their special bond was always there. Definitely recommend this story if you want to read a queer story but with vampire elements.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the arc copy!

sapphic vampire x hunter (enemies to lovers but also childhood friends) set in 1920's New York? Denning's is FEEDING US.
The moment I saw Hayley posting about This Ravenous Fate, I knew I needed to have it. And boy did she not disappoint.
The writing style is easy to read with the perfect amount of detail that wont overwhelm the reader but allows enough to set the scene beautifully. I truly felt transported to the 1920's and wanted to live in this book forever.
This Ravenous Fate is a slow burn romance that will leave you itching for the two fmc's to HURRY UP AND KISS ALREADY. I loved the tension between Layla and Elise as they navigated the mysterious happenings within their city while also trying to decipher their own feelings about each other.
Everyone should pick up a copy of this book as soon as it releases in August 2024, you won't regret it. I can't wait to see what Hayley Dennings does next. <3
Thank you to Hayley & NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book before its release.

I loved this! I think the world and characters were built out nicely and it set up for book two. I think the dialogue was a bit formal but that goes with the setting of the 1920's so no harm there. I did guess the twists and who the culprit was but the romanceof between Layla and Elise kept me going and the pacing was excellent.

Content Warnings: violence, murder, gore, racism, emotional abuse, suicidal idealation, depictions of mental illness (anxiety, OCD)

It's 1926, and Elise Saint has just travelled home to Harlem from Paris, where she was safe from the reaper who attacked her five years earlier. But it doesn't take long before Layla, once Elise's childhood best friend and now a reaper, catches wind of her return.

Honestly, 'black lesbian vampires in 1920s Harlem' as a pitch had me 100% sold from the beginning, and I'm happy to report that I did really end up enjoying this! From chapter one, I was immediately drawn in - the story being set up was really enticing and Dennings' writing is very engaging. I adored Layla as a character - she's wonderfully complex and her conflicting goals and emotions are all set up so well. I did find myself less interested in Elise's point of view, but I still liked her. The romance is really fun - childhood friends to enemies to reluctant allies with sexual tension to lovers… what a dynamic. I also was really intrigued by some of the vampire lore we get here - it's nothing groundbreaking for the most part, but the hints we get at the history of how vampirism has come to exist in this world really interested me. It's implied that vampirism emerged as a consequence of slavery-era experimentation on Black enslaved people, and this is something I'd love to see expanded on in the sequel.

My main issue with the book was pacing - throughout it was marginally too fast for me, leaving some elements (both plot and character) feeling underdeveloped. This could totally be handwaved for most of the book, but honestly the breakneck pacing of the last 10% or so kind of put me off a bit. I would personally have preferred the book to have been paced slower and maybe 150 pages longer, but it is what it is! I do wish the romance in particular had been paced a bit slower since it's enemies to lovers, but again, this wasn't a huge issue for me until the very end. Nonetheless, I'm definitely excited to read the sequel once it comes out!

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Hayley Dennings, and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC!

Vampires and Hunters in Prohibition Harlem. So delicious. The writing style is fun and enjoyable and the characters are full and well-built (including several side characters).

The reason for a 3☆ is because it felt way too long for me (especially for being only book 1 in a new series). The pacing slowed down way too much in places and I felt myself rushing through whole parts.

Overall I had a good time though and would recommend!

Thank you, Netgalley for the advanced copy!