Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

2.5 stars.

This Ravenous Fate promised me everything I've ever wanted: sapphic romance, BIPOC main characters, childhood friends to enemies to lovers. And who could say no to vampires? When I found the author's reels on Instagram I was, to put it mildly, excited out of my mind. Unfortunately, as willing as I was to love this book, I don't think this was for me.

Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the writing style. I believe the author is very talented, but I wish a lot more things were left up to reader interpretation. It felt that there was a very distinct lack of subtlety. The readers weren't allowed to figure things out for themselves, as most of the information was spoon-fed to us. This is a problem I've seen a lot in recent fiction, so this is not just an issue I found in this book, but it severely impacted my reading experience. I think this also makes the race discussions not as in-depth as I would've liked as well, especially due to the period this novel is set in. I didn't come into this expecting a historical fiction novel, obviously, but I wanted more life to the setting. Also, a lot of words or phrases were repeated, and I believe the novel would have improved vastly with a few more editing passes.

The plot didn't make much sense to me, either, until I realised I'd guessed the villains immediately and had (incorrectly) assumed everyone else had too (because there were quite literally no other suspects). There was barely any mystery to investigate, and I wish more effort had been put into why our main characters had to work together because that sort of informs a lot of their relationship development (and the plot overall).

Speaking of the main relationship, I was so excited for Layla and Elise. The premise of their relationship is so interesting and was one of the many reasons I enthusiastically picked up this book (so enthusiastic that I signed up to NetGalley and got an ARC for it). I believe that as separate characters they have a lot of potential, but this did not feel fully realised and, thus, neither did their relationship. Layla's anger was lovely, and I liked the hints towards Elise's OCD and her issues with her father, but I wish we got more of it. Elise in particular had a lot of issues in terms of her character. I so desperately wanted to love her, but I ended up almost thinking she and Layla shouldn't have gotten together. Elise's apology did not feel earned nor sufficient for the severity of what had happened, so when everything was resolved and they started dating the pay-off wasn't quite what I wanted. This ties into the greater issue of the ending feeling rushed overall. Too much happened at once, and this led to a lot of monologuing to exposit information, among other issues. The pacing overall felt off.

I think This Ravenous Fate's issues all go back to that lack of subtlety. If readers were allowed to infer certain things from the text, we could have a lot more space for nuanced characters and discussion. None of this is the author's fault; I truly believe she is a talented writer. I genuinely look forward to what she will write next, and am considering picking up the sequel when it comes out. I do highly recommend picking up this book and forming your own opinions on it, as it is very much worth the read. Its issues stem more from what the publishing industry currently prioritises -- easy-to-digest, "marketable" novels -- which means this book isn't given the space and time it requires to properly cover the full scope of its topics.

I WAS SO HAPPY I GOT THIS!!! The story is so unique but so universal in all its themes I never knew I needed black sapphics in the 20s till I got them in the 20s. I wish some parts were a bit more fleshed out as the beginning drags but it picks up beautifully in the end

Thank you netgalley and Sourcebooks for the arc! I had seen the author promoting this on TikTok for so long I am so happy to have finally read this. Sapphic vampire is all I needed to hear but with every update I was more excited and I was not disappointed!
This was a very strong debut that was an absolute blast to read! The setting, character dynamics, and commentary are all very strong. In particular, Layla was such a fantastic character to read (especially all her yearning). She was flawed, strong, and vulnerable and I loved all her POV’s.
My only complaints are some instances that could have been more show and less tell and some short stints where it was a bit harder to feel invested.
Overall, I am very excited to continue the series and follow Dennings’ career as a whole!

I love reading vampire inspired novels so I was excited to be approved for this title. I didn't read much about this before diving in. Unfortunately, this ended up being a disappointment. While I typically enjoy the 1920's setting, this book failed to deliver. The world building was very low and underdeveloped and I feel like it could have added so much more allure to the book. The characters were unlikable and their relationship was also extremely underdeveloped. I had a hard time following the plot because, again, underdeveloped. I did not enjoy this and will not be reading the sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This Ravenous Fate is set in Harlem during 1926. Except, there are reapers—once-human vampires who are rapidly growing in population in New York. They’re blood-thirsty and vicious, waiting in the dark and in bars for prey. Elise Saint is the daughter of the man who rules Harlem, thriving with his reaper-hunting business. Elise is home for the first time in five years after studying music in Paris after a tragic event sent her away. But she wants to protect her sister even at the risk of return as the Harlem Reapers want her dead. Layla is one such reaper—she’s haunted by her past with Elise as the night she turned, she lost her parents at Elise’s betrayal. But when some reapers become human again only to leave mysterious and brutal killings, Layla is framed and Elise’s father offers her a deal: work with Elise to investigate the murders linked to this potential reaper cure. The two girls hunt the city’s underworld for answers as their bitter hatred for each other turns into something more while a threat against reapers and humans rise swiftly.

I am a huge sucker of 1920s New York and vampires! This was the PERFECT combo! The setting and vibes of this book are immaculate and the details were so well done. The writing is gorgeous and captivating and I was entirely enchanted while reading. I loved the reapers/vampires and the author’s take on the creatures. It was familiar yet unique and perfect for the setting and time period.

I loved the characters. Elise and Layla have such vivid personalities and strong character arcs. They go through so much together and separately throughout the novel and they have my heart. They’re both so strong and fierce, morally grey and villainous at times. They’re incredible!! Also, there are really strong side characters that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about—especially Jamie and his son!

The plot was so engaging and I was hooked instantly. Especially when talks of a cure and experiments going on started. It was so fun to watch Elise and Layla go around Harlem. I loved all the investigating and dealing with bootleggers and gangsters. The whole premise was super interesting and I did not guess the ending whatsoever. I was completely invested until the very end and I cannot wait for the sequel!

Highly recommend if you loved The Diviners or if you love vampire stories, especially ones set in the past!

I am absolutely feral for Hayley Dennings's writing!! Can’t wait to finally hold this book soon and see it become the next big thing!! (& to get the sequel ofc because wOAH—)

You see: this book wasn’t *terrible*. But *I* personally was so goddamn bored that I cannot give it above a 2,5 *. With all due respect: I just wanted this book to be over. 😭

The premise was good: childhood-friends-turned-enemies (1 is a vampire reaper, 1 is the heiress to the empire that protects humans from reapers) who are forced to work together to uncover the mystery behind the death of a member of that empire. Sounds cool, right?! Unfortunately, though, the book just didn’t deliver. 😬


🩸 PLOT/“MYSTERY”:

I hesitate to call this a mystery because there was barely any mystery here. Some people died and Elise and Layla are tasked with finding out what happened, especially because it seems like 1 of the people went from reaper to human (which is supposedly impossible). It literally takes them aaaages to find anything useful for their investigation. It’s only halfway through the book that they find a 2nd person who seems to have gone from reaper to human (so they realize that could be a pattern). 😐

The investigation in this book is soooooo fucking boring! Elise and Layla basically just go around and talk so some people, sometimes. They don’t seem to have any of the urgency they should have when dealing with a murder (especially when *more* people could be in danger). They’re also pretty bad investigators, and never manage to question the most obvious things (especially Elise). At 70-75% it is “revealed” that the doctor/businessmen/whatever who were looking for a cure to reaperhood had been testing on people (mostly black people). I’m saying it’s “revealed” in quotes because……….. how is that a revelation???? Not only were they OBVIOUSLY the bad guys (it could literally be nobody else; the author didn’t even bother putting more suspects in this story lol), but also… this book is literally sold on the premise of “experimentation on black bodies”!!!! 🥴🤦 How are you gonna write that as a plot twist or big revelation when it’s literally in your marketing material, and you didn’t even set up any other suspects? 😭 I was so confused when the characters were shocked to realize that, because it was obvious from the beginning…

So, the plot was a big miss for me: extremely slow paced (very little actually happens), the MCs are bad at investigating (and seem to care very little about finding answers, idk…), and the bad guys were obvious from the start. Overall: SNOOZEFEST. 🥱😴



🩸 CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:

Layla was a fine MC. She had it pretty rough, becoming a reaper, losing her parents and the people she grew up with. She’s supposed to be charming and sassy, but, at times, it came off kinda stale. But, overall, she’s the most enjoyable character here.

Elise, on the other hand……. Oh boy. She was quite infuriating. Her relationship with her shitty dad was kind of interesting, but it also became annoying when she would refuse to see the obvious because of how blinded she is by her daddy. And like, I get it: it’s supposed to be a toxic familial relationship; but it was still annoying and boring to see Elise ignore her father’s questionable behaviour for the 100th time. It got repetitive, and made Elise an infuriating character to follow.

Elise is just a rich and privileged girl who is completely unaware of her privilege. People always had to explain the simplest things to her (like when Sterling had to explain that he cannot be as reckless as her because the Saint Empire is her family, but it’s his JOB). Don’t get me wrong, it IS an accurate representation of a rich person who doesn’t care about the people around her, but goddamn. It was a bit frustrating to read.

The worst instance of Elise showing her lack of awareness was when she told Layla she loves her. Here’s how that scene plays out: they’re arguing and Layla angrily asks why Elise left Layla to die 5 years ago (when Layla ended up becoming a reaper), and Elise is like ~~“Oh I explained myself in a song I wrote at the time! Because music is the only way I know how to express myself anymore! 🤪”~~, which was already annoying, like….. boo fucking hoo. Elise then starts throwing herself a pity party and Layla THANKFULLY clocks her and says “How dare you talk about loss. You had everything—you still do. Yet somehow, you have managed to pin this on me. How in the world are your feelings toward me my fault”.

Elise then says she fell in love with Layla and monologues about how hard it was to continue with her life after what happened with Layla, which doesn’t explain any of her behaviour, but I digress. When Layla begs her to shut up (which like, yeah please!!! Elise is fucking annoying! I simply do not give a fuck about your pity party!) Elise is basically like ~~“I WONT shut up! I’ve suffered A LOT! 😤”~~…………………………………… Bitch? Layla DIED, became a murderous beast, her family died, and the people she grew up with started hating her for something she can’t control. YOU wanna talk about suffering? SHUT THE FUCK UP ELISE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! This whole scene just emphasized Elise’s lack of awareness. I genuinely don’t know how Layla ended up falling for Elise.

Speaking of which… the romance? Kinda bad, not gonna lie. 😬 I just don’t think the author did a good job developing Elise and Layla’s relationship. Their friendship in the past wasn’t very well established (this could be fixed with some flashbacks). The biggest problem, however, was their relationship in the present. I just couldn’t understand why they started liking each other. The author compared them to Catradora and Caitvi, but I personally didn’t feel any of that tension or buildup. Suddenly near the end they were in love and I was just like…. okay. Sure. If you say so. 😐

Elise and Layla’s ~moments~ fell completely flat. Like, I could tell what the author was going for, but since she didn’t do a very good job establishing the relationship, everything felt awkward and undeserved, and I couldn’t see any reason for them to be in love.

It also didn’t help that the book was filled with the most cliché and overdone things you could possibly think of. Like, yeah, there’s a masquerade ball. There’s a love confession in the middle of an argument. There’s a scene where the human lets the vampire drink her blood and it’s all very intimate, yada yada yada. 😒. I simply did not give a damn about those ~moments~ they shared. Like, yeah yeah of course there would be a scene where the vampire drinks from the human and it’d be weirdly sensual. Let’s move on, shall we? 😪🥱

Long story short: the MCs were meh. The romance was booooooo.



🩸 OTHERS:

🩸 The side characters were mostly irrelevant. Elise’s friend Thalia was in 1 scene and then died (who cares?). Sterling (Elise’s bff) and Jamie (Layla’s gangster acquaintance) were fine, but I’ll forget about them in a week (hopefully). Elise’s mother was barely in the book but came in at the end to cry about not realizing Elise was unhappy (like, okay… sure). The other reapers (like Layla’s friend Mei and Valeriya, the reaper leader) were… there. The bad guys fell flat because, as I mentioned, it was obvious that they were bad from the very start of the book, so…………..

🩸 I feel like the setting (both in terms of location and time period) didn’t really add anything to the story. The author could’ve done a lot with it, but didn’t, so this story could’ve honestly taken place anytime, anywhere.

🩸 Overall, I don’t think this book is terrible, and I can definitely see how other people might enjoy it. To me, however, this was painfully boring, and I dreaded having to pick it up. I genuinely hope other people can find joy in it, though, because I looooove that black sapphics are getting their cheesy vampire stories hehe. Perhaps in a couple of years I’ll check back in with this author. I think she has potential.

I've been looking forward to this book ever since Hayley first mentioned it on booktube!
I couldn't put this book down. I didn't know I needed a sapphic vampire book in my life until now. I loved the pacing of the book, the ending felt a tiny bit rushed but I still loved that last page and can't wait for the sequel. Elisa and Layla are strong and empowering. I loved the commentary on race as well. Overall, I think this is a very strong debut and see so much potential in Hayley as a writer and story teller!

Author Hayley Dennings' storytelling is incredible. This Ravenous Fate, written so poetically, so lyrically, will wistfully pull you along through this fantastical world built on top of 1920s Harlem, and then deviously hand you blood-drenched scenes where you're rooting for the one who caused the catastrophe.

Childhood friends to enemies, black queer vampires, a mystery, and a wonderful plot! Dennings' ability to convey the intense longing between characters, vividly portray emotions, acurately depict anxiety and the stress of an overbearing parent, as well as weave real-world issues throughout the story is simply impeccable. This book is exceptional. I pre-ordered it as soon as I finished chapter 2! I received this as an ARC and I'm truly honored I was able to read it ahead of time! I cannot wait to read more books by Hayley Dennings! Oh! And the twist had me pacing my kitchen with my hand over my mouth. The depth of the characters had me in tears and wishing for a book of the character Valeriya's life. I cannot praise this book enough!

This Ravenous Fate
This is a book about Layla and Elise friends who turned enemies set in 1920s era New York, this was a very good book very detailed and a great plot the story was very easy to follow and very well executed. A Great read and would definitely recommend

I was so excited to read this book because there aren't many YA fantasy books that center sapphic black women . While it was predictable in some parts, mostly due to the formula this genre tends to stick to, it was still really enjoyable. I would be interested in a sequel and delving deeper into this world.

I have some mixed feelings about this book, because there were some things I liked and others that just fell flat. I really liked the concept, vampires (or reapers, as they're called here) in 1926 Harlem? Sounds awesome! However, I felt like the atmosphere I expected from that wasn't delivered on, and I wasn't really immersed in the world, unlike in other books I've read set in 1920s NYC. I also didn't feel much connection in the main romance, other than the typical vampire x vampire hunter angst, which wasn't enough for me to really enjoy it or believe in it. The relationship I did enjoy reading (enjoy is a strong word, I was more intrigued by it) was between Elise and her father, head of the Saint family of reaper hunters. It was messed up and I thought it was interesting and compelling.

Not a bad book, I just didn't like it as much as I had hoped.
3/5

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The cover of this book is really pretty and I always look forward to reading novels from debut novels.

I felt that the beginning of this book was the strongest and where I felt the most immersed into the story. The writing is easy to follow. It did start to drag for me towards the middle. The conclusion was wrapped up well. I just didn’t feel an attachment to the characters and that may be a me problem.

This book has so many great components: sapphic romance, 1920s New York setting, vampires! I really enjoyed the romance element, and the simmering tension between Elise and Layla made for a fun read especially with the dual POVs.

There were some parts where the pacing felt off and the dialogue was clunky, which threw me out of the story a bit, but overall it was a quick and engaging read.

These Violent Delights meets First Kill in this fantastically fast paced sapphic vampire book. I loved the chemistry and history between the leads, and how much inner struggles they opened up about and grew from. Such an amazing book, omg. I NEED THE SEQUEL ASAP.

First, thank you to NetGalley for this wonderful arc!

Set in 1920s Harlem, the story follows two young queer African American girls as they navigate a tricky path to solve a murder. The catch? They have a troubled history and would rather kill each other than work together. Oh, and of course, one of them is a vampire while the other is mortal.

While this was phenomenally written and I thoroughly enjoyed the book , it was too slowed paced and drawn out for me personally. That being said, I’m intrigued to see what happens in book two of this duology!

This Ravenous Fate has an extremely promising and fun premise, but execution fell a little short for me. The main hiccup for me was the dual POVs, Elise's pov came across extremely weak while Laylas really shined through. Great chemistry, however. That said, I really didn't care about anything that was happening.

4.25 stars

Romantasy, especially with sapphic representation, is quickly becoming my favourite genre. So This Ravenous Fate very quickly became one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I was not disappointed by it.
Our main characters Layla and Elise were childhood friends in the past, before Layla became a reaper. While Elise’s family has created a successful business protecting people against the reapers. Now at the start of the book after years apart they are forced to work with each other to solve the cause of deaths in the city. The writing style made the book a very quick and easy read that I didn’t want to stop reading. My only criticisms was that the ending felt rushed and some side characters felt a little bit two-dimensional but overall I enjoyed reading it and I already can’t wait to read the sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc.

This Ravenous Fate

There were a lot of elements in this book I really liked! The relationship between the two protagonists was compelling, and the enemies-to-lovers relationship was written really well and convincingly. The family dynamics were also great, particularly within the Saint family. I loved the variety of relationships that Elise had with her sister, father, mother and best friend Sterling. I liked the plot twists, with one in particular that I thought was cleverly foreshadowed, and the resolution of the main plot was full of justice and female rage which I loved! The dialogue was written well, with each of the characters having distinct voices, and there were a lot of humorous moments that I enjoyed. There was loads about this that I liked, and I adored the main romance.

However, there were a few things that brought this down to 3.75 stars for me. The world-building could have been stronger and I have lots of questions about the reapers and how they exist within society. The murder mystery element of this book was intriguing and I liked the way the two protagonists were forced to work together to solve it (forced proximity is one of my favourite tropes). However, I thought the mystery was a bit confusing and it was hard to follow what they were trying to figure out at any one time or exactly what the motivations of the antagonists were. My biggest qualm with this book is its ending. There were some character decisions in the last few chapters that didn’t feel natural, and some elements seemed a little forced to create tension for the sequel. There was also a moment at the end of a chapter where a character is in one place, and then immediately at the start of the next chapter, she is somewhere else, with no explanation of why or when she went there. I had to reread the section a couple of times to get my bearings, which was the first time I’d had an issue with the writing

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, especially the relationship between the main characters. And, let’s be honest, lesbian vampires solving murders in 1920s New York is never not going to be a compelling story. I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy interesting characters and complex relationships.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Elise is a compelling character grounded in her music and her will to protect her family, she isn't 'badass' in a one dimensional fashion. Elise cries and feels and I love that she is allowed the complexity to be intelligent and feeling. Layla, love her, and her entire arc throughout the story. I will say the relationship dynamics both romantic and familial really got to me.

Thanks to netgalley for this arc.