I had a fun time reading this book. I was immediately engaged since the 1st chapter. The characters were amazing. My only issue is the chemistry between Layla and Elise was lacking. The reason why this book caught my attention was that it's set in the 1920s (the Harlem Renaissance) about a black vampire and a vampire hunter and it's enemies to lovers which I would have love to see more of. I'm looking forward to the sequel. Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book

"You're my best everything."

Elise Saint, daughter of the esteemed Saint family in New York and piano prodigy, returns home for the anniversary of her family's business. The business being reaper hunting, and her past is full of reapers. Layla used to be her best friend, until one night she's turned and almost kills Elise because of it. There has been virtually no contact between the two in five years until one of Elise's closest friends is murdered and Layla is a suspect. They must work together to unravel the mystery of what happened, who is to blame, and how they can work together without being at each other's throats (figuratively and literally).

Sapphic vampire enemies to lovers in the 20s?? LITERALLY perfect. Though the build-up was a little slow for me and some parts were dragged out longer than I would've liked, I loved this. Elise realizing how Harlem and the reapers actually work, and what her family actually does in the city, one of my favorite tropes. And the tension! WOW I was loving it, and honestly I'm in full support of Layla. She deserves the world and nothing less👏
Sterling babe, I wanted to give you a hug one half of the book, and punch you the other half...
Overall, excellent read and I enjoyed it, and is honestly such a good fall read🤭

3.8 stars

Blood, vampires, dancers, jazz clubs, danger, vampire hunters. This Ravenous fate is a black vampire x vampire hunter story set in the Harlem Renaissance. If you love female rage and forbidden romance you will want to sink your teeth into this one.

Elise is back home from Paris while she is excited to see her family she isn’t at the same time. She is the heiress to her family vampire killing business. Also the vampires in Harlem want her dead especially Layla her old friend. She quickly finds herself working with her old friend who is a vampire and her enemy. There are mysterious killings happening around the city and investigating if the cure for vampires are true.

This story is fast paced and does at times keeps you at the edge of your seat. Some of the chapters did drag a little bit i felt like something was missing. I think the audiobook would have been better if it was dual pov. And I felt like the ending had an abrupt end. I do wish we got more of an enemies vibes between Elise and Layla. I absolutely love Layla she carried the book for me! Layla stood on business and she deserves all the happiness in the world

Elise and Layla were best of friends growing up. Their parents worked closely together to help resolve the Harlem's reaper (vampire) problem. Eventually there became a riff in their parent's ideologies. Layla and her parents are attacked by reapers, resulting in her parent's deaths and Layla's reaperhood. Elise is shipped overseas for her safety and Layla is welcomed into a reaper clan now that she is alone with no family or friends. Years later, Elise and Layla are reunited when Elise returns from Paris. This is where the book begins.

When I first started reading this book I thought I would dislike Layla and be on Elise's side. But the more I got into the book, the more I couldn't stand Elise and had empathy for Layla. Every time Elise would do something smart/helpful, by the next scene she was spewing her elitist attitude on everyone. She had no self-awareness. It was hard to feel sorry for her when her dad was cruel. Don't get me wrong, he was the worst.

I enjoyed the premise because I'm a sucker for vampires but there was a lot lacking in this book. There were many repetitive sequences. Hopefully that was removed before the book was published. Also the two main characters were supposed to be soooo in love with each other but had no chemistry at all. Maybe it was clunky writing? But they seemed better suited and/or had more sexual tension with side characters. The "big mystery" in the book, I solved it as soon as the first murder occurred. It wasn't even a mystery.

Looks like this book in going to be a series. I am interesting in seeing how their lives progress. I want to know more about Jamie and hope that Elise personality becomes less annoying since so much happened to her during the first book that she SHOULD learn from.

Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC Copy! 4.5 Stars

The second I saw the cover of this book I was drawn to it, then I read the synopsis and I knew that I was going to love it. I was not disappointed in the least.

Sapphic romance with vampires, but not in the traditionally sense, gangsters, powerful families, politics, mad scientist, and the realities of racism all set in 1920's Harlem during the prohibition period. I never knew what was going to happen next and I loved every minute of it.

As wild as the story got at times, I felt fully immersed in the world the entire time. The author did such a good job with the world and characters, I will forever read anything and everything that they write.

Sapphic goodness with vampires? What more could you want! Anyone who loved Twilight or The Vampire Diaries is going to adore this. I love the representation in this novel, from the queer characters to those of colour. It's not something we see a lot of in vampire stories and Hayley did it brilliantly. It's a hauntingly beautiful novel and I cannot wait to see what else Hayley releases.

this book was one of my most anctipated and it didn't disappointed this book, was amazing and I love it so much. the way I am so obsessed with both main. characters should be studied I love love love Hayley and she deserves everything. and this book was just mind blowing and hot, and I need more books by her because I love the way she writes.

This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings is the first book in a captivating fantasy duology set in Jazz Age Harlem. At night, the dance halls come to life, and death waits in the dark. It's 1926, and the number of reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, is rising in New York. The story is centered around our two main characters, who are the most unlikely pair, set to solve a murder that quickly devolves into a much larger and messier mystery. Layla Quinn is now a reaper after a devasting attack on her and her parents, who were killed. Elise Saint is the daughter of the most famous main in Harlam and is at the center of the reaper-hunting enterprise.

This book was a fun and exciting read with reapers (Vampires), humans, gangs, and vampire hunters; it immediately sucked me in. I loved the chemistry and tension between Layla and Elise that persists throughout the entire book, and I enjoyed how their relationship developed. My fingers are crossed that nothing else bad happens between them! However, I did want more world-building in different places in this novel. I loved that Hayley Dennings created this fantasy novel with so many underlying themes woven through it. It talks about systematic racism, classism, segregation, and the struggles that occur to the black main characters. In addition, this is a lesbian novel where the two main characters, Layla and Elsie, are childhood best friends, enemies, and lovers, and this is artfully done. I am now anticipating the second novel in this duology to see how Hayley Dennings handles all the loose ends.

The debut books just get better and better every year!

And this year we have BLACK LESBIAN VAMPIRES & VAMPIRE HUNTERS!!

My eyes were peeled back taking in this story! Where do I even begin?? The way that this Vampiric/Human world was created and easily intertwined itself with black Harlem renaissance history was ✨immaculate✨

Reading Elise and Layla running around Harlem investigating these killings, while trying to tolerate each other, was very entertaining to read!

I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel!!

Thank you Sourcefire Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ✨

In 1926 New York, reapers—vampires —are on the rise. The powerful Saint family controls the city through their reaper-hunting business. Eighteen-year-old Elise Saint, recently back from Paris, is the reluctant heir and more worried about the Harlem reapers who want her dead.

Layla Quinn, a reaper who lost her humanity and parents five years ago, blames Elise for her fate. When Layla is framed for a brutal murder, she's forced to team up with Elise to uncover the truth behind the killings and rumours of a reaper cure.

Once close friends, now enemies, they must navigate their complicated past while facing a growing threat to both reapers and humans.

Sapphic, vampires, mystery, gangsters, 1920s Harlem - as the kids say, the vibes were immaculate.

Mixed feelings on the best friends to enemies to lovers. My expectations were maybe a little different than what was in the book? It didn't quite hit the way I wanted it to and I think this maybe just because of the expectations of these tropes in general. I will say that I do love both the characters and seeing them forced to work together was great. The history between them initially really worked for the tropes but as we learned more about them it kind of lost the edge for me (not a lot I can expand on here without spoilers).

The family dynamics explored in this book were really interesting. Elise and her family's expectations/legacy, Layla and her found family/loss of family. I'm interested to see how these develop in the next book!

I flew through this, it was an easy read. But the pacing did occasionally feel a bit odd and I felt like there were gaps in the plot a bit? Not like a full blown plot hole but I'd feel like I missed something in a scene and had to go back (only to find I hadn't missed anything).

The plot itself was really interesting and I think it set itself up really well for the second book. The mystery did get a little muddled (see earlier comments about feeling like I missed something) but I'm hoping this will improve in book 2.

I'm so pleased for Hayley - having followed her on BookTube for a long time I'm so pleased to see her dream come to life and I'm so so excited to see where she takes us next.

Thank you again Sourcefire Books and NetGalley.

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.