3.5 stars

This was a cute romance with vampire girlies at the forefront. We follow Tess as she is drawn into the world of the supposedly-fictitious novel series about vampires. Along the way she heals from past sexual assault and finds herself.

Overall I enjoyed this one! It was very predictable and about 30% too long for my liking, but was still a fun read. The writing was well done and the characters felt familiar.

I’d recommend this to fans of romance and anyone who had an Edward Cullen poster in their childhood bedroom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of this work. All opinions are my own.

I dnfed this at 33% it was not for me. Unfortunately I was bored and nothing had really happened to make me care about what came next.

A love letter to fic writers everywhere! I’d totally read the sequel. Packed to the brim with fandom chaos!

I thought Fang Fiction had an interesting premise - who hadn’t dreamed of diving into the world of their current read?!

I liked the chemistry between all characters and that the MC’s view/opinion of who the white knight would be wasn’t necessarily how things worked out. Plus we’re always here for a FMC who fights her own battles and takes on real and theoretical demons.

There was some trauma that the FMC was working through but I liked that Kate Stayman-London didn’t have her be afraid to try the hard stuff like reconnecting with old friends and finding a new normal in life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Stayman-London and Random House for an early review copy we. These are my honest thoughts.

I had so much fun reading this book. What happens when a fandom actually comes true? As one who is not well versed in the world of vampires or highly specific fandoms, I still found the tongue in cheek humor in Fang Fiction to be like a breath of fresh air. The level of world building both for the book series Blood Feud, and the actual characters from The Isle was so well done. This book is unlike any I have ever read, and for its uniqueness alone I give it all the stars.

Tess has dropped out of grad school at Columbia, works the night shift at the Georgian hotel in Brooklyn, and has suffered some trauma. The Blood Feud vampire series is escapist delight for her and so when she finds herself face to face with an actual character from that series, she has to use her knowledge from the books to help save one of the main characters. This is campy, gleeful fun and I loved the double romantic interests. I do think this book is marketed wrongly if advertised specifically as a romance. There are two love stories that emerge (and they do get an HEA), but I felt that the story was more about fandoms, coping with trauma, and how your world would be rocked if vampires were real. Don’t get me wrong, this did not bother me in the least—I thought this was a fantastic book, just one that’s tough to categorize. Staymon-London does an exceptional so job at creating a very realistic reaction to sexual trauma—please check your triggers—and I appreciated the resolution found through Tess confiding in Callum and Joanie as well as further actions taken. I also loved the queer love representation and diverse cast of characters (vampiric and not) in Fang Fiction. I would HIGHLY recommend this on audio. Amber Benson pulls off a full cast of dialects and inflections effortlessly and also humorously when needed. I am confident the book was even better because of her narration. I received this as an early copy, all opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Steam: 🪭 (open door, limited adjectives)
World building: 🔝

What would you do if you found out that the world of The Vampire Diaries was real? And not only was it real, but the main character has enlisted YOUR help to save one of the love interests?

I present to you: the plot of FANG FICTION.

This is kind of cringe, but also kinda awesome. And, honestly, I think if this book had more heavily leaned into the “cringe” aspect of the plot, it could have been a lot better. Or more com and less dram. And that’s saying something, since I’m usually a huge fan of emotional/heavy side plots. BUTTTT, in this scenario, recovering from a harrowing SA experience felt HEAVILY out of place contrasted against the likes of transporting yourself to a Temu-Damon Salvatore.

Subplot even put aside, I was shocked to find myself detached from this novel, considering how much I adored One to Watch. Here, however, the side characters blended together and the main character was interesting, but I also didn’t really care who she ended up with (I just wanted this girl to heal). Everyone was just kind of “meh.”

I had started, stopped, and re-started this book at least five times over the course of 5 months. And, even now that I’ve pushed myself to finish it, I can’t say I’m glad I did.

Perhaps it doesn’t help that I’ve probably read about a thousand alternate universe fanfictions with a similar premise, but this didn’t really bring anything original to the table. Plus, there are a lot of things that work in favor of fan fictions that didn’t work for this (or even a story loosely based around a book, e.g., Carry On.

For example, with a fan fiction you have a disposable set of characters that you’ve already grown to love as a reader from the get-go. Whereas with FANG FICTION, you’re expected to connect to the “love interests” because the main characters have this established connection to them.

The world building was cool and original (the most similar magic I could think of would perhaps be in The Mortal Instruments), but by having something entirely original, you’re investing your readers to imbue a lot of brain power into a rom-com that’s supposed to be a (very) light fantasy.

Finally, all the parts of this book put together just didn’t mesh well with one another. You have the outlandish (but cool!) idea of meeting your literary heroes, only for the book to ultimately be about recovery. In all honesty, I wanted this to be a lighthearted read and I could not put myself into such an emotional mindset. Overall, I’d best describe my feelings as: I’m happy with the conclusion of Tess’ HEALING journey, but not the overall journey it took to get there.

While I’m eternally grateful to Kate Stayman-London, Netgalley, and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book, I fear I found it to be a bit of a stinker.

Imagine your favorite fantasy series is more like a non-fic and one day you’re thrust into the center of it. A dream come true, right?

I wanted to love Fang Fiction more than I did, but this took me so long to get through I’m just going to get right to it: this wasn’t for me.

That said, there was a lot I genuinely enjoyed. The premise was irresistible—discovering that your favorite book series is real, meeting the characters you’ve long loved, and finding out that not everything bound in a couple hundred pages is the truth? Incredible! I also really enjoyed some of the different ways the fandom was included. The sprinkling of podcast transcripts and website posts was a refreshing change of pace.

However, there were enough drawbacks that made this a struggle for me. The writing felt inconsistent—sometimes smooth and interesting, other times stilted and awkward. The character dynamics had potential, and there were moments in the middle of the book where their chemistry felt believable. But as the story progressed, the relationships lost depth, and the characters themselves felt increasingly one-dimensional. The pacing also dragged in several places, making it difficult to stay engaged.


I liked where the author was trying to go with this, but it didn’t land for me.

Thank you to the author and Random House Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Fang Fiction is an easy, entertaining read that embraces fandom culture with humor and heart. The premise is engaging, the writing is witty, and the book delivers plenty of fun, especially for readers who love stories about internet communities and the passionate world of fan fiction. It’s a lighthearted escape with a fast pace and plenty of pop culture nods that make it an enjoyable ride.

That said, the romance left me wanting more. It leaned too heavily into insta-love, making it hard to feel truly invested in the relationship. The chemistry felt rushed, and without enough build-up, the emotional stakes didn’t land as strongly as they could have. While the romance is meant to be a key part of the story, it often felt more like an afterthought compared to the book’s exploration of fandom, friendship, and self-discovery.

Despite that, Fang Fiction is still a fun, breezy read, perfect for when you want something light and engaging. It doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of romance, but for fans of fandom-based stories, it’s still worth a read. Three stars!

I wasn’t a very big fan of the romance elements since at times it felt very insta-love to me, however the plot was fun and I’d recommend this as an autumn read!

Thank you to Dial Press & Netgalley for the arc.

This had a unique premise but fell a little flat for me, the romance bordered on instalove and I like a little slow burn and longing. Regardless it's a safe quick read perfect for the Fall/Spooky season, the vampires a cute bonus.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was initially excited for this book because I really enjoyed Kate Stayman London's first book, One to Watch. However, after reading the description about vampires from a fantasy novel coming to life, I honestly was less excited to read it.

I am happy to say I was very wrong though, this book wildly exceeded my expectations for what a "vampires are real" novel could be. Immediately I was pulled into Tess's world and her need to escape into the world of her favorite novels. The world building of the supernatural elements was well done and I think that helped elevate the brewing romance in the background as well. While this book can be heavy at times due to the main character's experience with SA (happens off the page but is still discussed in minor detail throughout) was thoughtful and never exploitative. I also really liked the use of mixed media at the beginning of most of the chapters (something I also loved in One to Watch).

Overall, this is a well written and intriguing novel and I would recommend it to romance lovers or to vampire enthusiasts. It loses just a couple points for the end (especially the epilogue) being a little too perfectly and neatly wrapped up but a truly well done novel.

VERY cute book! Kept my interest throughout! Tess's wildest dreams come true and she becomes entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Is Tess prey or has she met her match?

Fan fiction come to life! I loved Kate Stayman-London's previous work and this one continued that love! Vampires in real life. Cavorting through the city! Bisexual representation! Fun fun fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC of Fang Fiction in exchange for my honest review!

Considering I'd had a good time with One to Watch when I picked it up a while ago, I'm happy that Fang Fiction has given me some more decent fun in the vampire rom-com territory. This is a charming ride that we get with Tess and Callum, and it helps that Joni and Octavia make for a likable couple on the side. To be honest, if they'd been the stars of the tale, I would have been perfectly satisfied with that. This can definitely grow cringey sometimes with its dialogue, but it's not that bad compared to the material I've had to endure from other romance novels. I'm actually surprised that I didn't roll my eyes a lot at the abundance of pop culture nods in Fang Fiction, although I do wonder how much they'll date the book down the line. In any case, they go down pretty damn smoothly for me. As for how this book handles the topic of sexual assault, it sensitively achieves that, gradually laying it out over the course of the story and letting us readers know it's coming up. It isn't going to slap us in the face with such weighty information.

Overall, I'm officially rating Fang Fiction 3.5 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 4 stars. I'll keep looking forward to more of Kate Stayman-London's work.

Objectively this book is more like a 2.75 if I sit here and think about it hard enough. Thankfully though this book was just one of those right places right times books. The characters felt silly and cheesy and honestly that dialogue felt like it was lacking any substance. Stuff felt way too convenient and easily wrapped. BUT it was fun and I felt myself looking forward to getting back to the book. I'll continue to pick up more from this author.

This was a fun one. Vampire campiness, and a fun premise. A little off with pacing at times, but overall just an enjoyable read.

This one wasn't a "win" for me... I liked the premise, but the plot felt disjointed in that there were random chapters of the fictional book ('ve seen this done well before, but here it didn't feel aligned with the chapter it prefaced) and there were also random podcast snippets that, in my opinion, came off as annoying. Yes, there was a big fandom for the books and vampires within them in this story, but it felt like the plot could have had more "oomph" to it that was missing, especially when interrupted by these fake chapters and podcast scenes. The story also moved a bit slowly, in my opinion. I did appreciate the character development, though, and that each character had a strong backstory that continued as the story went on, revealing each layer one at a time.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

I was drawn by the title and cover art. The story was enjoyable and intriguing as a vampire romcom but does touch on a few heavy topics. I wish I could also enter the world of my favorite book!

This book was super fun and campy, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. However, it does touch on serious topics that I think are so important in today’s society, such as assault and trauma. I love a good fun vampire read that deals with heavier topics in way that’s important and valid but doesn’t bring the mood of the book down.