I just cannot get past the constant switching in this book of POV, book, and what not. I was skimming the Blood Feud sections cause they were boring. I also think it’s really weird that Joni is Tess’s best friend and she can’t tell her what happened, even years later. Tess needs therapy. I wanted to love this one but it is not for me. Onto the next!

DNF at 29% - I've been trying to get through this book for months, it's time to give up.

The mix of the book between cheesy (vampires from a fictional series actually being real) and heavy (the MC dealing with trauma from a past SA) just didn't work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5/5 ⭐️

This book was both a fun time with some pretty dark moments (check the TWs at the start, sexual assault). It's a love letter to Buffy/Twilight/True Blood, so if you like those then you will probably enjoy this book. I liked the characters but I did find it a bit jarring how often they switched POVs. It made it difficult to fully connect to the relationships between Tess/Callum and Joni/Octavia. The book also just felt long. I don't know if the pacing was off or I was just having a hard time getting into the book at times but it just read slow for me. There were also a lot of pop culture references (Twilight, Buffy, True Blood, Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet). So if that's not your vibe, then I would probably skip this book.

Overall, I would recommend it. It was a fun read and the idea of visiting the place of your favorite story was cool.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Stayman-London, and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for my early access to this.

This is totally out of my wheelhouse (I've never read or watched vampire romances) but...I thoroughly enjoyed it! I know fan of the genre don't need to be told to just let go and enjoy it but I told myself that and was I glad I did. Tess fell apart when a classmate in her Phd program assaulted her but she's pulled herself mostly back-working at a hotel in Brooklyn but living cautiously. The joy in her life comes from the Blood Feud novel about a group of vampires stuck on an island in a parallel universe of sorts. And then through a series of totally implausible (go with it) events she finds herself there, trying to help Olivia a vampire who escaped and wants to help her brother Callum do the same thing. There's good world building on the island, where Callum and Felix are engaged in struggle for power. Back in Manhattan, Tess's former room mate Jodi falls hard for Olivia and works the issue from their side. No spoilers from me on this one. I liked the characters (what a treat they are, right down to Sylvia) and the plot zips along. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Don't miss the after-material (including a playlist). A fun read.

Enjoyable to say the very least. What a great read! I truly loved every minute that I spent with these characters.

Fang Fiction is a fun romp into a easy to understand fantasy world. Tess Rosenbloom is an introverted former PhD student who is struggling to land on her feet after a devastating assault. As a mega fan of Blood Feud, she's shocked one night to find herself standing in front of Octavia Yoo, who is supposed to be a fictional character. Finding her way into the world of Blood Feud, she's shocked to learn that not everything is as it seems on paper. Fang Fiction is a great read for anyone looking for a more fun True Blood, fanfiction come to life, and/or dangerous, yet sensitive baddies.

Okay, overall I thought this was a great read. I liked the vampires in this world. Like so many little things about it were fun, entertaining. The fanfiction spot on in some moments. It was funny. I just think it was too long for me. FOR ME. It's good. I do recommend.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Imagine if Alice Cullen showed up at your work, told you vampires and Twilight were real, and enlisted you to help her get back to her brother ‼️ That's basically what happens to Tess one night while she's working the night shift. She decides to take a shot and help this infamous (if not also fictional?) vampire, and gets sent to another dimension. There, she meets the rest of the vampire clan and realizes the "villain" of her favorite novels is a real guy, with real layers. It's fun, it's sexy, there's action, but there's a ton of heart as well. If you like Twilight, Buffy, or Vampire Diaries, this is probably for you - it was definitely for me!
Kate Stayman-London's first book was one of my favorites, and I have been not-so-patiently waiting for her to write something else ever since! This was completely and totally different than One to Watch, seeing as it's sort of romantasy, but the writing is the same. She is smart and funny and accessible and so engaging. I loved all of the different POVs and different ways she told the story (podcasts, texts, emails, book excerpts). This would have been 5 stars for me except for the insta love trope, which I wasn't a fan of. I was able to overlook it though because the rest is so wonderful. This book does have a content warning for sexual assault and has an extremely thoughtful author's note at the beginning of the book. I personally thought it was well done and not triggering for me. I highly recommend picking this one up, especially during spooky season!
Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC.
ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 40%
I was not hooked by the story at all
The characters were a bit flat to me
There was also too much in between each chapter with all the podcast and stuff that it took me out of the story
I just couldn't bring myself to pick it back up

This was a super campy yet highly entertaining vampire romance. Basically, the main character Tess discovers that the characters of a super-popular vampire series are actually real and only she can save them. While I don't think I'm the target audience of this book, it was still quite entertaining and a quick, fun read, if you don't think too hard about some of the plot holes :) 
*
This was deeper than just the campy vampire romance, and deals a lot with a character struggling after a sexual assault. I thought the way this was handled was really powerful and brought a lot of depth to the story. 
*
If the premise sounds good, I would definitely recommend this! 3.5 stars

if you love twilight or any other vampire books and you want to pretend to go back to that era and join the vampires, this is for you

if you couldn't care less about vampires and think that meeting fictional characters is dumb, this isn't for you

i'm somewhere in the middle but i had a relatively good time so take that as you will!

This was a pretty interesting book and plot line. I think most readers at some point or another wish they could essentially be transported into a book series they have or had a current obession with. (ahem, Twlight during high school, anyone?? no just me?). This book was just that, jumping into a world in which the main character has been reading about -- it just happens to be a vampire novel, so that's cool! Of course Tess meets vampires, has to problem solve, and essentially save the world in a sense. I hate to give too much away but if you like text, podcast, email and novel format, this is definitely a book for you. There is a lot of POV switching, so you really have to pay attention. 4 stars from me! Definitely a unique read. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read an early copy of this book!

Imagine if your favorite book series was real and the characters from that series were real and were asking for YOUR help. That's this book.

I'd definitely think of this more as a contemporary fiction with elements of romance. While yes, there is some romance, I don't think that the story revolves around the romance. There's also the relationship between Tess and Joni trying to understand each other and rebuilding their friendship after all that Tess went through (SA/r@pe).

I did feel like it took me a while to get into the story but once Tess was on the Isle and Joni teamed up with Octavia, things started to get a bit more interesting. Still enjoyed this book a lot!

(please be aware of trigger warnings before reading)

i have been excited to read this one since i got approved for it because just from the description alone it sounded like it would be a fun read and it did not disappoint. the slow burn for Tess and Callum was to DIE for, and Octavia and Joni also made a good couple.

it was like reading Caraval but with more vampires and blood. i loved the little enemies-to-lovers trope and how so many of the characters had distinct personalities to the point that i could tell who was speaking before it was announced. and the author did a great job talking about a serious topic in a way that wasn't over the top and synthetic, i loved how she let Tess feel emotions and figure it out for herself.

i had the best time reading this book, there were a lot of laughs and almost tears, i didn't expect it to end so well too!

the stakes made sense and i found myself completely absorbed in this book the last three days, wish i had the chance to read it again for the first time because that was one of the best magical/fantasy realism books I've had the privilege of reading.

crying right now because i have nobody to talk to about this book.

I feel like this had so much good potential but just didnt overall pull it together. Overall, I would recommend this book to lovers of the classic teen-angst vampire stories. It has a level of nostalgia, but it also feels fresh. However, as stated earlier, I would heed the author's note and the content warnings given.

What an entertaining read to start off Halloween 2024 season. Cannot get over the 2 in 1 romance aspect of this slightly deranged fiction to reality story. While there were deeper topics such as SA and academia, the supernatural elements tied everything together. Sink your teeth into this read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Dial Press Trade Paperback and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This book was so much FUN! The premise of finding out the fantasy world from your favorite book series is real and then getting to visit?! Yes, please. This book is perfect for spooky season, and I, for one, am so glad vampires are back!

This was disappointing. I feel that this was marketed incorrectly. I don't want rape in my rom coms. The tone of the story felt very inconsistent. It was constantly bouncing between silly vampire love and dark thoughts about sexual assault.

4.25 ⭐️
If you've ever wished you could visit the world of your favorite book, this will be a perfect read for you! There is nothing better than reading about vampires in the fall! The book creates the perfect autumn atmosphere, jumping between the vampire isle and New York City! Normally, when a book has more than two POVs, I find myself getting lost, but Kate's writing makes it super easy to follow and I really enjoyed getting the perspectives of all four main characters! I thought Callum and Tess had a really fun dynamic and I loved watching their relationship blossom as they learned to trust each other. While their relationship was a slowburn, I really enjoyed how it contrasted with Olivia and Joni's quick burn (? whatever the opposite of a slow burn is?). They had such sizzling chemistry! I am always a sucker for a human and vampire relationship and this book made such fun use of the dynamic!

There are definitely some heavier topics addressed that impact Tess's journey throughout the book, so I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings.

Overall, this is a perfect book for October with all the vampires and magic!

Tropes:
-forced proximity
-morally grey MMC
-multiple povs
-magical realism
-slow burn

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

I want to start by saying I think this book will find its audience. I am so disappointed in how it was marketed with the underlying SA recovery being a large portion of the plot/main character’s ARC. Nowhere in the synopsis does it include this, instead sharing that the main character wants to escape her life, not that she is dealing with some serious trauma. I would not have requested this ARC had that been the case.