➸ 3.5/5 stars

~ thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I have very conflicting feelings about this one. I liked my audiobook experience but was not 100% enthralled with the story. It felt disjointed in parts and the romance between the two characters to me was very heavy-handed at the tail end. We don't get to really see the relationship develop. This also was not a true enemies-to-lovers story because they never hated each other to begin with. This was more of a miscommunication trope if anything.

I struggled to get behind any of the characters. All of them but Josie and Jamie's cat seemed very selfish and surface level and that really started to get on my nerves towards the end.

I wanted so much more out of the dynamics and the overall mystery and this just didn't deliver.

I will be continuing in the series in hopes that it only gets better from here.

This Ravenous Fate is the first book in the duology by Hayley Dennings. It is set in Jazz Age Harlem, where dance halls come to life at night while death lurks in the dark.
I definitely enjoyed this book a lot, it’s a dark fantasy set in New York, it’s filled with magic, fate and power, the characters are well developed, the world building is great, it’s atmospheric and magical.

I loved Layla a lot, I think she carried most of the plot in this book. Her world and story are so beautifully mastered, her character is so strong. Elise felt bland a bit compared to Layla, but I loved them together. I also really enjoyed reading the banter between Layla and Vex! They made me laugh at certain parts.

Hayley Dennings is an excellent writer, her prose just pulls you in from the very first paragraph. I can’t wait for the next book!

This book has the following tropes:

▫️ childhood friends to enemies to reluctant allies to lovers
▫️ reaper hunter x reaper
▫️ sapphic slow burn romance
▫️ female rage
▫️ 1920s harlem
▫️ touch her and you die

4 ☆
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Black female vampire that is queer. Set in set in Jazz Age Harlem, where at night the dance halls come to life—and death waits in the dark. Give it to me. This was amazing. Plain and simple.
The audiobook was good. The narrator did a good job bringing the characters alive and telling the story.
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Thank you, Netgalley, and RB Media for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I adored the twist on vampires, especially in a historical setting.
However, that was pretty much the only thing I enjoyed, which pains me to say.
I hate that this one fell really flat for me.
I was looking forward to it so very much. And it was just not it.
I was given the opportunity to read this as an advanced audio copy from net galley, and I have to say thanks for that.
But also, there was literally no break from one sentence to the next when the perspective changed from Elise to Layla. It was jarring at first. I read on 2x speed as my base speed - there should have been a good few seconds between perspectives to adjust and it didn't happen. Which is a shame because that definitely wasn't a point in the book's favour.
I really tried with this one, and no one is more upset than me that I didn't enjoy this one.

This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings is the first book in a new fantasy duology with a promising premise. I have some mixed feelingd about this one but I did enjoy it overall. One problem I had was the audiobook narration. The narrator was very monotone and didn't have any distinct voices for the characters. That made a fairly large impact on the immersion into the story. I'm also not sure why the creatures are called reapers if they are vampires. I didn't really have an issue with it but I did find it a little odd. The plot was really slow and I often lost interest in what was happening. The book honestly felt like it needed a few more rounds of editing. But there were some great aspects of this book too. This book focused on several important topics like racism. The sapphic romance was beautiful. I really liked the main characters. They were strong and unique.

Thank you to the publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. It took me about 10 chapters to understand what was going on and I actually had to go to my library to get the physical book to read and understand. I did love the narrator’s voice throughout the book. I normally love the whole time frame of the old jazz times but the constant reminder of the time period and the overall depth it was very hard for me to not DNF.

5⭐!!

Thank you RB Media and Netgalley for this audiobook arc!!

This book was delicious. The setting, the tropes, the slow burn ANGST. I really think this might be one of my favorite vampire books I've ever read. I cannot wait for book 2!!

The narrator did such a great job bringing all of these characters to life and their voice really fit the tone of this book. I can't wait to listen to more audiobooks they have narrated.

I quit. I'm SO DISAPPOINTED!!!! This was one of my most anticipated release of the year, I've been following Hayley on YouTube for so long and I've heard her talk about it at length, so yes, I was highly anticipating and just super excited for it. WELL. I just don't want to force myself to read a novel I'm clearly not enjoying, for several reasons: 1) my biggest issue with this was the LACK OF ANY FRICKING DESCRIPTIONS!!! Ma'am, you're allowed to describe buildings, places and their atmosphere, it's not because one single moron on TikTok says she skips anything that's not dialogue that you can't write descriptions for us readers who actually read and enjoy them! I mean it's 1920s NYC, prohibition era, gangs, vampires, this has a specific atmosphere in my mind, the speakeasies, the dark alleyways, meetings in the backrooms of dingy bars for crying out loud. We sometimes were told about the music or the seats, which was nice, but clearly insufficient and that meant I wasn't exactly immersed in the book, I felt I wasn't let in that very secretive world and eventually just didn't care. 2) It doesn't help that I stopped halfway through the book but I found the characters rather shallow, especially Elise, I just didn't seem to be able to fully get a grasp on her as I would a character that actually felt like a real person. 3) I don't know if it's because it's meant to be secretive or what, and the fact that, again, I didn't get to the end but so far, I had questions on reaperhood that seemed pretty basic and should've been answered early on, my main one being: does reaperhood only affect Black people? Or are only Black people affected in this book because of the segregation? And I think I would've liked to have more explanations and a deeper understanding of how much does being Black and reaper coexist in this world, the social implications of it. We are told but I suppose I wanted more on the intersectionality of those identities in this world and just how a society would work with the reapers. 4) I think, at its core, I wanted this book to be adult. It started out conversations on racism and intersectionality that I think were amazing but maybe too shallow for my liking. The themes would've been more fleshed out for my liking and Dennings would've truly been able to lean into that very horrific/ sorry vibe she had going on, plus some more spindles of homoeroticism because I could tell she wanted it to be there but couldn't because of the genre. It seemed like the world building was an afterthought, that ended up still being pretty decent or even good in some aspects, but between the lack of atmosphere and a world that still seemed pretty opaque to me despite our 2 main characters being raised and parts of said world, the immersion factor was absolutely NOT there for me. 5) The writing just wasn't good. When you have a secondary character, who grew up aware of the working of this world, asking questions for the sole benefit of the reader in the following format "reapers feed from humans, is that right?", and yes, it's the clumsiness that comes with your first novel, BUT WHERE WAS THE GODDAMN EDITOR?!? The writing was also telling and not showing me quite often, so that didn't help.
I know a lot of those complaints also come from me not finishing the book but I don't want to force myself when I'm not exactly having an amazing time and feel very disappointed because of how excited I was for this book.
Moral of the story, don't be excited for books.

3.5/5 stars!

This was a pretty good debut! The plot and narration were very engaging! I absolutely loved Layla, however, I wish that we got “more” from her relationship with Elise. I also had an issue with the pacing, as it lagged in the middle for me.

All in all, I’m definitely reading the sequel when it releases.

This book had such a great premise! There are some exciting and fun horror that I enjoyed. The three stars aren't because the story is bad. I found the writing super confusing. I had trouble keeping up with the characters. Who was where? Why? What did I miss? Was I daydreaming? Whatever the cause it was hard for me to follow the thread until the ending. And what an ending it was.
I did enjoy the narrator.

Sapphic vampires in the roaring twenties should have been amazing. Instead this was a little too preachy and a lot too pedestriation. I can see whybothers love it but I didn't care for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB media for this audio arc.

I want to be upfront and say I DNF this at 17%

I was intrigued by the unique Harlem era jazz setting for this vampire fantasy. However, it was slow placed in the beginning and hard to follow at first. This definitely could be a me problem and not a book problem though. I thought the narrator did an amazing job with the differing voices as well.

⭐️⭐️.5

🩸Sapphic
🎹Vampire X Vampire Hunter
🩸Friends to Enemies to Lovers
🎹Set during the Harlem Renaissance
🩸Female Rage

This was an ALC and E-ARC.

I really really wanted to love this one. I love sapphic romances and then add in vampires I was ready to devour. The build up took a long time. The last 5 percent was the best part of the book as far as action and shock.

The storyline was very predictable. There is a bit at the end that leads up to their being a second book. I don’t really feel any closure for first part of the book.

I think that this book was just not for me but I know a few book besties that would love it.


The narrator did an amazing job! They conveyed all emotions and kept me focused. I would definitely listen to more by this narrator.

I wanted to love this...but I just didn't. I really struggled to get through this.

I must say the book was easy to read and it did touch on important topics. However, it wasn't for me. The pacing was too slow for me and the mystery just didn't captivate me. I didn't connect with any of the characters or the relationships.
But overall, my biggest issue was the plot. I just couldn't get into it and really had to force myself to finish it.
It is really unfortunate because I was looking forward to this...
Needless to say this made me crave a good vampire story.
I would also be open to trying another book by the author, just not in this series.
Also, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-Arc.

“It’s easy to do anything when you love someone. Even if it’s the hardest choice you’ve ever made.”

I loved the idea of a 1920s vampire fantasy - a la Great Gatsby - but make it sapphic. Sadly, this book was just not for me.

I wanted to love this book. In fact, if I had read it vs listening to it, I may have. The premise of Jazz Age, sapphic vampires in Harlem checks so many boxes for me. The problem was the narration.
I had such a hard time with this book. My problem was that the narrator didn’t differentiate between the females’ voices enough for me. I’m an audiobook girlie & I like to listen at 1.3-1.5x speed. I had to turn down the speed so I could differentiate between Layla, Elsie, and the other characters. Because of this, I struggled getting into the book & casually listening during my commute & errands.
I may give the book another chance in print, but I’d pass on the audio.

I had this ARC in both print and audio, and I will say that even though I enjoyed the story, the narration was very difficult for me. The male voices were so unpleasant and uncomfortable, and the 20s gangster accents felt very overdone.

4.5 stars!!!

I was super excited when I was approved for the ARC of this since it was one of my most anticipated books of the year! And I gotta say, this book did NOT disappoint! I think I'm a true enemies to lovers girl and this book really scratched the itch I had for an incredible fantasy romance. The banter between the love interests had me giggling and kicking my feet, which is everything anyone ever wants from a romance. I loved that the romance was also kind of forbidden, it added high stakes to the characters spending time together. I can't wait to read more in this series, it was so much fun and I always had a hard time putting it down everytime I picked it up to read. The only reason it's lowered 0.5 stars is because I felt like things lagged a little bit in points. I wanted the action and romance to continue faster, so it's definitely more of a me thing than a book thing. I really enjoyed the narrator's voice in this audiobook. I think it really fit the characters well and she did a really great job showing the character's emotions through her tone of voice. I had a little trouble figuring out which characters thoughts we were following at first but I eventually got used to it.

I enjoyed the narrator. She did an amazing job with the different characters. The story vampire wise was great. Romance wise not the best. If that is what you are looking for it was seriously lacking. It did end with me wanting more and looking forward to the next book however.

Wow! Hayley Dennings should be proud, this is a wonderful debut. I flew through this. The narrator did a wonderful job narrating this novel and really bought the story to life. Dennings did a wonderful job transporting readers to 1920 Harlem. The story is unique, gripping, has an intoxicating atmosphere, and features diversity. We follow Layla and Elise who were once friends turned enemies turned complicated as they work together to solve a mystery. This Ravenous Fate is the perfect fall read or listen and is a must read is you are a fan of vampires, specifically sapphic vampires!