My Selling Pitch:
The most generic YA historical urban fantasy sapphic enemies to lovers. It’s not BAD, but I guarantee you’ve read this plot before. Skippable.

Pre-reading:
I was not looking forward to reading this until Olivia Reads a Latte said she enjoyed it, but somehow I still managed to put it off for months.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Remember how last year I said I was gonna become a DNFer? I said if I nope out on page one, I won’t force myself to read that book… that resolution is going so well guys! Why am I here lol?

I’m on chapter 5. I would DNF here. This is not a winner.

It’s giving Zootopia’s plot.

Is morning sun harsh? In New York?

It’s not bad bad. It just reads like every YA enemies to lovers fantasy ever. So like I’m fucking bored. And it’s mildly plot holey in the YA way where it’s not unreadable, but I am annoyed by it.

I feel like it’s the politician weaponizing the doctor’s new cure so he can ethnic cleanse and the drug will be in the shipment for Jamie. (Girl, I did not need to read this book.)

Absolutely nothing lucky.

Don't know why my brain is processing Elise and Layla as the same name. They're not. But it is.

Gaslight gatekeep girlboss

That's just covid lol

Is this supposed to be a love triangle because I thought they made it pretty clear that homeboy was off the table?
I also feel like they’re setting him up to be evil, and I don’t want him to be evil. (Did. Not. Need. To. Read. This. Book.)

I’m so checked out from this book. Once I opened it and was like oh, it’s Zootopia I knew exactly what was gonna happen. That theory’s only getting confirmed the more I read. And like Jason Bateman isn’t even here to give me snarky banter and make me question if I’m attracted to a fox or a generic dad actor, so what’s the point?

Also, everyone keeps dying, but like no one‘s affected by it, and I’m not emotionally bonded to anyone, so I don’t care either.

I still have half a book left. Like why is this so long?

Time for the requisite YA fantasy masquerade ball.

Sorry to this book, but a Jamie Stirling romance would be wayyyyy more interesting.

Why is this sooooo long?

Girl, this is literally Zootopia.

I don’t think this is a good romance. I don’t think you come back from essentially my parents were trying to end segregation, but you were scared of the oppressed minority, so you had your father kill them.

Imagine writing a whole ass prologue for not the main character and still expecting people to be surprised that she’s a villain.

Not the MAGA lol

How Mother Gothel of her.

Is this a series? I thought this was a standalone. FML.

Post-reading:
Sometimes I feel like I punish books more for being mid than for being outright awful. But like, you’ve read this before. I know you have. If you’ve seen Zootopia, you already know the racially charged buddy cop plotline. Even for a YA audience, this never feels like a mystery. It always feels like we’re plodding towards an inevitable conclusion because there’s no extra side characters that survive for more than a chapter or two. The book has quite a few murders in it, but they’re emotionally numb since the audience isn’t invested in those characters, and the surviving handful don’t react to the deaths in any meaningful way either.

The romance didn’t work for me. I don’t think you can come back from what basically amounts to I had my racist dad kill your activist parents. And it feels odd to have that shadow cast on a work that’s also trying to rail against racism in America and how fundamental it is to the infrastructure of this country.

I don’t think the 1920s setting is appropriately handled when it comes to misogyny. I know it’s a YA, but two teenage girls would not be given free rein to investigate murders. It’s a little too hard to ignore that.

For a sapphic romance, it’s weird that the most chemistry in the book comes from two purportedly straight men. They’re honestly a more interesting and juicier romance that’s set up for a much more nuanced enemies to lovers relationship. It wouldn’t surprise me if the sequel has a subplot centered around them.

I think the villains are painfully obvious. The prologue does nothing but kill any tension the book might create about whodunnit. The villain’s death is ripped straight from another Disney movie.

It’s outrageously long. I think you could cut 200 pages of pure filler and still keep the bones of this story. It’s readable, but I don’t know why you’d want to waste your time reading something this mid when great books exist.

Who should read this:
Generic YA fantasy fans

Ideal reading time:
Anytime

Do I want to reread this:
Nope.

Would I buy this:
Nope.

Similar books:
* Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker-YA urban fantasy, queer romance
* The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores-same book, different font, YA fantasy, sapphic romance, enemies to lovers, family drama
* Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou-YA urban fantasy, mystery, myth retelling, family drama
* The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim-urban fantasy, mystery, myth retelling, enemies to lovers romance, Zootopia
* Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool-YA urban fantasy, mystery, family drama
* Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan-urban fantasy, mystery, family drama, Zootopia
* House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas-urban fantasy, mystery, enemies to lovers romance, Zootopia
* Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin- dystopian horror, queer romance, family drama, vampires
* Lucy Undying by Kiersten White-Dracula retelling, queer romance
* Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma-dark academia, urban fantasy, family drama, enemies to lovers romance
* A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal-YA urban fantasy, heist

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this...the atmosphere and premise seemed so interesting and unique. I think for me it read a little bit stilted and I couldn't really connect with the characters nor plot. I can see why some people really enjoy the book but I wasn't able to finish. The audio narrator was pretty good though!

This was such a clever and well-written version of a vampire tale. And yet it was also even more than that.

Elise and Layla were once best friends but now they are on opposite sides. One belongs to the group of vampires that used to be human and the other belongs to a class of humans who basically have no trust in vampires at all. To complicate things, there are even worse things that vampires out there. Reapers are even deadlier and more frightening.

This book had some great world building, well-developed characters and interesting twists. I look forward to the next one so I can see what happens next.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The audio version was also really well done. The narration really fit the characters and the mood of the story. 4 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of the ebook and audiobook.

Okay that was nice. Way different from what I usually read but interesting enough that I kept listening.

3.25* Thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for the audiobook.

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.
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. 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.
But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. Layla and Elise will have to work together to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. It was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, but I came away from the story feeling a little bit meh. I liked the characters and the angst between them quite a bit; the family drama, politics, and crime-solving situation were also intriguing. But the plot didn't make a lot of sense to me.
I honestly can't put my finger on what I found lacking, but I just didn't find it very memorable. I wouldn't consider it a bad book by any means, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time listening to it, but again, personally, the execution was lacking something. I will read the sequel because it intrigues me enough to keep going, even though I didn't really love this first installment.

If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, I definitely encourage you to give it a chance still. As for the audiobook narration, I really enjoyed it, so I would recommend that as well.

This was amazing. Love love love.
Vampires, 1920 New York. Everything is had hoped this book would give, gave.

Oh, how I wished this one had worked for me. My favorite book is set in the same time period, I loved the premise, and the cover was stunning, but I just could connect with the characters or the story. Nothing was compelling me to continue.

Who is responsible for getting this published? A true wattpad story if ever there was one. And a case of "the cover is too pretty to be wasted on this book". I don't think I listened to the audiobook for longer than 10%, and yet I remember there being more plot holes than characters by the point I stopped reading.

Oh, this was such a fantastic read! This world of reapers and reaper hunters was so interesting to read about. And infuriating, given what started reapers, and how developments of a "cure" are going, as well. Like, it was just awful!

Elise and Layla were best friends, they loved each other-and with a single betrayal, that friendship was broken. And I understand both sides, though I was more on Layla's side then Elise's. But there's bad feelings on both ends, and having to work together? Yeah, that brings everything to the surface, good and bad.

Watching their investigation, finding out all these moving pieces, was just thrilling to read! I was cheering for them along the way, dealing with Elise's dad, Layla's coven, and trying to find out who was behind all these deaths! I just had to know what was going to happen next!

I am a bit confused as to how it all went down, with all the different sides, and motivations, and explanations of it all. I think I have the broad strokes down, but I don't have a clear picture. Hopefully when I read the sequel, I'll understand it better!

Loved reading this book and I'm so excited for the sequel!

This one was a little bit slow for me, but I was here for the vampire story and the representation within. I did appreciate the audiobook listening while also reading. I also loved the Harlem renaissance vibes and I am looking forward to continuing the series. I believe this one was the building block to the rest of the series!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a captivating read that held my attention from start to finish. The story was well-paced, and the characters felt real and engaging. I’m grateful to the publisher for providing an early copy—it was a pleasure to read!

➸ 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 ☆
-
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.
-
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.