I've just emerged from the spellbinding world of "Where Shadow Meets" by Patrice Caldwell, and I'm still reeling from the experience. This multi-POV narrative took me on a thrilling journey through interchanging timelines, each perspective adding depth to an already intricate plot.

Every page turn revealed new layers, demanding my full attention but rewarding me generously. The narrative structure is ingenious, with each piece clicking into place to unveil a breathtaking bigger picture.

At its core, this tale pulses with true love, duty, and destiny. I found myself deeply invested in the journeys of these women, each trapped by circumstances, fighting against predetermined roles. Their sacrifices and losses hit me hard, adding raw emotional depth.

The relationships in this story are a maze of delightful surprises. It was like piecing together a jigsaw in the dark, each revelation illuminating another corner of this intricately crafted world.

I must warn you, this isn't a light read. It requires concentration to fully appreciate the nuances of the plot and the subtle interplay between characters. But believe me, it's worth every ounce of effort.

As the first in a series, "Where Shadow Meets" sets the stage for an epic fantasy saga. The world-building is rich, the characters are deliciously complex, and the plot is utterly captivating. Brace yourselves for a truly magical journey.

Thank you, Wednesday Books and NetGalley, for my free book.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell is a first person multi-POV YA Black Sapphic romantic fantasy with vampires, gods and seers. Crown Princess Leyla of the vampiric race grew up in the aftermath of a war between humans and vampires. When her best friend is abducted, she ropes in Najja, a seer who was imprisoned by Leyla’s mother. The two are drawn together as they rescue Leyla’s friend, but there’s someone else that they are unaware of who is going to do whatever she can to get her own destiny back.

This is not a paranormal romance as it’s set in a fantasy world with an entirely new pantheon with epic fantasy stakes. It also doesn’t go into the blood for the main couple until much later while a lot of paranormal romances with vampires, in my experience, have it happen a lot sooner. I think that would make this book perfect for readers who really like the idea of vampires but haven’t enjoyed most traditionally published paranormal romances but have enjoyed YA fantasy. I think this might be my first secondary world vampire romantic fantasy and I’m excited for more because I love the idea of vampires and fantasy romance/romantic fantasy and want to see how authors can expand the lore further out while keeping the things I love about PNR.

I don’t do this very often, but I really have to commend the prologue. It’s so easy to question why a prologue is there in fantasy these days because the information could be inserted elsewhere later or the book could start in a different place. What I liked about this prologue was the slightly dreamy quality and the angelic quality Favre had while Thana comes across as a bit darker even though Favre is the one who gives up her wings. It’s very biblical, in a way, but also darkly romantic and vampiric and I’m into it. It got me hyped for the rest of the book and hit all the right buttons. I also really appreciated that Black hair is drawn attention to by specifically referring to wash day in the prologue.

Najja and Leyla’s relationship develops as not so much enemies-to-lovers so much as ‘I don’t know what to make of you’-to-lovers. Fate weavers, or yamaja, are not really welcome in Leyla’s mother’s realm and Leyla is the heir to the prison who imprisoned Najja. There’s no good reason for them to trust each other behind not really having a choice but there’s also not a lot of good reasons for them to distrust each other either. I’m into the ways Najja and Leyla are sometimes framed more softly and also as strong and intelligent.

I would recommend this to fans of vampire romance who want a YA epic fantasy and readers looking for Sapphic Black vampires

I love a good vampire novel!! The dual timelines of this novel were really interesting - you would see something happen in the current timeline, then move to the past timeline to see why a certain situation happened or a reveal would occur and give you some insight into the current state of things. It those, it was a little jarring to move from 3rd person to 1st person POV.

The lore was really interesting but I felt the info dumping and travelling were a bit overdone and slowed the book down immensely. I had hoped for a bit more character and relationship development but the last 10% was action packed and had me hooked.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced review copy.

This book was just not for me at this time. I’ll have to try the audiobook when it comes out. Nothing against the book or the writing or the story in general but however it was me and I am no longer in the mood for this.

The author wrote very detailed descriptions of the characters and events, however I couldn’t get passed the third chapter. It was hard to follow and keep interest. It made me think of the Game of Thrones author; a lot of details but drawn out.

sapphic. fantasy. you already KNOW i was gonna eat this up and spoiler alert: i DID! this was excellent- from the world building to these badass characters IM IN LOVE. this is the kind of high stakes fantasy/romance plot of my dreams. i need caldwell’s next book (or grocery list) at this point

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy! You can pick up Where Shadows Meet on April 1, 2025.

This might be one of the most unique and imaginative worlds I've ever read. I really, really loved the lore that Patrice Caldwell wove together and how we see different facets of it for every POV in the book. We have Favre, a daughter of a witch and a god, who cuts off her wings to forge a god-killing blade for her lover Thana. Then we have Leyla, the vampire princess and descendent of Thana fated to reawaken her ancestress. And then there's Najja, a yamaja who can see visions of the future and communicate with the dead, and who's told she must save the princess's life to stop the end of the world (Thana's return).

Does that not sound so incredibly epic?? This story delivered lots of great back-story and action, as well as some sweet character moments, but I think they all could have been a bit more enhanced if the story was longer. I wanted to FULLY immerse myself in this world and be SHOWN how things work instead of told. The ARC was only 250 ebook pages, which gives us so little time to connect to the characters and FEEL everything they're feeling. I still had a fun time and will definitely recommend this book, but I just can't help thinking about what it could have been with more scenes depicting character relationships, the world, and the history of Favre and Thana.

I'd also like to point out how wonderfully Caldwell integrates themes of mothers and daughters into this story. We see three distinct mother-daughter experiences through these POVs, and it just felt like the icing on the top of an emotional cake.

If you're looking for a new epic YA fantasy full of Black lesbian vampires and emotional damage, this is your book!!

The blurb of this book definitely got my attention. I mean who wouldn't be intrigued by different types of vampires? With all the stories about vampires, it's rare to come across a new take on them. I found the world building to be lacking, and difficult to stay on track when the author jumps from third person pov to first person pov. Lots of info thrown at you and just in general feels a bit chaotic. Definitely an opportunity to take this idea and work out the kinks, but as is right now, monotonous and won't be continuing the series.

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell is a very original story with vampires and Gods and vampire gods. There are tons of characters and a whole family tree to look at but it not hard to keep straight once you start reading the story. The world is a vast as the characters. It is greatly described and wonderfully developed. The story starts out slow but then as you get further into the story, you begin to see how it all fits together in a mythological tale. It is a great tale that obviously is going to be told through many books, like an epic series, as this book leaves you hanging but wanting more. If you like epic fantasy with romance and mythology, then this is the book for you.
Thank to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I wanted so badly to love this book. Honestly my two stars is being generous. I found several flaws with this book. So many places where the Author should have gone into more detail. I had so many questions and almost none of them were answered. This book has potential to be great but it was severely lacking.
It started in third person POV in the beginning then switched to first person POV. I feel like we may have gotten a lot more information about the beginning and how they were turned into vampires if it was in first person POV from the beginning.
The family tree was blurry and I couldn’t see a single name.
I found myself rereading several pages thinking I missed something, but I didn’t. The author jumped around a lot.
I didn’t have any real connection to the characters and honestly thought about putting this book down and never picking it back up several times.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7358751044


This book has the potential to be really good and I am all for a LGBTQ book but I feel like every FMC being gay took it a bit far. I personally am not gay so I couldn’t relate to a single character in this book.

Read this in one day! It was fast paced and the plot had me so captivated. So many important themes explored here, how far one is willing to go for love, when does love cross the line into manipulation and selfishness, grief and childhood trauma and its lasting effects.

Things of note:
✨ Morally grey and villainous FMCs
✨ two sapphic romances in dual timeline
✨ very unique world building and mythology
✨ bloody food market because there are so many ways to consume blood than just drink it
✨ dark fantasy
✨ vampire princess x snarky “oracle”
✨ “she’s probably evil but love is blind” energy
✨ matriarchy
✨ queernormative world
✨ anxiety rep

This is a quick stream of consciousness review, full to follow closer to release day. Thanks to Wednesday Books for the ARC!

The mythology woven into the world-building was really interesting, and the story had a strong theme of love and sacrifice!

The story follows Favre, who gave up her wings for love, and Thana, the goddess who chose power over that love. Fast forward a thousand years, and Leyla, a vampire princess, sets out for Nekros, the island of the dead, to rescue her best friend.

The romance played a big role, and I liked how it tied into the characters choices and the bigger plot!

It definitely ends on a cliffhanger, so be ready for that!!

If you’re into fantasy with gods, vampires, and high stakes, this one is worth checking out!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the e arc.

This is a YA fantasy novel about vampires. Favre gave up her wings (which she never got over) to Thana for love. However, Thana gave up that love for power since she is a goddess. The novel takes place years in the future after a war between the gods, vampires, and humans. I thought the mix of mythology elements and fantasy was crafted beautifully. The world building was excellent and I thought the self-discovery for the characters was also well down for the first book in what will become a series. The only thing I didn't love was that the plot felt slow to be, which is something that I struggle with when getting into books.

I will not be continuing this book and will only be reviewing here on Netgalley. I only got to about twenty percent of the story. Unfortunately, despite an interesting world and concept, I struggled with actually reading this book. The language felt choppy and did not flow well. I found myself reading the same sentence multiple times to absorb the correct meaning and inflection. I do not know if this is something that would be better fixed in the final edit but it was a struggle here.

It was also a weird mix of overexplained and under explained for concepts in the story. Things I had questions about remained unanswered but things that were very clear were drilled into my head multiple times.

I think there could be a good story here with stronger editing.

3.5/5 stars

Summary: A dark and thrilling sapphic vampire romantasy, Where Shadows Meet explores sacrifice, love, and destiny. Set in a world shaped by war between vampires, humans, and gods, the story follows crown princess Leyla, as well as a cast of other characters, as she journeys to the island of the dead, unknowingly risking the return of an ancient evil.

I keep asking myself why I requested this book because it's not one that I would usually read - let me tell you, it's DARK. I have to be in the right mental state for heavy books like this and I'm not sure that I was in the right frame of mind when I read Where Shadows Meet. This story follows three main character's POVs, which didn't feel super overwhelming. I've seen other reviews complaining about the number of characters being too much, and I didn't feel this way at all. I didn't like the switches in POV between Leyla and Najja as it became confusing to me in the middle of the chapter to figure out which one was narrating and which one was referred to as "she". I also couldn't easily resolve this by flipping back to the beginning of the chapter on my e-reader, so I often had to stay confused until one of them would say the other's name and clear up whose POV the chapter was from. I will say that the prose and descriptive language that Caldwell uses is beautiful and feels very much like a poetic epic. I also really loved Favre's journal entries and the past storyline that was scattered throughout - man is she a damaged and desperate lover, which made it a bit hard to actually connect to the characters.

The main thing that impacted my reading experience was the lack of world-building. The author did preface her story with the fact that the world-building in this book would be missing in favor of expanding on a "larger change" in the following book. I am glad that Patrice Caldwell prefaced with that because I would have given this book 2 stars for the utter lack of world-building. Those missing details about the world around our main characters made it difficult for me to picture an entire scene (seeing only the characters with a blurry background or no background at all in my mind) and it created a disjointed story that felt like it jumped from place to place too quickly for me to keep up.

I probably won't continue on with this series, but I would still recommend giving this book a chance as the writing is beautiful and it's an overall quick read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Patrice Caldwell for allowing me access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Where Shadows Meet
by Patrice Caldwell
Where Shadows Meet #1
Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Apr 1, 2025
St. Martin's Press
Ages: 16+

Favre cut off her own wings so Thana, the girl she loved, could have power, but for that power, they sacrificed the sun and had to feed on the blood of others, which led to their downfall and Thana locked in a curse, leaving Favre to wander alone waiting for the key to wake her love.

A thousand years later, after the war between vampires, humans, and the gods that created them, Layla, the sheltered crown princess of an ancient race who survives on human blood sneaks out to the Island of the Dead to rescue her best friend after creatures fly off with her. Najja, a seer, goes with her hoping her presence will change the fate she saw befall Layla.


The blurb made this story sound interesting; I mean who couldn't pass up a story with different types of vampires, but their stories felt more like summaries. Sure, the story was centered on Layla, but the world-building was lacking, as were the vampires. Plus, there were quite a few chances for major action, but those events fell flat.

There were a lot of info dumps, and rambling, not to mention jumping from third to first person from three different characters, including diary entries from the past interrupting the present. While it sounds like it would keep a reader's attention, it lost mine. It was hard to keep track of who was speaking, and more importantly why they and their story mattered. The most discouraging part was the diary entries; they felt so out of place and with them I knew what was happening and going to happen within the first few chapters and that took the fun out of the story.

It's not gory, graphic, or scary, but it did push on the adult content border so it's only suitable for readers 16 and older.

I guess this is the first book in a series, but I'm not interested in continuing.

2 Stars

3/3 stars
0/5 spice

Where Shadows Meet had lots of elements that intrigued me but unfortunately in execution, it wasn't my favorite. I think Patrick Caldwell created a well-rounded YA Fantasy with relatable characters and a great amount of heart, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. I do recommend that people who are interested in this title, give it a chance, it may just be for you!

A dark and thrilling romantasy.

What would you sacrifice for love? Do we choose our fates or do our fates choose us?

I usually don’t go for vampire novels but this one seemed interesting. I had a hard time getting into the store. I put this book down and waiting a really long time before picking it back up. There was just too much going on in the beginning, it was hard to keep up.

I think this book could work for the right person but it wasn’t for me.

If you like:

🧛Vampires
🐍Toxic relationships
❤️forbidden love
🩸Multiple POVs
🧙Witches

Then this book is for you!!

Thank you NetGalley, Patrice and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!

Rating : 🩸🩸
Publication Date: April 1 2025

#WhereShadowsMeet #NetGalley

This was a quick read. Saw it up for grabs in a book box so decided to request it. After finishing decided to skip the book box. The marketing of this is GREAT and the premise sounds wonderful but it just lacks a lot. This is where I don’t necessarily blame the author but rather the editor and publishers cause y’all aren’t helping these stories that could be great reach that level.

DNF
The premise of Where Shadows Meet sounded very intriguing but I could not get into the writing style. It was slow, a little bland, and didn't draw me in. I kept putting it down and not feeling a desire to resume it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.