3.5 stars

A unique sapphic vampire romantasy that weaves a story between three vampires, starting 1,201 years ago and merging with the present. The POVs definitely take some getting used to and there’s a lot of information presented right off the bat. Favre’s POV detailing the creation of the first vampire and the start of the human/vampire war was the most intriguing to me and I thought her character was very complex and well done.

Leyla and Najja’s stories were interesting but their POVs were harder for me to tell apart. There was a small amount of romance between them which could have used some more development. I did appreciate the way the three stories came together and the theme and love and sacrifice. I feel like I wanted more from the ending, but there’s definitely potential for the story to get more exciting in the next book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in change for an honest review.

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell is the first book of a fast paced sapphic vampire romantasy duology.

We follow the perspectives of Favre, Leyla, and Najja — Favre gives us diary entries and takes a through the past through the present as her lover, the Vampire Goddess Thana has been locked away for centuries and there is a prophecy that will set her free. Leyla is a vampire princess descendant of Thana who is on a mission to find her best friend Danai who has been captured — and Najja is a yamaja who is able to see spirits who helps the Princess Leyla find her captured best friend.

There was a lot that I enjoyed about this book - I felt captivated by each of the main female characters and curious to learn more about them and their motivations. I enjoyed Favre’s diary entries and seeing how her relationship with Thana shifted over the years. I did love the SLOW BURN romance that we got from Leyla & Najja, and I hope that the next book will get a lil spicier and satisfying.

I will say there are some plot holes and overall confusion with the story, but overall I had a fun time reading it and I would recommend it to vampire romantasy lovers & I am invested in the series. I would love to read more from Patrice Caldwell.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & St Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise was interesting, but ultimately I felt like there was too much going on in this book for it to really pull me in, and I had trouble differentiating between the different voices. Thanks very much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Patrice Caldwell’s Where Shadows Meet is a haunting tale of love, betrayal, and sacrifice. Set in the aftermath of a war between gods, humans, and vampires, it follows Favre, a wingless immortal seeking to resurrect her lost love, and Leyla, a vampire princess on a perilous journey to save her best friend. While I loved the concept, the book just did not fully deliver for me.

Black vampire princess! What more do you need? This story was so engaging. The fantastical elements and world building was chef’s kiss

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell is a great concept! I really enjoyed it, a really great novel.

This was a really beautifully written story. I loved that it really focuses in on the sacrifices and how we choose way to give for what we love.

**Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this ARC of Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell. Expected Publish Date April 1st, 2025.**

After reading the description of this novel on NetGalley, I was intrigued. I love vampires, and vampire stories and lore - so I was really excited to dive into this book!
.
This Sapphic, dark fantasy romance story takes place in the aftermath of a war between vampires and humans, and the gods that made them. We follow a vampire princess on her quest to find her best friend who has been taken in an attack on her kingdom. The princess must travel to Nekros (the Island of the Dead) to find and save her friend. Said princess meets a fate weaver on her journey, and finds an unexpected love in this new relationship.
.
This was an enjoyable read for me. I don't read a lot of YA novels due to the naivety of the characters sometimes, but the characters in this novel were written maturely enough that I didn't roll my eyes or laugh at the things they said and did. The book flows very well, and keeps a steady pace. You are greeted with a huge family tree in the beginning of the book- which can seem daunting - but I felt the information was doled out throughout the book, not in one long chapter- which makes it easier to digest.
.
The story is written in past/present form with three viewpoints - which can get confusing sometimes - but I felt the author did a great job at keeping the story and viewpoints concise. All in all, this was a fresh take on the vampire/human war theme - throw in some power hungry gods and fate weavers and you've got a fun, easy to read, dark fantasy book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This story combines gods / mythology and vampires. The majority of characters and relationships throughout are queer. The overall premise of this book and the POC / queer representation intrigued me.

Overall I enjoyed this book! I did find it to be a little slow in places and it took me awhile to get through. I thought about it a lot of the time when I wasn’t actively reading and couldn’t wait to get back to reading it.

I didn’t really see the build up for the main relationship in the book; it felt like it happened out of nowhere to me (versus the slow burn it’s described as). I did love all the strong female characters throughout the book.

I am looking forward to reading the second book in this duology!

I loved Where Shadows Meet! The dark world of vampires and gods pulled me in right away, and the romance added such a nice touch. The setting was so vivid, I felt like I was right there. Some parts of the character development could have been stronger, but overall, it was a captivating read with plenty of twists. If you enjoy dark fantasy with a unique vibe, this one is a great pick!

Patrice Caldwell does a fantastic job of the world building. You immediately get sucked in. We switch between three POv’s and I enjoyed hearing from the past. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Thank you to Net Galley and Wednesday Books for the ARC. I was excited to read this because I love vampires and sapphic romance. Unfortunately, the book was very infodumpy, the characters all too similar, and the plot itself was boring.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday books for the ARC of this book.

This was a fun mashup of different god, vampire, and other mythological creature lore. Had me hooked from start to finish.

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell is a spellbinding blend of romance, fantasy, and the supernatural. Set in a world where vampires, humans, and gods clash, the story follows Leyla, a determined crown princess, and Najja, a mysterious seer, on a daring rescue mission to the Island of the Dead.

Caldwell’s rich storytelling and immersive world-building make this a must-read for fans of dark fantasy. The novel explores themes of love, loss, and destiny.

I loved the world building in this book, and all the mythology around the origin of vampires. This really felt refreshing in the genre!

I did struggle a bit with the characters and their love stories - I didn’t really feel very attached to them, and it’s hard to explain why. It’s probably a matter of personal preference.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

Whenever I read a disappointing book, I sometimes wonder, "How did this get published? Who picked this up?" In this case, the answer is obvious, since the author in question is an experienced literary agent.

The thing is, though, I can almost make out Caldwell's vision for this book. A deeply entrenched fantasy world with gods, vampires, seers, and humans all duking it out. All the while, it's quite queernormative (For sapphics, anyway. There weren't any major achillean nor trans/nb characters. But most of the prominent women were hella gay). I have no doubt that this world Caldwell created has been something she's fully sunk herself into for the longest time; I'm the same way with my own writing. We get so insane with the fictional people inside our heads, but it really takes a specific skill to get it on paper and have its intended readers become insane about it, too. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Caldwell didn't achieve that in this book.

The first thing you're greeted with when you open the book is a giant family tree of gods and small paragraphs about the subclasses of vampire. Then you're further bombarded with info-dump after info-dump, all of it worldbuilding. As someone who just read the whole book, I barely retained any of it, and I'm certain all of it will have left my brain by the time I wake up tomorrow. It was so boring and tiresome that I contemplated dropping the whole thing, but my stubbornness won out.

The characters aren't much better. Favre had the potential to be interesting, but, in the end, she's nothing but the big baddie who monologues her evil plan and constantly repeats her intentions/motives in her inner dialogue (She also has diary entries?? They read the exact same when it was just prose. I don't understand why Caldwell did this other than to imply historians/archivists have collections of these documents?? It's all so confusing, and thinking about it too much is not worth the effort right now). I found Najja to be very irritating, and Leyla felt so forgettable and bland. Hell, Leyla didn't appear til chapter 5, and it took half of the book to get to inciting incident only for our main characters to dawdle around with each other (It's not a slow burn. They kiss at the ~250 page mark, and they have their third act breakup 15 pages later over something very stupid). We're constantly being told how sad these girls are and all the pain they went through, but I could not muster a single ounce of caring for any of it.

I dunno. Vampires have been making a comeback, which I don't mind, but this just was not it. I'd rather read the other sapphic Black vampire book that came out this year again rather than finish this duology. I just wish I was able to enjoy this more than I did.

3.0 / 4.0

Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell is a YA vampire fantasy. It builds a sometimes-complex, sometimes-simple world of gods and vampires, and humans and sea-born oracles, that has an interesting story, but weak character development, loose plotting, and an unsatisfactory ending. It also incorporates a queer accepting world view and features a matriarchal queendom.

There are several significant plot holes that are not resolved in this book. It concludes, but is obviously the first book in a series, so a reader is left with very little to carry them into the next book. The author goes on and on in each of the three main voices, but they are all essentially the same voice. Their trauma all bleeds together and is so redundant. Every time the voice switches, the reader is subjected to an extended monologue about their mommy issues. It’s exhausting.

Additionally, the writer’s mastery of their craft is a step down from good. Perhaps the next book will show an advancement in style and composition, but overall this book could have done with more polishing and editing. The story is intriguing and could easily be twice as long as it is, with fully developed characters that stand on their own and do not all sound like the same voice, world that explores more of the other vampire empires in their journey, and plot that does not drop single chapter of characters and side quests in but never to tie it to anything or return. For a book about bloody vampires and vengeful gods and war, there is no real bite to the writing. This story really felt like it should be NA and not YA because so much of it was glossed over or skipped entirely. Whole chunks happen off page. It might be overlooked in a younger reader, but I tend to think the YA demographic is more observant and would feel the ways this book is lacking.

Recommendations? For a YA audience I can see the appeal, but for older readers I do not think this will be more than a one day read. It has a good story but is poorly executed.

Also, this book needs trigger warnings and content warnings at the beginning. All of the characters have severe trauma, one speaks openly about grief driven suicide and another about the literal abusive relationship she is in, so that’s something to be aware of before going into this.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to the eARC of this book.

is this the most groundbreaking ya in the world? absolutely not, but queer girls of color deserve to have their cheesy ya stories as much as anyone else, and i am here for it!

My new favorite take on vampires! I loved the worldbuilding in this book, especially combined with Caldwell's exquisite voice. Definite recommend.

Where Shadows Meet is about gods and vampires and the choices made for love. It was a little slow for me and I had a hard time relating to the characters.