I really enjoyed A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters!
I liked the characters, the LGBTQ+ rep, the world building and the character relationships.
Personally, Kas’ development is my favourite. I think out of the main characters she changes the most in terms of adapting her world view based on what she sees and experiences. I love the different kids of monsters!
I did not enjoy how quickly the villain changed right at the end. It didn’t feel particularly natural or realistic to the character. I would love to see Kas and Claudia on their new travels and what happens with them!
A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters is a fun, action packed, enemies to lovers, found family, badass women fuelled read!

Honestly I don't have much to say. It's Vi Arcane in the Witcher with unoriginal fantasy ideas. The issue with most romantasy is that they all have boring uninspired fantasy setting so they need to compensate with good romance and romance writing but most can't even do that. Nothing made the characters stand out. They're basic, I have seen this story before with nothing to spice up the clichés. I am not even happy that lesnians are also getting low quality romantasy like the straights because we can barely get good ones.

This book was fun to read but I felt the plot was lacking. It should take place over a few months but almost none of that was shown. Because of that, all the relationships between characters seemed rushed and/or flat. Neither really had any attraction to each other until other than physically; and only after Claudia bites Kas on the ship. They don't have a moment of reflection on how they like non-physical aspects of the other.
There were also some plot holes. The main one I have issues with is how Serisa knew where the Slayers keep is. The Slayers keep has been there for hundreds or thousands of years and no vampyre/ or other monsters have gone in and killed the slayers? How does that make sense? Was there a reason this hasn't happened yet? Kas describes it as a place where not a lot of Slayers are there at one time so maybe that's why, but it still doesn't have sense. The fighting/ action scenes were really fun. This is one of the books you read you read for vibes not to read something life changing; or if your in a reading slump and need a quick read.

When I started reading this book, I was expecting a very different story and for the first 20% I even thought I would not like this book very much. Fortunately, this changed and I enjoyed the plots, spins and POVs more and more.
Were the side characters more fleshed out and the final plot twist a bit more detailed, I would have landed on 4 stars, so its 3,5 for me.

4.5 stars!!
Thank you to Rita Ruben and Netgalley for the ARC!!
Wow this was honestly such a breath of fresh air for me
I loved the story and plot for this book so much, it felt like I was embarking on the adventure with them and the banter and conversations between all of the characters felt so natural!
Kas and Claudia have my heart, like I love the lesbians so much
There was a lot of rep in this book!! I loved Aara’s trans rep, got a lot of lesbian relationships and different character traits and looks
I felt like this was just a super fun ride and I loved it the whole time
The pacing was also pretty good, it had plenty of action while also having lots of downtime for character development and exploring their world which I loved, all the traveling they did felt fun
Not to mention how Kas and Claudia had a pretty good enemies to lovers relationship, it worked out super well
The only thing I would change is for it to be longer :D

This is a great book for fans of fast paced monster/hunter dynamics with a multi-POV focus. For readers looking for something akin to The Witcher with classic fantasy lingo and settings that will leave those hoping for a darker, stormier, grungier slayer-book satisfied.

Review 2.5 ⭐️/3 ⭐️

I was super excited to read this book as the cover was stunning and the premise of the book sounded super interesting. A sapphic Witcher themed story of a monster hunter and half monster teaming up together to destroy a dragon remnant and stop them returning to the world, travelling together and battling other monsters and meeting new friends whilst also falling for each other along the way.

Unfortunately I think the writing was a little choppy and almost child like in places, even with the violence and adult themes. The sentence were all very matter of fact and didn’t really allow the reader to interpret things for themselves. Although the plot was a very linear course (meet, travel together, finish the quest) it seemed that during the travel, the relationship between the two main characters seemed to develop very suddenly when they were natural enemies and wanted to kill each other from the get go.

Overall I think that the book was very promising but seemed to have fallen flat slightly, it was still a very enjoyable read and I wouldn’t mind seeing what else the author creates in the future.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for the ARC!

I really loved the queer representation in this book! The premise of the book was interesting and I enjoyed reading from the three main character's POVs. However, the writing took so much away from the book. The pacing wasn't good and the writing and sentence structure was choppy. At times the dialogue also fell flat. The story could be predictable at times, and the way the author was over explaining everything and not letting the reader interpret things for themselves was tiring. I did not get very invested in the characters and their development as well, which was disappointing because I feel like more could have been done with this book.

A Ballad for Slayers & Monsters is a fun, action-packed sapphic fantasy with a compelling enemies-to-lovers romance. I loved the queer representation but the pacing felt uneven, and I wished for more depth in the characters and their relationships. The writing also felt a bit fragmented at times. Still, it’s an enjoyable read for fans of sapphic fantasy and romance!

Vampires and dragons oh my !
This sapphire take on Vampire Slayers I loved!
It was amazing.
I loved the characters so much.
It was really sad and dark but a lovely sapphire romance .
I'd definitely read more of this wonderful author.

I was immediately captivated with this novel from the very beginning. What a way to kick this story off! 'A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters' is such a fierce and beautiful story, and I loved every second!

Full of magical lore, and action-packed epic fights and battles with monstrous creatures, we follow our two main characters on a quest to protect their world from ruination. Kas of Veldenier - a menacing monster hunter - and her begrudging companion Claudia the vampyric were brilliant characters, with lots of background to their pasts, and great character arcs as the story progressed!

This novel was a heartfelt sapphic tale of enemies to lovers; a romance that felt forbidden in its nature. Their conflicting desires for each other battled against their growing bond as they traversed together alongside their animal companions. A vampyric and a Slayer could never be, Claudia is a heartless monster, after all. And yet the connection they formed was so intimate and beautiful to read! They were truly prepared to burn for the other.

This book was a thrilling adventure, and I ate up every page! It felt inspired by the 'The Witcher', as well as having incredible DnD vibes!

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this! I had an amazing time!

*I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you NetGalley and Rita A. Rubin for this ARC!

If I could, I would give this book a 4.5/5 rating.

The story has a strong opening, showing us how Kas came to be a Slayer, and from the start I was captivated by how well the action scenes were executed. It was easy for me to follow what was happening and I never felt lost. However, I wish there were more quieter scenes in between all the action. Kas and Claudia's relationship developed quite quickly and I was left wishing to see more down time where we could see them connect.

The chapter structure took a bit to get used to, but once I did I enjoyed getting different perspectives from Kas, Claudia and Serisa. The only downside is how awfully short some of the chapters came out to be, not giving me enough time to connect with what's going on from one perspective before jumping to another.

Despite these issues I had, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. The queer characters are written wonderfully. The enemies-to-lovers and slayer/vampire romance was wonderful and in the end, I wish the book was longer so I could spend more time with the characters!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that reminded me of the first season of the Witcher and the Stardust movie. This is definitely not a book that someone would look for if they are used to Sanderson-style high fantasy, but it was light, fun, and an enjoyable read while I was snowed in for an afternoon. This book straddles the line between YA and adult, making for an easy read with some more adult themes.
The plot-to-romance ratio was really well executed, and I liked the way that the relationship between Kas and Claudia developed over time. The author also did a really good job at demonstrating character's power in a way that made sense in the story and didn't come off as ridiculously OP and unbelievable. The action scenes were incredibly written- especially when describing fighting with different techniques and weapons.
While I did very much enjoy this book, I think it would have been better as a 2 book series. There were some issues where "big" fight scenes (especially the last) were resolved very quickly, and there were large time jumps that were fairly confusing. I agree with other reviews that claimed that the worldbuilding or certain scenes weren't covered in depth enough - something that I think would be covered better in other books.
Overall, this was a nice little escapist book to read in an afternoon. It was cozy, fun, and sprinkled with just the right amount of action.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I think this book was a good cozy read. I definitely agree with some of the other reviewers that it was lacking depth. I don’t think this book will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next, but I do think it’s a fun read if you’re cool with just being along for the ride.

Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by the action scenes. I often find that action scenes feel a bit cluttered, or hard to keep up with, but the fight scenes in this book were easy to follow. I do wish there was a little more action in this book, or at least more tension. The stakes are set pretty high (the potential return of world ending dragons) but the focus of this book is mostly on the relationship between Claudia and Kas.

If you’re someone who likes cozy fantasy, I think you would enjoy this.

The premise of this book excited me, but when I actually got to reading it, it was hard to get through.
The writing felt flat and took away from what the plot could have been. It also lacked the proper world and character building for me to really form any big connections with the characters, and there was so little focus on romance that I didn't feel connected to their relationship either.
I would have liked more exploration into the main characters relationship with each other, and how their pasts influence their decisions.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, but I'm sorry, I couldn't finish this one. I grant it two stars because there was nothing that angered me while reading - I love the premise and the general character design, but goodness, the writing and dialogue was so stilted. Here's an interaction that made me want to put the book down:

"Hmph," Ves snorted. "Even we can't travel as far and fast as a trastere stone."
"You're right about that. Well, Ves, I don't suppose you have a trastere stone of your own hidden somewhere on your immense person?" she asked the other vampire.

I made it through a quarter of the book, and it sadly did not get any better. There was nothing especially compelling about the world, story, or characters. It makes me sad, I really really wanted to like this one.

I really hoped I would love this but to be completely honest I really struggled to get through it.

Transparently, it’s not my usual taste in books and I’m sure that has a significant influence on my opinions, so do keep that in mind. I generally reach more for fantasy books where romance plays a very minor role (if present at all), but I actually found myself wishing that there was MORE focus on the romance. It felt like a strange point in limbo between being plot focussed vs romance focussed in a way where I simply could not quite get invested in either. I get the vibe that the author’s specialty is cozy fantasy romance with less significant plot and I kind of wish they had leaned more into that.

If you’re into cozy fantasy and a fan of caitvi vampire fanfic you will probably really love this a lot more than I did (and I hope that you do)! There will never be enough sapphic vampires in the world.

Let me preface this by saying thank you so much for the ARC!

Here is my honest review:
I did begrudgingly finish this book. It is a poorly edited work that was not ready for publication. There are too many grammatical mistakes and inexcusable typos. Fixing these issues would have made this a solid 2-star book. It might even be three stars if it were transformed into a YA novel. The writing was too simplistic for adults, and I did not appreciate being told and not shown. It felt lazy and it made me feel lazy reading it. Simply removing the sex scenes and softening some of the violence would turn it into a YA or even middle grade novel.

The premise was promising with plenty of opportunities for character development. As it is, I did not feel invested in any of the characters. Once I learned of their history, it was too far into the story for any empathy to development.

This reads like an outline to a book with strong potential.

'A Ballad of Slayers and Monsters' is an action-packed sapphic take on the Witcher, complete with plenty of strong women, monsters to slay, a host of companions and animals to follow along the adventure. Unfortunately, as strong as the premise of the book is, the execution fell short of expectations.

Kas is a Slayer, driven by a need for revenge against the Vampyrics who killed her family in front of her. However, when she encounters Claudia, a half-vampyrics in possession of a relic capable of ending the world, it quickly becomes clear that that there is safety in sticking together. Especially when Claudia’s vampyric half-sister is on their trail and desperate to reclaim the relic and free the dragons it keeps locked away. As Kas and Claudia keep on the move, they find themselves embroiled with new companions, a variety of intimidating monsters, and no shortage of danger. At the same time, they find themselves drawn to the other despite their natural enmity.

This book had all the set-up to be something I really enjoy. I am always looking for action-packed sapphic stories, especially when said story comes with a motley mix of found family and a few fun companion animals. Unfortunately, the execution of this book often lacked the weight that would give this story any meaning. The book is very focused on action first, with character development often falling to the wayside. A lot of the story revolves around a long journey, but the reader just jumps between action scenes without ever seeing the quieter moments in the middle. Relationships can be built in the heat of battle, but without establishing what is ‘normal’ in the weeks between written scenes, it is impossible to tell what about a scene or encounter is special. For example, at one point a character is shocked that another is willing to speak of their past, alluding to them always being too closed off to share details about themselves. However, because the book only shows the points of high action and high emotions when they don’t know if they’ll make it through, that character actually shared an awful lot in all the scenes the reader has seen. A lot of the book is like this: characterization often happens off-page. This is especially clear for the companions: the book is so fast-paced that what time it has to make the character relationships meaningful is almost solely devoted to the main pair. For example, the book expects the reader to be deeply attached to a companion animal that has been present throughout the story but, as the reader rarely sees the animal interact with the people in any particular or interesting way, it is hard to feel connection to it.

I also felt that the writing style detracted from the book. The sentence structure is often awkward, with incomplete sentences being a major writing device. However, the use of choppy, incomplete sentences was not used to add to the tension of a harrowing scene, to depict an incomplete perception of an event, or in any other way that would have contributed to the feeling of reading the book. Instead, they were mostly random and often felt jarring to read. When a character is recalling an event from earlier in the book, the reader is not trusted to remember the event or put pieces together; instead, the character’s every thought is spelled out in a way that loses subtlety and comes across as awkward. Also, major events in the book are given little weight. There are multiple times where a chapter ends with a moment where a character should, for all intents and purposes, have died from their injury; however, the very first line of the next chapter assures you that everything is completely fine and there was never anything to worry about in the first place. It causes the big moments to lose a lot of their impact as it becomes clear that the characters are not facing any major risks. Finally, this book often chooses to tell rather than show.

I am giving this book 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. I think there’s an interesting plot amid the distracting writing style and poor characterization. This is the kind of fantasy book that I could see appealing to readers who enjoy an action-focused story. Also, as a queer woman, I have a great appreciation for someone seeing parts of popular fantasy archetypes that feel very influenced by the male gaze and flip it around. More books should have a bunch of badass ladies running around, kicking butt, and being hit on by the local ladies.

This was a fun premise and it was so refreshing reading a fantasy so sapphic and centered around women!

Unfortunately, it felt lacking in depth to me and I wish I could’ve felt more invested in the plot or characters