I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

The premise of Francesca Flores' The Witch and the Vampire is undoubtedly interesting, and if handled better, probably would've called for a better review. However, I didn't think the book was as good as it could've been.
The beginning is incredibly info-dump-y. The entire first couple of chapters are so overtly there just to explain to the audience the world building instead of jumping right into the plot. I found it to be a slow start that never really picks up at any point in the book. The next hundred pages or so are entirely chronicling a forest journey, which I usually enjoy, but at this point in time I was just bored.
Kaye and Ava are, as I already said, good characters in theory, but not in execution. They're just okay; they're not really fleshed-out enough for me to consider them truly good characters, and unfortunately, none of the side characters really make up for it. Tristan, for example, is one of the most lifeless characters, and he purely exists to help Kaye and Ava at the end.
Finally, I would've been able to give this book a full three-star rating, because I thought it was a pretty generic young adult fantasy, if not for the actually baffling ending. Spoilers ahead.
Ava climbs into the mines underneath the forest, and tries to convince Casiopea, the vampire queen, to stand with her against Ava's mother, Eugenia, and stop her from tearing the Heart Tree and the Bone Wall down, the magical barrier that keeps the vampires in the forest and the mortals safe from the vampires. Casiopea refuses to listen to Ava, and goes to trap her in vines, but then... she just... changes her mind, I guess? It's never really explained why Casiopea suddenly decides to join her other Arkane gods and die, and, even more puzzlingly, pass her powers onto Ava, a girl she was going to kill a mere 20 seconds ago. This felt lazy to me.
If that wasn't perplexing enough, at the end, Kaye is turned into a vampire, and Ava and Kaye come together to guide their new vampire family into "coexisting with mortals." Which sounds great as a concept, until Kaye and Ava straight up just kill a mortal guy and drain his blood. To be fair, the guy was terrible, but both girls before this point had expressed that they were never willing to kill anyone and drink their blood, no matter how terrible that person may be. Literally one of the driving reasons why Kaye got Ava locked up earlier in the book was because she saw her draining a guy of his blood, who was a Flame witch who was trying to kill Ava and wasn't innocent, and was so disgusted by this behavior that she betrayed Ava and turned her in. Ava herself expresses guilt about drinking from the man. You could argue that this ending was just character development for the two characters, but if the author wanted to go the full I'm-a-monster-and-I'm-proud route, I don't understand why Ava and Kaye were so wishy-washy with it-- Ava would flip back and forth between only drinking from animals to exclusively from humans through the entire book. It was so jarring to read about Ava and Kaye drinking from this guy at the end without remorse, it was like I was reading a whole different book. It made me wonder how Ava and Kaye are going to "coexist with mortals"-- are they going to drink just animal blood, like Ava had suggested before, or are they going to drain only bad people, or are they going to just roam free and drain whoever? It was so confusing.

All in all, I think this book could benefit from some more rounds of heavy editing and a lot of plot and character work. I think it has potential from its interesting premise, but it won't reach it, in my opinion, without some major changes.
2.5/5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads & Netgalley

I really, really wanted to love this book because it sounded amazing. I was very disappointed and I am so sad that I was. It was hard to get through this book because the pacing and the writing style were really weird. I think that this would have worked better as multiple books rather than just one. It felt like there was too much going on but none of it was really advancing the plot. The magic system and the world building was really confusing and never fully explained. I also couldn’t really connect to any of the characters and they all felt very dull. There really wasn’t much development for the romance either which was super frustrating. I don’t want to say that I won’t read anything else from this author in the future, but it would probably take a little convincing. Again, this makes me so sad because I was really excited to read this, but it just didn’t live up to what I was expecting.

This fantasy adventure romance by Francesca Flores was chef’s kiss swoon worthy. A sapphic Rapunzel retelling with a magical forest, an ancient queen, witches, and vampires, it met and then exceeded all my expectations. Two years ago, best friends with the potential for more, Ava and Kaye, had come into their magical powers as a Root witch and a Flame witch respectively. Soon after, both their lives are turned upside down — Kaye’s mother is murdered by a vampire the same night Ava’s mother turns her into a vampire and imprisons her in their home. Now, Ava is plotting her escape to join the ancient vampire queen in the forest that houses the vampires and Kaye is using her righteousness rage to prove to be the best Flame witch-vampire killer in the kingdom. The two are thrown together again, and they must learn to trust each other, and recognize their feelings while saving both their worlds from chaos and destruction. Beautifully told with stunning world building, this novel made me fall for its two main characters out of the gate. Their tragic pasts have shaped the girls, but they are able to be greater than anyone gave them credit for. Full of magic, adventure, and nail biting close calls, I can’t wait for you all to read this when it comes out in March. A romance appropriate for all ages, TW for child abuse and magical violence

Honestly, I didn't love this book - I found the characters' motives to be inconsistent and kind of hard to follow. That said - it was a fun, quick read. Some teens will definitely enjoy this book. Great readalike for any teen who is a fan of Buffy, First Kill, or is looking for a low-angst sapphic fantasy.

Thank you NetGalley and Francesca Flores for the ARC copy of this book.

This book was everything it promised. I love a fairytale retelling and this is the first I’ve read for Rapunzel. The dual POV of both Kaye and Ava was beautiful. I found both of their struggle and realizations regarding themselves and each other were so well written. I could feel both Ava’s and Kaye’s desperation to be both understood and loved. I really enjoyed how they each came into their own power and were equally strong independently as they were together. This book is definitely more on the YA side for me but still a strong story nonetheless. I am so glad I got the opportunity to read this book.

I highly recommend this book. It was such a good, touching read.

Tropes
-forced proximity
-friends to enemies to lovers
-found family

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
🌶 /5

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the eARC of The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores in exchange for my honest review!

I wanted to love this book. It had the makings of everything you could wish for: witches, vampires, young sapphic love, a bit of magic. It just fell a bit short for me. The concept is interesting, but I wanted it a bit more bulked out. I wanted more details and more information for most of the scenes.

3/5 for me.

Queer Rapunzel retelling with Witches and Vampires?! And that cover!?

Sadly, this book didn't really do it for me.
The premise was amazing. The beginning was good, the rapunzelesque part of the story, the revenge.. I saw the ending, though I did think it would happen slightly differently.

But there were a lot of inconsistencies and things that made no sense, rules that later didn't come into play: Example vampires that can only be killed by fire or decapitation were killed by squeezing with vines and breaking ribs..

There were a lot of repetitive sentences, and not just a few one offs that happen before final editing; I mean a significant amount, where the character will state an action and then turn around and state that same action at the beginning of the following paragraph.

The multiple POVs were mediocre, I didn't find there was a differentiation between the character voices and found myself checking the chapter heading frequently to remind myself who was talking.

I got bored 65-70% through, there was minimal tension, when the romantic part came to be.. just overall meh.

2.5 stars.

I received an electronic ARC from Netgalley.

I loved the concept, but the execution could have been better. I was rooting for the main characters, I liked them enough for that, but they had so much more potential. Still, it was a pleasant, quick read, maybe a bit too young for me, but still recommendable.

It is a good story but there were some sections or sentences that were repetitive throught the book. Everything else I loved. It was a fast read and enjoyable non the less.

This book sucked me in at the very beginning. The story starts with childhood friends Ava and Kaye and through tragic circumstances are found on opposite sides Ava with the vampires and Kaye with the flame witches . The once best friends now enemies have to try to overcome their differences and try and trust eachother again. Through the twists and turns the friends start to become more . This book is packed with action, friends to enemies from enemies to lovers ,found family.Politics ,a very cool magic system and can't forget the banter and the Vampire Queen. I can't wait to see where this series goes and what's next for Ava,Kaye & Company

I received this ARC from NetGalley, thank you for that!

A queer Rapunzel retelling starring a vampire and a witch? Count me in. I'm always down for retellings and open to reading pretty much any and everything.

I'd say it was very loosely a Rapunzel retelling with a little more of a Romeo and Juliet vibe to it.

We're following Ava, a root witch turned vampire, and Kaye, a flame witch vampire hunter. Once friends, the loss of Kaye's mom and disappearance of Ava the same night put an end to that.

The parallels to Rapunzle were Ava's long hair and her being locked in a tower, for "her own safety." There's no one but Ava to rescue herself from those keeping her in their clutches for evil reasons.

What I liked: Ava and Kaye growing into their own skin after being controlled by others. While they weren't able to trust each other, they did work together. The rekindling of their friendship and slow burn love story was sweet. They each were able to find strength within and through each other.

What didn't work: this says it's for young adults but it does read more middle grade. It's a good plot but there were parts that were very repetitive. Probably we could have done with a bit less escape from my mother and warn the Vampire Queen and more world building.

I don't know if the author is planning a series for this, but as a standalone I think it's a solid story and something worth a read. I enjoyed it.

A sapphic retelling of Rapunzel, that’s also friends to enemies to lovers? It’s obvious this book was written for me specifically and I thoroughly appreciated every minute of it!

Right off the bat before I jump into this there are some obvious CWs and I would recommend everyone checking into before starting this book!

I’ve read my fair share of fairytale retellings but until now I’ve yet to come across a Rapunzel retelling, when you add in vampires and witches? This isn’t a book you’ll want to pass up on. this was such a unique take on a classic tale. It was sweet, innocent and heartwarming all the same. The strained childhood friendships, trying to find where you fit in a complicated world and all the regular struggles of being a teenager before also adding in being a vampire in a world where witches don’t accept vampires. It was so much fun watching the conflict between the two FMCs. Both Ava and Kaye were so well developed that the whole time, even though you may not agree with their actions, I felt they were always justified in what their responses and reactions to situations were. In addition to how much I loved both main characters even the side characters were developed well and I found myself rooting for Tristan to prove his dad wrong.

As much as I loved this book I can’t not point out how horrible all the parents in this book were 🥶…

Very compelling story and surprisingly well done character arcs, especially with so much conflict and changing opinions every couple chapters. I do have some issue with the first person descriptions or perceptions of their own appearance or actions; it seemed sometimes to be something only an outside party would be able to note about their behavior.

I really wanted to love this book. It had such promise but after reading it I’m more disappointed than anything. Here are some of my problems with this story. The writing style is geared towards being a little repetitive and flat. It definitely suffers from the telling rather than showing syndrome. There is also quite a bit of info dumping. I could feel my eyes glaze over from time to time. I understand the author is trying to world-build her but it was done in such a mundane way I was bored most of the time.

I also felt there was very little character growth and their actions and feelings felt shallow. Much of the time Kaye would go from one extreme to the other very quickly and for reasons that were not always clear. The side characters were also very one-dimensional. No complexity whatsoever. There is a lot of black and white in this book. While there were attempts at shades of grey it did translate very well on the page.

I also felt I was bait and switched after finishing this story. It is nowhere close to being a Rapunzel retelling. Yes, there is a similarity here and there but not what I would call a retelling. I did see this is geared toward teens and young adults. Unfortunately, this would be better suited for pre-teens and younger teens. Anyone over 15 would find this very bare bones for a story and lacking in complexity.

I do like that it's a shappic “enemies to lovers" trope but that's all I liked about it, unfortunately. As for the ending, while it tied most everything up it left a bit to be desired. There are good bones to this story but it does need revamping and beefing up.

This book was an incredible read. I loved every second of it. Rapunzel yet a touch of Romeo and Juliet. It was so well written I got sucked into it. Obviously due to the title containing vampire there is mention of blood just a fair warning to others who may not be comfortable reading about that. So thrilled I was able to read this. Secretly hoping there will be another book to follow since I was not ready to be done with these characters yet.

The Witch and the Vampire was a fun, adventurous read featuring a strong sapphic duo and complicated family relationships. I was hooked the second I read that it was a sapphic retelling of Rapunzel--especially with that cover!! This should appeal to teens who are enthusiastic about vampires--this was more of a vampire book than a folklore retelling, with a witches vs. vampires storyline and two childhood friends who are caught on opposite sides of the conflict.

On that note, as someone who loves myth and folklore, I was a bit disappointed that there was actually very little Rapunzel retelling in this book. There's a girl who is briefly imprisoned in a tower and has long hair, and her mother takes power from her (and that last part is a Tangled retelling, not the actual story of Rapunzel). The story could have proceeded just fine without trying to throw in the Rapunzel elements. That detail aside, though, this was an enjoyable story with main characters to root for.

I adored this book! A Rapunzel retelling of sorts, but magic & vampires are involved! This book was able to get me in the mood for spooky season. I do wish there was more plot driven dialogue instead of flashback retellings to give context in the story. Otherwise it was enjoyable and if you like sapphic retellings and anything to do with magic and mystical worlds, this one is for you!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the chance to read this book!

I was really hoping to enjoy this book, especially with the gorgeous cover art! I liked the idea of trying witch vs vampire-- definitely a fresher take on vampire vs werewolf, and it seemed interesting that one could be both.

I unfortunately felt like there was a great amount of infodumping throughout the entire book. I'm usually a fan of infodumping, and like it-- tell me about your world so I can understand it! However, it felt like it continued, up past the twists and nearly onto the final chapters. There were a lot of things that also felt as if they should have greater emotional value and weight than they ended up having?

I think that for young sapphics trying to find themselves, this could very much be an important book for them.

Thank you to the publisher for the arc. While I enjoyed the dynamic between Kaye and Ava, this book leaves a lot to be desired. There were was too much info-dumping even until the end. I appreciate when exposition is interwoven into a story in a more seamless way such as through scenes or dialogue rather than through non-stop paragraphs of info dumping.

I was so ready to love this, alas… I really, really did not.

It’s regrettable because there was such potential here -
definitely geared more toward middle school YA, ,I found the writing immature, as well as repetitive and flat.
Both storylines fade into each other, because neither are otherwise individual, characters are painfully shallow yet there are many uninteresting info dumps.
This really could have benefited from more editing.

As a result of these grievances, I had a difficult time reading through this.

I’m sure this will find its fans, but despite the loveliness of the cover and the truly intriguing concept, this one is a pass from me.