So this was sold as a Rapunzel retelling but is actually a Tangled retelling? When Tangled is already a Rapunzel retelling?

Throw in vampires, witches, and queers, and you'd think this would be right up my alley, but it was not as exciting as it sounded. The girls are friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, which again, sounds very exciting, but was quite poorly executed.

The plot was easy enough to follow when there was one. There wasn't much of one in my opinion. By the time we made it to the twist, I yawned, and then skimmed the rest of the way through.

Don't be like me. Don't be fooled by a pretty cover.

This was quite good but a few elements felt a little unpolished or incomplete. Maybe it was a slight weakness to the worldbuilding or maybe the exposition was a touch lacking here and there. I can't say this was a perfectly entertaining read because there were several instances of major scenes happening, especially at the climax of the book, that just left me confused. Some things just didn't make sense or weren't explained very well, it seemed. And the book has a somewhat open ending, which is not my favorite outcome, I have to admit.

Still, I loved the characters in this book. Ava, who is both a witch and a vampire, has a very complicated relationship with her mother. She also has a very complicated relationship with her love interest, the witch Kaye. They go from friends to enemies to friends again. But I was hoping for more romance in this book and didn't realize initially that it is YA, which is fine. I read a lot of YA. But the leads kiss I think twice in the entire book. There is some great romantic tension between the girls as they traveled together through a forest and have to sleep side-by-side, even though they are mistrustful enemies at the time, but the rest of the story seems to lack the same excitement. Seeing their bond grow as they come to understand one another is nice, just not very romantic. I would say this book is a lot more about friendship, and not just between the girls; they also have a witch friend from school called Tristan. This is really a story about the three of them being driven apart and finding each other again and reigniting old friendships. It should be called The Witches and the Vampire. If you like the trope of found family and childhood friendships surviving until or being rediscovered in adulthood, this is the book for you.

There are a lot of well-written battle scenes in this book and the vampires feel realistic. They don't seem to be affected by the sun, which I tend to find bothersome because half the fun of a vampire is that they are creatures of the night, but they have serious bloodlust in their hearts. The witches didn't feel quite so fleshed out. The witches discussed in the book are fire witches, but it is hinted that there are other types of elemental witches, too. I feel like if that was going to be mentioned at all, it should play some role in the story, but it never does.

There are plot twists and backstabs and newfound friendships throughout the entire story, and I think the character relationship development in this book is excellent. The book is very plot-heavy and I can't say it all made sense to me. Still, this was pretty original and action-packed, and it is really gory and violent, and I loved that about it. I think this book would be very appealing to horror and vampire fans, as opposed to readers primarily interested in a sapphic romance.

Blog Post goes up Oct 27th

TL;DR - Nah.

This was a huge miss for me from almost the first page. Ava and Kaye are two friends separated for years after Ava is turned (unwillingly) into a vampire and Kaye's mother is murdered. Ava knows nothing of the murder of Kaye's mother, instead she has been locked in her parents home abused and tortured by her family. Kaye has decided, after glimpsing Ava with blood on her face in a window, that Ava murdered her mother and has spent two years planning her revenge.

The plot is fairly simple, I'd venture so far as to say basic. The writing verges more into the simplistic style of middle grade novels with the amount of telling instead of showing, and the… stupidity of the characters. Kaye is for me the most frustrating, she makes assumptions and from there forward they are her facts. She has no room for critical thinking, and is incredibly frustrating to read about. Ava is unfortunately just as weak with very little personality.

Additionally there were a lot of topics and themes in this that were just handled poorly. From parental abuse to the racism and into the humans vs vampires feud. All of this could have been examined and broken apart, looked at and studied but it felt clumsily shoved in for some depth to the world.

This one was not a winner for me, I was left mostly annoyed while reading it so I unfortunately can't say I recommend it.

This was a good idea. Lots of story that kept me in gaged the whole time. I did feel like everything ended abruptly. Also Kaye’s reaction to her situation at the end was uncharacteristic of her. Ended like there could be more books, but this kinda fell a little flat for me at the end.

Vampires but not really a Halloween feeling read.

Older ya. Sapphic. Tension/ confusing feeling. Descriptions on how they felt with each other.

Check content warnings.

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC.

I enjoyed the beginning of this book the buildup for the story was good but a bit of a heavy info-dump that ultimately felt rushed in the end. I was super hyped for this novel having heard about it from several people and advertised on social media. Though I enjoyed most of the book, it felt over hyped. The book is unique from other vampire and witch novels however, I found myself putting it down repeatedly in favor of other reads. I found the magic system interesting and would have loved to have see this explored even more. There was quite a bit of back story that was hinted to but never got fleshed out. Ultimately, I think that if the book had a bit more editing, it would have been a pretty solid YA fantasy novel. It was good though I don’t find myself looking to do a reread a solid 3 star read.

This was a really intriguing read! I loved the characters and the world building. Everything felt so real and I could see myself stepping right into this world. My only complaint was that the pacing was a little slow in the beginning, but I still had a great time reading this book!

I tried to like this book. I wanted to love it. The beautiful cover, the intriguing storyline... but it fell flat for me. It felt very, Juvenile? The story went on and one but the characters didn't seem to grow or develop beyond the surface.

Read is your enjoy:
• witches
• vampires
• retellings
• forbidden love

While the cover drew me in this was unfortunately not for me. The lack of world building — something absolutely essential to a fantasy novel — made it hard to get into.

So so good I can’t wait to pick up a physical copy!

I will definitely be reading more of Francesca’s work

A queer Rapunzel retelling with vampires and witches? Count me in! I really enjoyed this book, though I thought the storytelling was a little choppy in some parts. The world building was fun and the characters were great. I wish Tristan and Casiopea had been developed more, but I loved Ava and Kaye.

I would like to start by saying this cover is absolutely gorgeous.

As for the novel and writing itself, I was honestly let down. It startled out putting us directly into the action which caused confusion. The world building and characters were a let down. I wasn’t really intrigued or interested. It read very cringy, fast, and childish.

Was super excited based on the cover and author but it just wasn’t for me. Their other book Diamond City was a better fit for me in general. The kindle addition of this arc had a lot of missing parts, weird lettering, split sentences, etc. Editing is clearly needed and this helped ruin the reading experience for me. When you’re already that frustrated the rest doesn’t help even in a good book. The world building was lacking. I did appreciate how Ava’s abuse and being turned against her will was written. That’s an unimaginable experience and it was written in an appropriately dark way. I however did have an issue distinguishing between our two FMCs Ava and Kaye. They were basically interchangeable except for Ava’s abuse.

3.5 stars

Witches, vampires, dark rapunzel retelling, and sapphic romance? Count me in!

Ava and Kaye used to be best of friends…until one night two years ago. Now, Kaye’s mother is dead, and Ava is a vampire. Bent on revenge for her mother’s death, Kaye is determined to prove her worth as a flame witch. She’s ready to rid the earth of any vampires, including her old friend.

Ava has been locked in a tower since she was turned two years ago. Her mother has been keeping a secret from the town, and she needs Ava to remain locked up in order to keep it. Ava never wanted to become a vampire. She longs for the day that she can escape. Her mother is planning something terrible, and she needs to stop it before it’s too late.
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The concept of the world was extremely interesting! I was pulled in right away. This book was a lot creepier than I was expecting it. And it touched upon some darker thoughts. But I ultimately really enjoyed this book! It was unique and imaginative.

Towards the end, I felt it was a bit rushed. However, I really enjoyed this book! I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a new witchy read!

The cover got me with this one but the story within did not work for me. It just felt very rough rather than the polished work it should have been. Interesting idea and it will appeal to teens but I am unsure if they would stick with it.

I got about 25% through this and had to DNF. I was a little confused the whole time and it just didn't grip me like I had hoped

late review but anyways this book was so fun. i really enjoyed the characters and seeing their relationships play out.

I was so excited when I saw this book's cover and synopsis. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. The audiobook did it better, but I struggled to understand the storyline. I wanted to love it. Who wouldn't love a sapphic Rapunzel spin/retelling... but sadly, the romance and world-building didn't live up to the cover. I couldn't picture the world that these two characters were a part of, and I felt like they didn't interact much. I wanted the love story to be more of a central part of the story. I'm hoping that the author writes more and the work continues to get better. This is definitely suited for a YA audience and will do well with younger readers.

Ava and Kaye were best friends. When vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting the town, Kaye’s mother disappeared and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. When Ava sees a chance to finally escape, she takes it.

That’s the time that Kaye also sees her chance to fulfill her duty as a flame witch and kill vampires, including Ava. As they travel together, Kaye plans to turn her in the whole time.

But through their journey, they both discover more things about the world that turned everything upside down, their plans start to change.

This is a hard one to review. I don’t feel like there was anything wrong with this book necessarily, but it didn’t work for me.

The reader gets Ava and Kaye’s POV which I struggled with. They both had the same tone to the point where I often forgot whose POV I was in. I’d have to look to be reminded or wait until I got some identifying part to remember.

There was also a struggle of pacing for me. Too often it felt like it was dragging and not moving forward. It felt stuck. I do think part of this was due to the constant state of angst. The tension felt so high most of the time, for one reason or another, that when it did pick up I felt so burnt out that I couldn’t properly enjoy it.

I would have loved more world-building. A lot felt like it was glossed over or quickly told without anything beyond that. It felt like there was so much potential for this world, but it was just continually glossed over or ignored.

This simply wasn’t the book for me. I wanted to love it. Witches, vampires and a Rapunzel retelling, but it just missed the mark for me.

I started reading this book, but I lost interest in the story and did not end up finishing it before it expired.

This story follows two girls who are current enemies but used to be friends. Ava is a witch and Kaye is a vampire. Ava has been trapped in her home for two years thanks to her controlling mother, but she escapes one night. Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night. The rest of the plot can be found in the synopsis, but I personally think it gives too much away.

I really wanted to love this more. It's a decent sapphic retelling of Rapunzel and had the elements for a compelling story, but the execution left me a little disappointed.

I read a lot of fantasy, but this world was a little tricky to understand and could have used a little more tightening up. The romantic progression and character development were more show than tell, which impacted how invested I felt in the two girls' story. I was hoping for well-rounded, complex, and morally grey characters, but they felt one-dimensional to me at times. There was also so much angst, which is fun for me sometimes, but I needed some calmer moments and maybe some humour to match the overall pacing and tone of the story.

That being said, I did like Ava and Kaye. I do think this book had a lot of potential and is worth a read if you want an enemies to lovers fantasy romance that is entertaining but isn't too complex or layered. I didn't connect with this story as much as I'd hoped to, but I think other readers might, and I am interested in picking up another book by this author.