This story is an exploration of good and evil and where the line is (or sometimes isn’t) between the two.

Both main characters have good and evil inside them, and have to contend with the good and evil in their friends and loved ones and what it means to be loyal, to be righteous and to be right—and how much they each will sacrifice to be “in the right.”

There’s also a theme of growing up and losing the innocence of childhood. Throughout the book all of the adults have an agenda and they use the children in their lives and pawns, and by the end the children have come to their own decisions, and abandoned the ideology of their parents to create their own.

There is an undercurrent of friendship and slight romance, but this is definitely not a romance novel. If you like adventure, self-discovery, self-assertion, vampires, and witches, I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Not going to lie, I struggled with this one. The plot wasn't as developed as I'd have hoped and felt like it didn't really go anywhere. The romance didn't do it for me. I didn't ship them and their connection was lacking. Overall I had a difficult time wanting to continue reading/listening. I was lucky enough to get approved for the audiobook and I also had a hard time with the narration.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy.

I was so excited for this book. The gorgeous cover, sapphic rep, and witch and vampire main characters appealed to me. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 25%. I couldn't get invested in the characters at all and the writing was mediocre. The world-building was lacking, and I couldn't find a reason to keep reading. This was a big disappointment.

Okay, so first of all, these high fantasy novels really were my bread and butter for what is actually still the majority of my life. I enjoy a good battle of good versus evil and surprise allegiances. While, not my favorite world building here, there were some good moments to drag the reader into the world and feel for the characters. The background and justifications were a little flimsy, but I can suspend my disbelief until you can make your grand reveals about half-way through the storyline.

I neither loved nor hated the characters, though I did enjoy the two voice actresses to help offer a separation between each point-of-view. There was a clear separation between chapters and each had a distinct and fitting voice.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the advanced audiobook copy to review via NetGalley.

This a great YA sapphic romance with the trope of friends to enemies to lovers. I really enjoyed this. The concept was intriguing and checked all the "cool" boxes: vampires, witches, nature magic, fire magic. I would recommend this to anyone who has that secret yearning for Twilight as a comfort book, but this one much better.

I've been excited to read this one for a while. The cover is beautiful and I love the sapphic witch and vampire couple. It ended up being an okay read, just not quite what I'd hoped for.

The main characters have been estranged for a while, ever since Ava was turned into a vampire and Kaye blames her for her mother's death. When they reunite, there's attraction but also a distrust, especially on Kaye's part. I didn't mind the slow burn and understood that they'd need time to re-establish their bond, but Kaye kept going back to being the enemy and after a while I was sick of it.

I thought the worldbuilding was lacking, not really showing us how things are and instead just telling us about it. I also wasn't sure at times what the goal of the story was. Ava escaped and was trying to get to the vampire queen, was that it? This could have been clearer and maybe the plot could have been beefed up a bit.

Overall, this was okay and pretty easy to listen to.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the copy.

I love retellings, especially if they’re queer. I also love tropes when they’re oversaturated in het romances, but used in queer lit. It’s my favorite thing, honestly. However, I don’t think “The Witch and the Vampire” did a very good job at that.

I picked up this ARC (I know I got to it super late—life stuff), excited to give it a listen. I love vampires and gay things, so I was happy to review it. And while I didn’t feel like I wasted time doing so, I do think it could’ve been better.

First off, Kaye’s hatred feels a bit forced. They were best friends for a long time and instead of feeling sympathy for her friend in any capacity at the beginning, she wants to kill her? Especially since it was presumed she just left for another city? We also see how easily Kaye crumbles, so the front feels too strong. If that was on purpose, I think it could’ve been dealt with differently.

Secondly, I feel like this could’ve been broken up into either a duology or trilogy. So much happens in one book and it feels a little discombobulating. There was a lot of information packed in that it didn’t quite help with building relationships between characters. It all felt a bit muddy.

Lastly, the pacing was off. I guess this can kind of contribute to the issue I had in the last paragraph, but I feel like a lot of what happened could be summed up in a few sentences. There needed to be more expansion on other things that happened rather than the stream of consciousness.

To be honest, I couldn’t tell that this was a Rapunzel retelling. Either I forgot that it was supposed to be or I just glazed over it when reading the synopsis, but it fell short not only in that regard, but in others as listed above.

This cover is just gorgeous and it certainly captured my attention.
The Witch and the Vampire is a Queer Rapunzel fairytale retelling. I was over the moon and excited to give this book a go.
The story follows Ava and Kaye. As the story progresses we discover a bit more of Ava's back history and what she has had to endure at her mothers house. We see the loss and hatred that Kaye has had to deal with. Along the journey, we learn a bit more about the flame witches and how the forest reacts to witches and vampires. It was interesting and it felt like the forest was alive. The story is filled with lots of angst and I felt like the romance element was a subplot. We just see a little bit of it in this story. The narrators, Bailey Carr and Mary Helen Gallucci did a wonderful job portraying the characters. They truly elevated the story and brought the characters to life.
If your a fan of enemies to lovers, witches, and vampires then consider grabbing this book. There's a lot of history within the story.

A very special thanks to Wednesday Books for my gifted copy and Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the ALC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 4
Pace: 4
Plot development: 4
Characters: 4
Narrator: 5
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC!

Going in, this sounded like something right up my alley. Unfortunately, this was not what I had hoped. The romance in this was stifled with very little chemistry. Also, not as much of a Rapunzel retelling as I expected. This read younger than I usually prefer my YA and the characters weren't likable. The two POV's seemed to blend together and neither had a lot of personality. I DNF'd at about 50% because I just could not get past these issues. I do think there was a lot of potential here and it might be great for the younger audience!

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish this book. I'm sure there is a big group of readers for it out there, and the audiobook narration is absolutely excellent!
But the story, or rather, the atmosphere didn't work for me. It felt very melodramatic, there was a lot of cruelty just for cruelty's sake. And I could not continue.
But there have been other Young Adult Fantasy books I didn't finish because of the same issue with atmosphere. So, I'm sure that there are many readers out there who will love this book.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would! While there are definitely some areas that could use some improvement and I definitely would like enjoyed a little more detailing in the world building/magic rules, I still enjoyed the story and the main characters a lot. The narrator was perfect as well.

I’m always here for sapphic fantasy, and the friends to enemies to lovers was a pretty solid base for tension between our two MCs. However, the worldbuilding felt pretty sparse and the climax was both overdone (like to the point of melodrama) and also paper thin. I didn’t feel particularly engaged and instead kept reading out of inertia. It was a far cry from Florez’s fast-paced debut.

I didn’t understand how the magic worked. There were some hand gestures (like how they couldn’t use magic if their hands were tied behind their backs) but the rules felt super loosey-goosey, like the worldbuilding was bending itself over backwards to allow our MCs to be powerful. I couldn’t figure out the catalyst for Kay suddenly being able to use her invisibility (perfectly and while gravely injured, covering not just herself but two other people as well) or any of the reasons Lysander did what he did. It felt like a handwavey backdrop for the love story.

And then there was the ending. Again, not sure why the MCs just suddenly did a total about-face, but I guess good for them?

This is somewhat of a re-telling/re-working of the fairytale Rapunzel. There isn't just one witch, though, and there are also vampires. The cover is gorgeous! I listened to the audiobook and the narrators did a fantastic job in their interpretations of the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy.

I think my expectation and anticipation for this was far too high. Queer retelling of Repunzel, enemies to lovers, with witches and vampires.. Yes please! I wanted to love this and squeeze it and hold it tight forever. The story itself was average at best. Maybe.

The writing is a bit repetitive and feels more middle grade then anything else. There’s a lot of holes; things are mentioned and then never mentioned again, or there’s barely a backstory as to why it was mentioned or thought of at all. It had potential with all the right elements and components to be a great story; little adventure, betrayals, queer, retelling, supernatural beings. There’s also very little to no world building.

I desperately wanted there to be more chemistry (or anything) between our friends to enemies to lovers. The romance bits left something to be desired. It doesn’t need to be spicy (because it’s YA) but it certainly needed to have more chemistry then that. The characters had some growth, however they were mostly boring, uncharismatic and they felt incomplete.

It picked up that VERY last 10% because of the chaos of the fight but it wasn’t enough to save this. It was all just disappointing, so unfortunately I probably won’t recommend this.

⭐️: 4/5
⚠️: parental death, magic/witchcraft, blood
📖: The Witch & the Vampire, by Francesca Flores

I was pleasantly surprised by this story! The Witch and The Vampire is hands down one of the best YA fantasy’s I’ve read over the past year! The only con which received a 4 star is the beginning is slow starting, obviously to help with world building. I’m very picking and like getting hooked immediately. It took me about 4 chapters to get hooked. Maybe that would be different had I physical read the book instead of audiobook.

The lore alone with witches, old gods, and vampires is pretty spot on to classic lore. I appreciate an author who doesn’t try to reinvent existing lore & creatures. The audio narration is fantastic, with each POV change notated at the beginning of the text. It is duel POV, which I love! The personalities of each character, especially Ava & Kaye are distinct. If you pick up the book mid-chapter, there’s no mistaking who’s speaking at the time. The character development is great with lots of empathy and key flaws in each character that helps drive the story— Kaye’s insistent to avenge her mother’s death; Ava’s naivety of who she can truly trust.

There’s many classic tropes and themes throughout this book: the downfall/redemption arc, lost friendship, coming of age, LGBTQIA+. I will say that the queer aspect of this book is very subtle and that makes it adorable. You can truly see the friendship rekindle between Ava & Kaye. Likewise, you can see that friendship slowly start to grow into something more as they navigate how to survive this world together. The budding love is tender, sweet, and patient. Overall, this could be a staple in any fantasy lovers arsenal. Also, did I mention this has the potential to be a series?!? Love that for us. 🖤✨🦇

If you like fairytale retellings, sapphic romance, forest settings and constant action, you might like:

🏰 The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores 🏰

This young adult fantasy novel loosely inspired by Rapunzel follows two girls who live in a world plagued by conflicts between vampires and witches. Ava is a Root witch, recently turned vampire, who's being held captive by her evil mother and stepfather. But everything changes when Ava's former best friend Kaye shows up again, a Flame witch who's trained to kill vampires. Ava hopes to rekindle their friendship but doesn't know that Kaye blames her for the death of her mother...

🌳

I liked The Witch and the Vampire first and foremost for the aspects not related to the world itself. The world of witches and vampires didn't really grab my attention - though I did enjoy that Flores revealed information about it very gradually. What interested me more were the characters and their development, the love story, the depiction of the evil mother, the debates about good vs. evil...

A large part of the book deals with the question if vampires really are pure evil when they have irresistible instincts they didn't choose. I think this debate was shown really well through Kaye's character. Her perspective shifted slowly thanks to Ava, a vampire with a strong moral compass who hates that she can't always ignore her instincts.

Ava and Kaye's bond interested me the most. Their friends to enemies to lovers dynamic was believable and well-paced. Even when they were enemies they still cared for each other, and I especially loved that Kaye defended Ava unconditionally against her abusive parents. Flores interspersed their story with flashbacks to their former friendship, and this made it more unique.

The dual narration of the audiobook by Bailey Carr and Mary Helen Gallucci helped me distinguish between the characters, but their differing narration styles sometimes pulled me out of the story.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

-Thank you to Net Galley, Wednesday Books, and Dreamscape Media for ARCS of I'm so sad - this is one of the most gorgeous covers for one of the most boring books. There is almost no world building and no real help understanding the magic system and that is just now how I want to enjoy my fantasy books. I mean come one...this is the first time I've encountered a witch vampire who got to keep her witch powers once she had been turned....that is an extremely cool premise but such a horrible way to package it. I think I will just go and rewatch VE Schwab's "First Kill" on Netflix because it will fill this need for me. However, this could be okay for younger readers who would read with less expectations.

The Witch and The Vampire by Franscesa Flores is a unique retelling of Rapunzel that incorporates Vampire hunting and witches into the story. It follows two girls, Ava and Kaye, who end up on opposite sides of a battle between good and evil. Or is it? As the book progresses we see that neither faction is really good, although there are definitely some evil characters. The Rapunzel vibes are strong with Ava's mother literally trapping her in a tower bedroom and using her to gain a mysterious power. Kaye has a strong avenging angel character arc and the end of her story felt kind of forced. I absolutely hated Eugenia's husband and I feel like he was one of the biggest villains in the tale, even though he was written as more of a side character. I enjoyed the world building and the magic system though, with the flame witches being particularly interesting. I always love anything having to do with superpowers that use fire! I adored the Autumn setting of the books and how Ava narrated her portion of the stories with such a poetic voice. This book was enjoyable to read but I do feel like it was written more like a teen book than YA. The friends to enemies to lovers aspect of the book was subtle but nice and I did like the conclusion as a whole but it was a bit "Twilight"y for my taste.

This was just okay for me. Ava was turned into a vampire by her mother who keeps her locked in her room, stealing her magic whenever she can. Kaye lost her mother on the same night that Ava became a vampire and blames Ava for her death. Ava turns to Kaye for help when trying to escape her home and Kaye ends up learning that not all vampires are evil.

Unfortunately, I never was completely invested in this story. Even when things were going horribly wrong for the characters, I just didn’t feel a whole lot for them. I was quite curious about how things would work out for the characters. It was a nice enough tale but ultimately rather forgettable.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrators did a good job with the story. I believe that this is the first time that I have listened to Bailey Carr’s and Mary Helen Gallucci’s narration and I was impressed by their work. I believe that their narration only improved my reading experience.

I think that a lot of readers will enjoy this one more than I did. I would encourage anyone who thinks the story sounds interesting to give it a try.

I received a review copy of this book from Wednesday Books and Dreamscape Media.