I like the subject matter of vampires and witches with a same sex romance. I liked a lot of the story and the world this book creates. However, there are two things that didn't work for me. One was where the story starts. I would have liked to have read about what happened two years prior first hand and not told to me. I feel like that would have connected me more to the characters and the world around them. 'Second, the ending left open without a sequel just falls flat. I want to know what happens next. What would happen to vampires and the new world order. But all in all, a fascinating read.

4ish stars

This was a fun, supernatural sapphic YA adventure, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It featured two strong female protagonists with alternating perspectives, the magical elements were essential to the plot and character development, and there were some pretty overt fairytale references throughout (ex. Rapunzel). I didn’t necessarily love everything about the ending, but other than that, I really liked the story and will likely be buying a physical copy of the book for my classroom library in the near future.

I love the cover of this book and that is what drew me in to wanting to read this and it was worth it. With love and magic. I hope to get another book soon and I plan to buy a copy to own.

Thank you NetGalley and and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC. I was super excited about this as I can totally get behind a queer Rapunzel retelling.

Unfortunately, this was really a struggle for me and I did not enjoy it. It had some cute moments, but overall it was quite boring. The characters were all unlikeable, and I REALLY like unlikeable characters. But the girls were immature and bratty even for their age. The pacing felt like slogging through mud as the entire story was telling rather than showing. And it really glossed over the darker themes that could have been super excellent.

I think this is a case where the description is so excellent but really it should have been taken a few steps back and been dulled down, shortened, and marketed as a fun and interesting lower YA. Instead this attempted to be upper YA with dark themes and it just really fell short.

Finishing this felt like a chore and it’s hard to push through a story where nothing and no one draws you in.

I feel like I should start this review with a little disclaimer: This review is based solely upon my personal reading experience with this story. It is 100% my opinion, please take it with a grain of salt. I am by no means an expert on anything. Further, I would recommend that anyone who finds the publisher's synopsis intriguing, gives this book a shot.

The Witch and the Vampire follows two girls, Ava and Kaye. Ava is a witch and Kaye is a vampire. They're enemies, but it hasn't always been that way. They used to be best friends, but two years ago everything changed. Kaye was turned into a vampire and Ava's mother was killed by a vampire. Kaye, coincidentally, disappeared the very night Ava's mother was killed.

Ava, of course, suspects Kaye, or more closely, she blames her for her mother's death. Ava is now a vampire hunter of sorts, how perfect. On the night of a vampire attack on their town, Kaye flees her mother's home and Ava runs into her. Ava convinces Kaye to travel with her into the forest. She pretends she is helping her, when really her plan is to backstab Kaye and get her revenge.

Obviously, I am simplifying this a bit, but honestly, that's really all I can tell you about the plot.

Let's start with a few positives. The cover is gorgeous. Also, the audiobook is very well narrated. If it weren't for the audiobook, I most likely wouldn't have finished this one.

While this book didn't necessarily do anything wrong, it just wasn't for me. I felt I didn't understand the world at all and it lacked the atmosphere I was hoping for based upon the synopsis and cover.

I also felt it had one note throughout, angst. Everything was angst. There was angst every moment of every page, even though I felt like the stakes were never high enough to justify that. Because of this it lacked the highs and lows and nuance I would normally like to see.

There were no moments of levity and it seemed like the more seriously the book took itself, the less seriously I did. Additionally, all the characters felt one dimensional. I struggled to distinguish between the two girls throughout the entire story.

This is the second book I have read from this author. The first, Diamond City, I felt to be in the good-to-really-good range. I enjoyed the world Flores developed in that one. I found it creative and intriguing. So, while this one fell flat for me, I would be willing to give this author another shot. I definitely wouldn't pick up another story based in this world though.

With all of this being said, as touched upon in my earlier disclaimer, just because I didn't connect with this story doesn't mean that you won't. There's a book for every Reader and a Reader for every book. Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I truly appreciate it!

This books begins with a very interesting concept, and at the very least it follows through with what it says, though I would say it leaves the realm of a retelling fairly early on. The love story is altogether sweet, if a bit simplistic, and I can appreciate after finishing it how queer-normative the world is, even if there aren’t a lot of romantic or adjacent relationships explored. Plot-wise, there isn’t anything too unique or shocking and was fairly logical. The pacing felt a little bit off and made it hard for me to ever fully feel immersed. As a whole, it’s a decent debut that I would have loved to see fleshed out even more.

The audiobook itself made it personally easier for me to read and digest the whole story. I found myself able to understand and digest the story without getting too distracted by the world around me. Both voice actors were able to create unique characters that made it generally clear who was talking or narrating. One of the better ways to read this book in my opinion!

Thank you net galley for giving me an ARC copy of this book! This was definitely an interesting spin on the tale of rapunzel. This was a page turner and I couldnt put it down. I listened to the audiobook and the lady that spoke it was very very good. She kept it super entertaining. I dont think this book was the best of the best but it was a great take if you love witches and love the rapunzel story like I do.

This was really interesting.
I always enjoy witchey reads and vampire books, and this had both!
Bit distopian (which I like) and a lot magical (which I love) with a slight love story.
I did feel like the love story was almost an afterthought and could have been left out with no real affect on the plot. The cover is slightly misleading (but sooooo pretty!).
Overall this was a lot of fun to listen to!
Much love to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for my DRC.

"You deserve more than someone who only comes for you when it's almost too late"

This book had a lot of potential. Pitched as a rapunzel retelling with witches and vampires as enemies, the plot itself is captivating and interesting but the execution isn't the best. Some moments towards the end of the book are more enjoyable and better executed, but most of it could use a little more reviewing before it had been published. Some stories about their world could have been better told (or shown) - I felt like it was missing something.

Overall, though, the book was enjoyable. It had adventure, some good fighting moments, found family and the friends to enemies to lovers. I appreacited the little excerpts at the beginning of the chapters, they were a bit of an extra glimpse into that world and brought a bit more understanding to the reader (especially about Kaye's mom).

The characters were also pretty loveable and I was really rooting not only for the leads, but also for the trio to rekindle their friendship. Each character had their moment to shine and reveal a different side to themselves and I believe that was well done and made the reader appreacite the character's journey more.

In conclusion, some parts could be better but the book in itself is a fun read. I'll keep an eye out for anything else Francesca Flores publishes!

I found this to be an incredibly interesting fantasy tale. Obviously it places its focus on witches and vampires and the way this book tells the tale of these supernatural beings is so interesting.

We have basically a tale of witches versus vampires. Vampires drink blood (because of course) and witches would prefer they stop drinking humans and witches (again, because of course) so naturally these beings don’t like each other much. However, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Following friends from different sides, we unravel the true story of witches and vampires and join the fight to save the land.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to the audiobook and the ebook, I was able to enjoy this book in multiple formats. It was fast paced and interesting with plenty of action to hold the readers attention.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Best friends turned enemies must work together to fight the end of each existence .A epic battle between witches and Vampires , This was a action packed fantasy , I like that the author had a different approach to the vampires by using silver instead of what readers are used to to.I listened to this on audio, the narroter was excellent weaving both characters story .

I wanted to love this. A sapphic fantasy fairytale retelling should've been right up my alley, but this was just okay. I didn't feel like it went deep enough into the worldbuilding, the plot dragged, and the main characters didn't have much chemistry. It was enjoyable enough, but it's definitely not something I would reread.

This book doesn't deserve this cover. This author doesn't deserve this premise. Rapunzel retelling? Where Rapunzel? Where? She was in a tower for a hot minute, whoop-de-doo. She has long hair . . . that plays no part in the plot. This is a story inspired by Rapunzel, at best, but it's really not anywhere at all the same story. SECONDLY. The lesbians were done misjustice to. What an absolute lack of chemistry. What an amazing amount of terribly flowery prose trying to convince us these two personality-free people were in love with each other.

It's truly amazing how a book can be underwritten and overwritten at the same time, but this book manages it.

I'm sorry, all that just came out, because I'm frustrated. The first person present tense narrative voice was an absolute disaster, doing what it nearly always does with inexperienced (and not very talented) authors, in that it washes out character and makes the writer have to live in the moment in a way the story doesn't necessarily need. Writers, please consider third person POV, it is a wonderful POV. Please also consider past tense so your characters don't sound like brainless amoebas who are only concerned with is going on RIGHT NOW. I do not need descriptions of everything that is happening around you and everything you are doing constantly, please just tell me a story.

And to top it all off, the plot took this premise to just about the least interesting places it could have gone. Very serious subject matter was quickly moved past, and stuff that should have been barely mentioned was endlessly dwelled on. A major plot in this novel is that one character is thirsty in a lush forest. I can't even just thinking about it.

I do not recommend that you read this book. Probably its target audience and younger would like it, but it is not a young adult book that adults can enjoy. It is basic, starter YA. I wish I hadn't requested an ARC, or that I'd looked at the early reviews and the terrible average rating before requesting. Could have saved myself some mental hassle.

Please don't stop sending me ARCs, I do really like them.

I'm honestly not sure why so many people are disappointed in this story, I thought it was fantastic! It seems as if people are putting way too much on tropes and fantasy than needs to be placed there. Not every book, movie, etc has to be a social justice crusade. Maybe this is my smut background, it's fine in a book but not in real life. That's why they're fantasy stories and not nonfiction.

It's listed as a Rapunzel Retelling and I can see it, but add in witches and vampires so even better. Ava and Kaye were best friends until Ava disappeared the night Kaye's mom died. Kaye was told she went to a school in another village when in fact Ava's mom had her locked up at home and turned her into a vampire.

As I said, I really enjoyed this one and would definitely read more and recommend this one to friends. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read and review this book early.

I was provided print and an audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is a queer retelling of Rapunzel, which I don't think I knew when I requested this. You don't often see Rapunzel retellings, though I have seen a few pop up recently. All I knew going in that this was a queer fantasy with witches and vampires, I didn't really need any more to entice me. I do love a good retelling though. It has been a while since I've read the original Rapunzel, but I get the correlation. The action and adventure parts more closely resemble the movie Tangled, which to be fair is probably the version of Rapunzel that people are most familiar with.

This follows former best friends Ava and Kaye who are both witches, except Ava is a vampire and Kaye is a vampire hunter in training. Kaye's mother was killed on the same night Ava disappeared (the night she was turned), and they haven't spoken in years. Ava has been held prisoner by her mother and her creepy husband, but she's had enough. She is determined to escape and seek refuge with the Vampire Queen. Meanwhile Kaye is doing everything she can to prove herself worthy of being a Flame Witch and hunter. On the night Ava escapes, Kaye catches up to her and the two of them embark on a journey of self-discovery they didn't intend on. Kaye has been taught to believe that vampires are only mindless killers, but Ava proves her wrong at every turn. Together they must work together to fight against more dangerous beings and face devastating betrayals if they want to survive.

I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers, slow burn romance. The romance is really clean so it is perfect for young adult readers. There are vampires so there is blood. While there aren't particularly graphic or gory scenes, there are vampires doing their thing and several fight scenes between the vampires and the witches so if that isn't your thing I'd steer clear. The world building could have been a bit more detailed. I find that the fast pace and the action packed scenes made up for that. The story was entertaining and the romance wasn't over the top. It is fairly slow burn as the friends reestablish trust in one another

I really enjoyed the audiobook version of this. I flipped between the ebook and the audiobook, but I put in the most time on the audiobook. I enjoyed both of the narrators and felt they did a good job brining Ava and Kaye, as well as the rest of the characters to life. They brought emotion into the story where it belonged and I could feel the tension between the girls as the story progressed.

I felt the ending was a rushed. Things came together really quickly at the end and I felt like it really needed a few more chapters for it to be flushed out. While the ending was conclusive, it was a bit open ended. I did get the feeling of closure, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of Ava and Kaye in the future.

Overall, I loved this. I didn't want to put this down once I picked it up.

4.5 The Witch and the Vampire stole my heart. I adored this Runpunzel retelling. This story follows two girls Ava The vampire, and Kaye, the Witch . They used to be really good friends until vampires took over and Kayes mom gets attacked and brutally murdered.
Ava was held hostage by her mom and stepdad and was not allowed to leave the premise without their permission.
Ava uses some of her old witch powers and seemingly escapes, she wants to warn her friend Kaye that her mom plans on destroying the town and giving vampires more land and power.
Kaye is torn because she is not only a witch, but has been training to become a flame witch that has to kill vampire.
The story between these two characters was endearing as they still had love for eachother even though their worlds are tearing them apart.
I loved how the narrators captured both of their stories in a magical, fun loving way and I look forward to listening to more from this author.

This review is based on the audiobook ARC I received.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This sapphic Rapunzel retelling had a lot of promise and didn’t quite live up to my hopes for the story. While I enjoyed the story itself the pacing was a little slow and since it is a fairly short book for a fantasy I felt like not a lot happened. I did however really enjoy the world building and the magic system. My biggest issue was that the 2 main characters didn’t have a lot of depth to them. There’s a lot of talk about their history and previous friendship but we never see any of it on page. I did enjoy that it was a sapphic friends to enemies to lovers and I think their relationship is cute, I just wanted more. The fact that it is a slow burn ya romance made the lack of depth to the characters that much more apparent.

This book is marketed as a Rapunzel retelling, it’s not really a retelling it just resembles Rapunzel in some aspects, however the marketing doesn’t affect my review since it’s out of the authors control.

This is a Sapphic YA Romantasy however please check content warnings before reading.

The Witch and the Vampire is a sapphic Rapunzel retelling where former friends must band together and take a tumultuous journey through a cursed forest. Ava and Kaye were both witches until vampires broke through a magical barrier protecting their hometown, killing Kaye’s mother and turning Ava into a vampire.

Ava’s mother, Eugenia, decided the best course was to trap Ava in their family home so she could steal her daughter’s powers to cover up the fact that she is also a vampire. After two years of imprisonment, Ava’s had enough. She decides to break out and find help from vampires who live in the forest.

Kaye is a flame witch who blames Ava for her mother’s death. All she wants to do is kill vampires and get revenge. Kaye witnesses Ava’s escape and seizes the opportunity by following Ava. She manipulates the situation by encouraging Ava to travel with her, but Kaye plans on betraying Ava by turning her in once they reach their destination.

Ava is none the wiser because she still wants to be friends with Kaye and maybe become something more. But Kaye is adamant about her disdain for Ava’s new vampiric ways.

As the two travel, they encounter danger at every step, from trees that devour humans to Ava’s evil stepfather. Kaye sees Ava might not be the evil creature she once presumed, and Ava learns that Kaye has valid reasons to distrust her. They can work together to escape the forest safely.

The book’s greatest strength is its spooky atmosphere. Sometimes I felt like I was in the forest with Ava and Kaye. Although the pacing is slow, it feels intentional until the last ten percent. The ending felt a little rushed. Unfortunately, the characters were sometimes grating, and I don’t think it’s because they were teenagers.

I noticed some inconsistencies in how the magic system worked, so it would have been nice to see it become a little more fleshed out within the story. It seemed too easy for one of the characters to gain power. And although we learned about flame and root witches, more background information would have helped the story, and maybe it wouldn’t have felt quite as slow as it did.

I’m unsure how much the author knows about blood libel, but it’s an antisemitic trope often used in media, especially vampire stories. I’m not an expert, but I can see how the other reviewers made that connection. There’s room for a more extensive conversation about vampires in media and how to portray them without perpetuating real-world stereotypes. I don’t have the answers, but please proceed with caution if you are interested in this book.

The book’s cover is gorgeous, and Bailey Carr is one of my favorite audiobook narrators, but that’s not enough for me to wholeheartedly recommend The Witch and the Vampire.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Dreamscape Media for providing digital and audio advance reader copies in exchange for my honest review of The Witch and the Vampire.

Do I even need to say how much I loved this book? I mean a saphic book with vampires and witches I couldn't ask for more. This book was honestly everything I wanted and more.

The Witch and the Vampire is a queer young adult Rapunzel retelling with an enemies to lovers romance.

Ava, Kaye and Tristan were really close friends until a fateful night that altered the course of their lives and their friendship. Vampires broke through the bone wall protecting their town - in the midst of the chaos Kaye's mom is killed and Ava is turned into a vampire.

For the next few years Ava spends her life locked up in her room as her mom siphons her magic. Kaye and Tristan join the Flame witches, who are responsible for hunting vampires. On the night Ava manages to escape, vampires once again break through the magical barrier. Kaye, set on avenging her mom, learns Ava is now a vampire and begins to hunt her down.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book to read. I enjoyed watching Tristan, Ava and Kaye learn and grow. They are initially unsavory characters in their own way. Kaye is obsessed with getting revenge for her mother's death. Her rage does not allow her to see past her pain. Ava on the other hand is quite impressionable. She's good natured and believes people are generally kind. Tristan will do anything to earn the approval of his father. They each go on their own self discovery journey, learning that things aren't always what they seem.

The Witch and the Vampire is set in a world with rich history. We have some god like entities called the Arcana that endowed the world with powers. These entities have long disappeared or have they? You will encounter humans, vampires, and witches with different types of abilities.

The plot is very quest driven. Kaye is hoping to lure Ava into capture. Tristan is rounding up vampires and Ava is hoping to put an end to her mother's perverse plans. Their stories weave together as the plot unravels.

It was a solid and quick read with a beautiful cover.