A mesmerizing blend of Gothic atmosphere and sapphic romance, this novel is a perfect fit for those that are craving more nuanced relationships in the genre.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I liked the premise of This Ravenous Fate and was excited to read a sapphic, dark vampire tale. In some ways the book did deliver exactly what I was looking for however, the pacing as slow at times and I found myself losing interest often. I was left the world building was lacking in some areas leaving me with a lot of unanswered questions ultimately distracting me from the story. Overall, I do recommend even though some areas have some room for improvement. Ultimately it did give me what I was looking for which was a dark sapphic vampire tale.

I loved the characters and the story in this very much, but I do wish that the pacing had been just a little faster. I do think it was also missing quite a bit of worldbuilding. All in all, I like Dennings' style of writing,but the worldbuilding and pacing, I feel need more work.

The synopsis for this really appealed and I started this one with high hopes of having my love of sapphic vampire stories temporarily sated.

However as I started reading I had a difficult time getting into the flow of the story - I was bored and unfortunately I found this … clunky - the murder mystery wasn’t, the dialogue was stilted, and the plot limped for me. And please don’t get me started regarding my disappointment about the romance aspect of this - I didn’t see the chemistry at all.

While this will certainly find its audience, I’m sorry that it wasn’t for me.



Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the DRC

2 ☆
I fully expected This Ravenous Fate to be a new favorite of mine, or at the very least, an enjoyable read. As a vampire lover, the premise of this book intrigued me. The combination of feminine rage and sapphic angst convinced me the book would be a hit. However, I found This Ravenous Fate to be quite disappointing.

I have been following Hayley Dennings' marketing for a while, which fueled my anticipation of the book. She constantly talked about "true enemies to lovers", among other topics of that nature. As a result, I had high expectations for the characters and their relationships. To my surprise, however, they were nothing like I assumed. While there is an enemies-to-lovers plotline and the characters are morally gray, I found them to be superficial at best. Elise and Layla's relationship, which Dennings described as angsty, appealed to me, but I felt very little from them. Their dialogue felt inauthentic, and the banter felt forced. It also felt like we were thrown into the book suddenly, with the expectation that we already knew these characters. Their toxic backstory and reason for being enemies weren't fully explored, and I wish there were flashback scenes to help us get to know them and their history better.

When a string of murders is brought to light, Elise and Layla are forced to work together to find out how they died. The murder mystery aspect of the book seemed suspenseful, but there was a lack of urgency. Despite people being murdered, the plot moved at a snail's pace, with not much happening. The book is 480 pages long but could have been shortened, given the amount of overwritten and unnecessary scenes. The villain's reveal wasn't surprising at all, especially because of the small cast of characters.

Overall, This Ravenous Fate did not live up to my expectations. I was very excited to read about Black sapphic vampires and I had hoped it would be a refreshing read due to the unique premise, but the approach was generic and like plenty of other books in the fantasy genre. Unfortunately, this book was not for me at all, however, it reminded me a lot of Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights, so if you enjoyed that book, you may like this one.

Oo hoo hoo! I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait for another.

Elise Saint has al lot going on in her life. Music made everything made sense but she’ll do anything and everything to protect her little sister Josi. She’s been blamed for her older sister, Charlotte’s, death and was sent to Paris to study music after her best friend, Layla, was turned into a reaper. Layla lives with a clan of other reapers who have promised they won’t kill any humans, but how often does that ever truly work? Layla and Elise team up to find out what is causing reapers to somehow turn into humans right before dying. They hate each other and have vowed to kill each other once all of this is over. Elise promised her father, who over sees and manipulates the entire Saint empire to eradicate reapers, and Layla promised not only herself but Valeriya, one of the original reapers and head of her clan.

Will they keep to their promises or will other issues arise?

I honestly had some thoughts very early on about Sterling that ended up coming true. I’m not surprised but I can’t wait to see what’s in store for everyone, including Jaime, or should I call him Vex?

“Drinking from my throat will be faster. Hurry up before your food gets cold.”
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3.5 stars!! so happy to have been one of the lucky ones to have had the chance to get an arc on Net Galley (terrible timing though)!! I loved everything about this and how could I not when: 1) it’s set in Harlem in the 1920s 2) there are POC vampires/reapers 3) it's a SAPPHIC LOVE STORY with a murder mystery storyline??? need I say more?? the chemistry between the two MCs drove it home! I loved how the act of biting/getting bitten became very euphoric & blended into their love story, definitely always a favorite quality in vampire stories! the lively and bustling energy of the jazz era, especially in Harlem, did not disappoint and made the stakes even higher regarding race relations!

however, the partners-in-crime dynamic felt flat. I would’ve LOVED for more suspense, more tension, and more….detective work. it felt like the two leads completely forgot what forced them to work with one another.

besides that, I thought that this was a great debut, definitely can’t wait for the physical release! <3

I was so excited when I got my hands on this ARC! Vampires, sapphic romance, jazz age Harlem, and mystery - it sounded right up my alley! The pacing felt a bit slow to me at first, but it picked up around halfway through and really took off at about 70%. While I did like the book, I would have loved to see more action and a deeper exploration of the romance. The investigation could've been more detailed too. I appreciated the portrayal of Elise's OCD and anxiety, which were depicted quite well. Elise's dad Tobias gave off major Hiram Lodge vibes, but more sinister. Layla's character was a favorite of mine, along with some of the side characters. I also appreciated how the book tackled important issues like race, class, and family.

Overall, I'd rate it 3.5 stars, and I'm curious about the sequel to this duology.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I'm honestly....VERY,very conflicted about my feelings here.

To be frank, I feel like the probably was truly me at the end of the day. I am ROOTING for the author's success in the book realm, especially as a Black author. Watch her Book tube videos front he beginning of her online journey is something valuable to seeing her flourish into a sophisticated writer.

It's just, possibly, the writing style that is making it difficult for me to finish the story. It should have not taken me two months to finish this ARC. But, I kept putting the book down after reading in increments due to the lack of interest.

I loved a good enemies to lovers novel, and I do enjoy a good fantasy/paranormal novel...but I'm still confused on what exactly went wrong for me here.


Regardless, I recommend giving this novel a whirl, for the girls and the gays, for the black people who can finally see themselves in books, or simply just for yourself.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy of the book.

Hayley Dennings' debut novel has drawn a lot of interest and rightfully so! Sapphic vampires during the Harlem Renaissance is an intriguing concept.

I enjoyed following the stories of our two main characters, Elise and Layla. Their hate and tension towards each other were clear, but I could also feel the underlying attraction they were trying to hide from one another.

This book gave me gore and I loved it! When I read a Vampire story I want to see their blood lust and the rewards/consequences of their desires. Dennings did not hold back on that factor, so readers should proceed with caution if they are not a fan of blood and gore.

I was genuinely interested in the characters. Some were easy to root for, and some were easy to hate, but there were a few character elements that left me a little confused.

The major element that was lacking for me was the overall mystery of the story. Some aspects seemed a bit too obvious, other sections left me wanting more details. I realize this is the first book in a duology, so it may have been intentional, but at the moment it felt more forgotten than purposeful.

Either way, I applaud the author for this work and will be recommending the book. And I'm very interested to see where Elise and Layla find themselves in book 2.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Ya’ll………….

WE NEED MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS WITH DIVERSITY!

I absolutely LOVED it.

Black Girl Magic for sure!!!

This Ravenous Fate is YA historical fantasy that reaches into the past atrocities of experimentation on Black people which resulted in the creation of vampires they call reapers. Elise is the heir to the Saint Empire in 1920's Harlem who is forced to ally with her childhood friend turned reaper to solve the mystery of why reapers and others are suddenly being murdered. Insert generational family drama, horrible father figure, questionable household friends/employees, white vs. black politics, prohibition, and two girls who have been in love for ages but never admitted and you have the recipe for an intriguing supernatural who-dun-it.

Sadly, the pace of the book was very slow, it seemed like finding out what the real problem was could happen whenever they got around to it, there was no real urgency. Even the prospect of reapers disappearing wasn't all that motivating, and other than lots of blood and fangs always piercing lips ang getting in the way (seriously?), not much happened. It was pretty obvious there was desire under the surface for both Elise and Layla, so that was no surprise yet it still fell flat when revealed. At the same time there was a very weird lover vibe happening between Elise and Sterling, which was odd based on the scientist Thalia (Sterling's long lost love) who appears and then dies almost immediately. it was also obvious who the bad guys were. I guess take away all the blood and carnage and you have a basic cozy mystery.

The 1920's Harlem didn't truly come through for me. The things were there, the speak-easies and the gangsters running alcohol, but it felt out of place, unnatural. Like at any moment someone was going to pull out there cell phone, or turn on the color TV, I didn't hate it, and there's someone out there who will love it. Just not for me.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the e-copy, this is my honest review.

arc provided by netgalley, WOW this was such a breath of fresh air! absolutely loved the vibes on this and i will be eagerly awaiting its official release, some of the best friends to enemies to lovers i’ve seen in YA in a WHILE with incredibly rich worldbuilding and setting, and a really intriguing mystery at the heart of it all! (vampires are so back!!!)

This novel was good. Not great, but fair. I will say that I really enjoyed it though. I went in expecting a cheesy vampire romance, but this exceeded that expectation. I wouldn't put this on my favorites of all time, but I would recommend it to people who need to scratch that Twilight itch...

Thank you NetGalley, Source Fire Books, and Hayley Dennings for this ARC.

Jazz age in Harlem

Vampires

Strong Black Women and LGBTQ Rep.

and an awesome story line. What more can you want.

I love this story. Layla Quinn is a young reaper and Elise Saint a Human.

Both embark on a journey to prove something is not right between the Humans and the reapers.

Full of twist and turns. I cannot wait for the second book to come out. I wish I can tell you me, but I dont want to ruin the fun. Please read this book.

I could not put this down. I was truly invested. A great read & I highly recommend this book. Top tier for sure

childhood best friends to lovers with vampires!!! YES PLEASE

loved this book! can't wait for the next one :)

10s 10s across the board. I love a good fantasy with romance and adventure. This book was so fun and empowering, I didn't want it to end.

LETS GO BLACK LESBIAN VAMPIRE THAT LITERALLY HAS A KNIFE TO THE THROAT SCENE WITH HER LOVE INTEREST A BLACK LESBIAN VAMPIRE HUNTER!!! this is truly all you need to know, if this isn't enough for you to read it, then idk how else to convince you

I loved the thought of This Ravenous Fate and what it could have been. But it just didn’t cut it for me. I feel as the book was decent but just didn’t grab my attention enough to keep me from putting it down.

The time frame 1920s Jazz era in a world full of humans and reapers with a murder mystery to solve involving a human turned reaper who turned back to human. Not sure why they are called reapers and not just vampires especially since they are two different types of characters. I felt we could have gotten more backstories or flashbacks of the characters to help us connect better in the book. The murder mystery wasn’t even something that kept me guessing it was apparent from the start and the MC just went around casually asking questions until they were surprised to find out who did it all along.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.