3 star review - it was a good read. Read well and it kept me engaged. Thank you for the author and team, for the chance of an arc.

I was intrigued by the premise, since I was practically raised in the Vampire Diaries fandom and could relate heavily to the main character's experience with being a fan. However, the writing style did not mesh with me for a number of reasons. There were too many choppy sentences and awkward dialogue, and it kept taking me out of the story. The pacing was off, and things happened way too fast one moment and not fast enough the next.

Fang Fiction depicts an alternative reality where a popular vampire book series is not entirely fictional... Tess, our protagonist, has been trying to escape her own life after a very traumatic event makes her quit her Columbia PhD program (search trigger warnings!!!), when a lost vampire finds her in a quirky Williamsburg hotel and tasks her with saving, well, all the vampires (except Felix).

Kate Stayman-London's humorous voice is addictive and made this book an incredibly enjoyable experience. My favorite aspect of this book was how the author focused so much on the importance of relationships, especially friendships, in how they contribute to healing and growing. Despite the paranormal setting of the novel, this felt relatable and resonated with me deeply.

Our main character's arc was so empowering to read. Her journey was (sadly) realistic but she found her strength towards the end, deciding to fight for herself instead of running, and to trust others again. That was beautiful. Her romance with the equally beautiful (vampire) Callum was also so fun to read, but I admit I wish there had been a little more yearning!

Jonie and Octavia's romance was slightly more engaging for me, but that could be because I truly adored Jonie so much that I just was rooting for her so much. But Jonie and Tess's relationship was still the highlight for me and highlights the importance of female friendship.

As for the world building, I feel like it was so well balanced out with the real world. Every inclusion felt intentional. Yes, it was sometimes a little funny, but it still was cohesive with the writing and the narrative we were getting so it never felt random!

Finally, the actual plot of this book felt pretty predictable. The author hit all her beats and made it a very familiar story. To me, that felt like it was done on purpose. If you are a fan of The Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Buffy, etc., you will recognise the tropes and the plot lines she is following here. So, for me I didn't mind being able to see how the plot would turn out, but if that puts you off, this might not be the book for you! Regardless, it was high-stakes and goofy, so a very entertaining read as whole.

I enjoyed this, but the podcast and book excerpts took me out of the story. I think this would've been find without them.

This is a hilarious and heartfelt dive into fan culture, obsession, and friendship.
She does a great job capturing the chaos of teen fandom with wit and charm.
It’s a love letter to fangirls everywhere—funny, relatable, and surprisingly deep.

Kate Stayman-London has done it again! A story full of fun and fresh characters that seemlessly blends multiple genres with a book within a book storyline. Between the multiple POVs, the different inputs from podcasts, excerpts, posts, etc. could have been confusing but was done so well it kept me hooked and engaged. I do wish there was a bit more build up from the beginning of the story as I found it a little difficult to connect with the romance but overall a great story with a healing message.

“𝗜𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.”

Rating: 4.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Pub Date: 10/1/24

*Thank you @NetGalley and Random House for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Tess is forced to drop out of college after a traumatic event, unable to sleep at night she starts working at a hotel. This works perfect because she is engrossed in the super popular vampire book series Blood Feud. In fact, its so popular there is a whole "Feud-dom" of fans online. Including speculation that the books might actually be real. Tess knows thats just crazy talk, until a very gorgeous woman appears at a hotel event taking her by surprise. Suddenly, everything Tess was so sure of is turned upside down. 🧛‍♀️

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲:
*Vampire Romance 🩸
*Buffy the Vampire Slayer
*Stories within a Story
*Sapphic Romance
*Feminism

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
I don't understand the low rating on this one, I absolutely LOVED it. I was a die hard Buffy fan back in the day, so this spoke to my little Vampire loving heart. I couldn't put it down, I had to know what was happening next. I laughed with the characters banter, and I cheered on the FMC in working through her trauma. If you have ever wondered or wished that your favorite fantasy story and characters were real, this is for you!

TW: SA

#FangFiction

FANG FICTION is one of those books that you just simply fly through because it's easy to read, the pace stays at a gallop, and the romantic elements are so teenage swoony it will make you combust. This book felt like a love letter to us girls who read Twilight in middleschool and are still fantasizing about Edward. I loved it.

This book had me excited, but ultimately I didn’t end it feeling that way. I didn’t really enjoy the other “media” that was included in the story. I found I wanted to skip the blog or podcast parts. I feel there was too much going on but at the same time, nothing I found exciting.

I wanted to love this book and I gave it a good try but it just wasn’t for me. Ultimately, I did not finish it. I still think it will be well-received by lots of people because of how creative the story line is.

Thank you to Kate Stayman-London, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book but I found the first few chapters to be very slow, a bit repetitive and I kept waiting for things to move forward. I ended up skipping sections of the book to see if I would like it further in, but nothing really grabbed me.

Tess abandoned her dream of a literary PhD after surviving an assault and became the night manager at a swanky boutique hotel in Brooklyn. She's pretty amuch ccepted a life of fear and insomnia where her only peace is reading her favorite vampire novels over and over. Until the night when one of the characters from those novels walks into her hotel and demands her help. She's suddenly thrust into a world where vampires are real and she's the only one who can help them. But not everything is as the novels say and Tess will have to face the fact that fiction and real life don't always match up.

It's been a while since I'd read a fun paranormal romance so it's entirely possible that part of why I liked this one so much was the nostalgia hit of a well-done vampire story. But Stayman-London managed to make a well-rounded vampire story also be a fun ode to those who love vampire novels, and I love how well both things come through in the story. The fact that it also centers on a woman who lost her dreams because of what was done to her and how she manages to retake her life and her agency adds to everything there is to enjoy. Tess really is a great character to lead the story, with Octavia and Joni being close seconds on the interesting character scale.
My one complaint is that both the main love interest, Callum, and the crush, Felix, felt very one-dimensional so the romance there feels insubstantial. I get that Tess and apparently millions of people love them and have a deep connection because of the books, but the actual reader doesn't get to see much of them and is basically told exactly how we're supposed to feel about them. I would have liked to see more of them interacting with Tess and other characters to make them a more rounded character.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the fun read!

I really enjoy the idea of a character learning that the books she has read are all true, being able to meet and fall in love with the characters she has read about in her true world.

I found that maybe it just wasn't intriguing enough for me, I wish it was more action focused with everything she knew. I felt it too be a little too slow in most parts.

I will still recommend the book to customers whp want vampire stories, considering eeting our book characters is a common situation we all daydream about from time to time.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Fang Fiction follows our main character, Tess, who is a megafan of the series Blood Feud. Blood Feud, whose fans refer to themselves as Feudies, often speculate online about whether this series is based on real people. It’s fun to join online discussions about it, but Tess doesn’t actually believe in vampires until Octavia, a main character in the Blood Feud series, shows up at the hotel where Tess works demanding help. Tess gets thrust into the world of sexy vampires and warring clans and has to learn to trust herself again.

There were many parts of this book that I adored. First off, Tess is a sexual assault survivor and I think the author handled it perfectly. We learn about it almost right away so we aren’t blindsided by this, however, the author slowly builds Tess’s backstory and our understanding of it throughout the book. I also thought the world-building of the vampire’s island was so well done and I could clearly picture it in my head. I also really enjoyed the caring and loving sibling dynamic between Callum and Octavia. Finally, the mixed media interludes between chapters were a fun way to mix things up and give more information to the readers without info dumping.

My only real critiques of the book were that the relationships felt a bit instalove even though we were almost halfway into the book when they happened, it felt like the characters went from being annoyed and distrustful of each other to being in love very quickly. I also wasn’t quite as invested in following Octavia’s storyline in the real Manhattan as I was in following Tess in the vampires’ world. However, I do understand why Octavia’s storyline was essential to the plot.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it! If you’re looking for a romance that doesn’t take itself too seriously but is still hard hitting you should definitely pick up this book!

3/5 ⋆｡°✩

I have such mixed feelings about Fang Fiction. On one hand it was just camp enough to be a fun vampire novel on the other hand, some things felt like they were a little too serious. The tone was all over the place and it made the more serious stuff a little less believable.

I want to have more to say about this book but I unfortunately just don't. It was a fun read that in no way needed to be as long as it was. If you like twilight, buffy, and overdramatic vampires, this would be a fun one to pick up (bonus points for sapphic vamps!).

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for an acr in exhange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy.
Such a strange book but I loved it! Portals, vampires, witches, and everything in between! Definitely worth the read.

3.5 stars

This was a cute romance with vampire girlies at the forefront. We follow Tess as she is drawn into the world of the supposedly-fictitious novel series about vampires. Along the way she heals from past sexual assault and finds herself.

Overall I enjoyed this one! It was very predictable and about 30% too long for my liking, but was still a fun read. The writing was well done and the characters felt familiar.

I’d recommend this to fans of romance and anyone who had an Edward Cullen poster in their childhood bedroom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of this work. All opinions are my own.

I dnfed this at 33% it was not for me. Unfortunately I was bored and nothing had really happened to make me care about what came next.

A love letter to fic writers everywhere! I’d totally read the sequel. Packed to the brim with fandom chaos!

I thought Fang Fiction had an interesting premise - who hadn’t dreamed of diving into the world of their current read?!

I liked the chemistry between all characters and that the MC’s view/opinion of who the white knight would be wasn’t necessarily how things worked out. Plus we’re always here for a FMC who fights her own battles and takes on real and theoretical demons.

There was some trauma that the FMC was working through but I liked that Kate Stayman-London didn’t have her be afraid to try the hard stuff like reconnecting with old friends and finding a new normal in life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Stayman-London and Random House for an early review copy we. These are my honest thoughts.