I found this read so fun, original, quirky, cute, funny…. I loved it! If you’re an AO3, Twilight, Buffy, conspiracy theory (only fun ones!), or romance lover, this book is RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY! And if you’re not, you still have to read it because it’s great.

The main characters, Tess and Joni, are a delight. They are funny, warm, struggling in such a real way (be aware of SA triggers), working through friendship struggles… I love following them while they experienced their “Twilight come to life” fantasy! Them, plus the love interests and secondary friends, had such great dialogue and banter… I couldn’t put the book down!

The plot is wholly original here and it has such great additions. The chapter “starts” being podcast clips, Reddit threads, text exchanges, etc. was so fun and engaging, I loved it. A modern world with classic romance… just right!

I also want to take these Buzzfeed quiz to find out with Blood Feud lover is right for me… but if I get Felix, I’m breaking my phone.

First, thank you NetGalley, the publisher & author for an eARC of this book! I was SO intrigued when I read the synopsis and am happy to say it held up!

The concept is super fun: vampire novels that have a huge fandom that happen to actually be real vampires?! My head instantly started spinning and thinking about all my favorite fantasy fandoms and what I would do if they were real!
The vampires, the witches, the magic was all super enthralling and I honestly could picture each and every scene in my head while reading.
There’s love, betrayal, LGBTQ representation, but there is also slight mentions of rape/sexual assault which the author gives a trigger warning for in the beginning of the book.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

A little disappointed in this one. I was so intrigued by the plot, but I think it was very rushed. Lacked world-building for a fantasy and insta-love is ick. It was very modern which is a fun twist but annoying. I love the SA awareness, inclusion, and feminist ideals but they were a bit too much at times like I get it. I love the plot ideas of Kate Staymann-London books, but I think I need to go into it looking more for a quick, lighthearted and cheesy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC! This book was like a love letter to fandom. A woman named Tess is obsessed with a vampire book series that’s been a comforting presence in her life amid trauma. One day she is approached by a character from said series and gets the opportunity to travel to a mystical isle. This book was great, it was a fast read and the romance gave me butterflies. It felt slightly campy but I think that was intentional to evoke the feeling of when fandoms were super big during the Twilight era. And I was living for it, it was what I needed.

Possibly spoilery; proceed with caution.

Tess works nights at a boutique hotel in Brooklyn after giving up her beloved graduate studies. Why? Because one of the other students in the program assaulted her and she retreated from her entire life due to anxiety and PTSD. She gave up her school, apartment, and friends, seeking no help.

Oh! She’s also super into these vampire novels that are all the rage, Blood Feud!

There’s an online community for these ridiculously popular books that believes the stories are real, that vampires are living among us. Conspiracies abound!

Tess wonders if they might be true.

Soon enough Tess finds out.

The villain vampire, Callum, is stuck and, through a series of events, only she can save him. She ends up on a sunless island fending off hungry vampires as well as a sexy one who might be falling for her.

There’s a second plot involving Tess’ best friend Joni and Callum’s sister Octavia, lesbians in love, and yes, the coincidence feels…convenient.

What a weird book.

Marketed as a sexy vampire romance, it felt more…troubling. The instigating incident is an assault (later identified as r*pe) that leaves the FMC retreating entirely from her once vibrant life, seeking no help professionally or even through friends. Throughout the book - the silly romps through the countryside and teleporting portals and eye batting flirting - I kept wondering how and when the assault would be dealt with (the epilogue, fyi). In fact, Callum and Tessa experience instalove, which is problematic in general, but particularly for a woman haunted by this incident from her past (which is written very clearly into every scene in which she’s with a man). Yes, they are together for only a few days before they are in love and having sex.

I didn’t like this one at all. If the blurb had been more on point, I wouldn’t have requested it.

Who hasn't fantasized about taking the lead role in their beloved novel? I definitely did that a lot, which is why I found this book to be really intriguing.

Compared to other vampire stories I've read in the past, I thought this book's concept was different. Additionally, given Tess's experiences with trauma and the PTSD that followed, you should be aware of the book's heavy and dark side before you start reading it. At the outset of the book, the author does issue a warning. It was quite enjoyable and touching to watch them cooperate and encourage one another.

I enjoyed Tess and Callum's relationship. Although their romance seemed a little too instantaneous, I believe the plot worked nicely with it. It was delightful and endearing to watch them cooperate and encourage one another. However, I found myself caring even more about Joni and Octavia because their chemistry was so much better.

I found it entertaining to investigate the concept of the contemporary vampire. I also valued Tess's development and recovery process following her trauma. On the negative aspects of the book, it was too repetitive and the supplemental content, such as the book's chapters and podcast, took me out of the narrative.

Though it wasn't my favorite, it was still enjoyable and I would suggest it to others, especially if they are vampire show fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I can't lie...it was a real struggle to finish this book. Getting into it was a struggle which was then amplified by the annoyance of all the media excepts as well as the switching between no less than 4 characters POV's. I was really excited for the story, because I thought the premise sounded different - which it was - but then so much of the story was based around the FMC reeling from being SA'd (as one would). At no point was this mentioned until I actually had the book in my hands, and, as I'm being totally honest, I wouldn't have requested this book had I known. It was also off-putting that the FMC is so affected what happened that she literally hasn't told a soul...but then randomly decides she trusts a literal vampire enough to tell him? I just don't understand; it also seems like maybe a "rom-com" isn't the best place to have such a heavy topic, especially when it very much influences the storyline.

Other than that, I simply couldn't enjoy the story when it felt like I was being bounced around from POV to POV, as I mentioned, and reading the excerpts felt like that was maybe the author's way of getting information to the reader, but it wasn't done well. If anything, it felt tedious. The romance between Tess and Callum came out of nowhere - although I did enjoy the romance between Olivia and Joni. Lastly, I was disappointed that Rick didn't meet an untimely demise at the hands of Callum, but here we are...

Anyway, read at your own risk. I wish I had better things to say.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me a chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a pretty straightforward read. I liked the concept of the book. Your favorite vampire characters from your book are actually real and you have to save them in a parallel universe. There were parts of the book where I was like ehh but others were fun.

Thank you NetGalley and dial press for the gifted earc.

3.5

Overall i enjoyed this. I really loved Stayman-London’s first novel because i’m a Bachelor fan, but something else I love about her writing style is her use of podcast transcripts throughout to help inform the story at large. She also has an excellent way of commenting on a grander issue by correlating it with something more trivial, like body image and reality dating shows or, in this novel, sexual assault and vampirism.

I’m sure that parallel to vampirism has been done before, but this story really emphasizes how traumatic that experience could actually be and plays with the irony of how historically vampires have been used as an alluring escape despite the non-consensual nature of a vampiric act. Vampires need permission to enter your space, but after that they can pretty much do whatever if you’re under their spell. Similarly, and in this case, you could welcome the possibility of a sexual encounter, but later be so under the influence of whatever, that you have no recollection of the sex, let alone consent for it.

Anyway, this was excellent in demonstrating how a traumatic experience can cause someone to completely change their lifestyle in an attempt to isolate themself from any reminder of the assault.

My main problem with this was I found the story a little slow to start because we were establishing the lore of the vampire world. While the vampire novel excerpts were on brand for Stayman-London and appropriate for Tess’s characterization, I found myself skimming them after a few chapters, because I wasn’t that invested and in most instances the details were re-explained later on (or even beforehand) once we’re in the vampire world. So that became a little repetitive.
It also took me a long time to care about any of the vampires. Olivia is haughty, Callum is a jerk, Felix was a creep. Granted, that’s their characterization: we’re supposed to be skepitical of all the “villainous” vampires because Tess has been biased against them. But it took too long for me to become invested in the vampire characters that I found it a teeny bit of a slog.

But this book isn’t about the romance or the vampires. It’s about a woman who has allowed her trauma to distance herself from her dreams and the people who support her, keeping her from growing into the strong person she can be. No one was keeping her down except herself, she just needed to allow herself to see that. And for that lesson, I thought this novel did a great job.

Whip smart and bitngly 👀 funny I really enjoyed this! Heart warming and feel good, love urban fantasy and this was fantastic

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Wasn’t a big fan of this one. Didn’t like the format of the book or the plot. Did not finish. Nice cover though!

In the author's notes at the end of the book, Kate Stayman-London says that she pitched this book to her team by saying "imagine you woke up in Buffy" (the Vampire Slayer), and that's totally the vibe this book gives.

What I imagined would be a corny vampire romance novel actually turned out to be an adventurous, fantasy romance that kept me on the edge of my seat! With just enough magical elements as to not be overwhelming, it would be a great book to recommend to friends who are just starting out in the fantasy/supernatural genre. Stayman-London managed to condense the world building by connecting it to NYC in real life, which I really enjoyed!

With how it ended there's definitely potential to continue with the characters, but I'm also satisfied if it's a standalone. Thanks so much to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read "Fang Fiction"!

This was a little frustrating to try and rate. It should have been an easy five star for me, nearly every single about it was exactly what I’d like - Characters who aren’t still teenagers. Blurring line between fiction and reality, in a book within the book where the inside book is actually real. Mixed media feel with the story interrupted by book excerpts, transcripts of podcasts and voicemails, magazine articles, blog and forum posts
And, of course, vampires - need I say more?
This should have felt like a book written specifically for me
But then there’s the SA.
CW - A sexual assault, and the continuing trauma related to it for Tess, is a major theme
It goes unreported, the perpetrator still around and free to do more damage. She hasn’t gotten any further than downloading a therapy app to think about talking to someone, and things are bad for her mentally. She hasn’t even told her best friend/former roommate which is bad both because she’s missing out on a potential huge source of support but also because her friend is still associating with this guy not realizing how much danger she could be in from him.
It remains unresolved for nearly the entire book
It’s hard to separate how much this bothers me from how much I enjoyed the rest of it.

All that said, I do appreciate the thoughtful and thorough author note at the start. Especially how it not only includes the content warning, but also resources for readers who may have been in a similar situation (minus the vampires obvi)

🧛Book Review🧛
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Summary- Tess Rosenbloom is no stranger to the dark. An assault survivor and grad school dropout, Tess spends her nights managing a chic Brooklyn hotel and her days reading her favorite vampire novels, Blood Feud. She even dabbles in online conspiracies claiming Blood Feud is real—it’s fun to hunt for clues! But deep down, Tess doesn’t believe vampires actually exist . . . until one walks through her door.

It turns out the sexy villain of Blood Feud is trapped, and only Tess can rescue him. Eager to escape her life, Tess agrees to help, and soon she’s on a secret island where the sun never shines, surrounded by deadly vampires—and most terrifying of all, she’s falling in love with one of them. (Meanwhile, back in New York, Tess’s estranged best friend is having a sapphic paranormal affair of her own.)

Visiting the world of your favorite story is any fan’s dream, but can Tess outrun the demons of her past (and vampires of her present) before it becomes a nightmare? In this darkly glamorous rom-com, Tess will find out if it’s worth risking her neck—and her heart—for a chance to reclaim her future.
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Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts- I’m coming at you with a Saturday review because I’m wildly behind on my spooky season recommendations ! I was SUPER excited for this one and it ended up being totally kind of fine. This one had so much promise and really dealt with some heavy themes. But it was overly bloated, each chapter was a different format (podcast, the vampire book plot lines, and then the actual plot of this book within a book). I think it would have been truly impossible to follow in an audio format. This one had so much potential but because it was trying to accomplish and cover so much a lot got lot in translation,
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Oh my god, I absolutely adored this book. It was just extremely up my alley. I had such a great time reading this book, but it also managed to hit its more emotional moments really well. I definitely teared up at some moments. It might not be the perfect book, but it definitely was the perfect book for me.
The premise of this book was just incredible. I almost thought it couldn't live up to that potential, but it definitely did. This whole book just felt so well crafted. It's clear that the author definitely took some inspiration from other vampire fiction, it's clear. However, she put it all together in a way that felt so unique. I truly got lost in this world. It was so interesting, and I loved the different twists and turns this book took as well. I was just so along for the ride, that I didn't see some of these things coming, and I was legit shocked. I also loved the inclusion of a little mixed media in this book. It definitely made this story feel so much more real to me. It was a nice addition.
I also just adored our cast of characters as well. Tess was an incredible main character. I loved seeing her progression in this story. I thought the way her trauma was included within this book was just incredible. Especially because it is done in a way that doesn't bog down the overall tone of the book while still taking the issues seriously. Her romance with Callum was also just my everything. I do feel like it was a tad bit underdeveloped, but overall I just think they were an amazing match, and I adore the way they opened up to each other. I really loved their scenes together so much. Joni and Octavia were so much fun as characters as well. I really liked their dynamic together as well. Their romance was extremely underdeveloped though but I did still quite liked their scenes together. They were more the b-plot of the book though so I don't mind as much. The cast of side characters were also pretty great. I was just super invested.
So yeah, I really adored this book. I laughed, I cried, I was completely sucked in. There are no complaints from me. Like I said before, I don't know if it will work for everyone the way it did for me, but I definitely still recommend it because at least I think you'll have a good time reading this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, however I just didn’t love this one.. I really thought I would but I found the multiple pov switches (with no warning) and the multimedia add ins frustrating and sometimes unnecessary. I also thought the were too many elements in a slow moving plot. The book itself was way too long for what it is and I honestly didn’t feel a connection to ANY of the characters really.

This was cute and fun. It gave very much teen drama vibes: like a cross between The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl. I enjoyed it, but it felt kind of scattered for me, Between all the POVs, the Reddit posts, the podcast scripts, the book excerpts...it was just a lot. It all came together in the end, but I felt lost for a fair portion of the story and could have done without Joni's POV.

Tis the season for vampires! I saw another review said "campy and vampy" and honestly I could not describe it any better! This book has serious comfy spooky vibes. It is hard to explain, but just give it a chance!!!

This book was a total miss for me. The premise sounded very fun but it did not deliver. The writing felt juvenile and read life fan fiction. The characters were underdeveloped and seemed like caricatures. I didn’t believe the romance between Tess and Callum at all. There was no depth and it felt like instalove. There was major trauma that Tess was dealing with that the author tried to handle with care. But in the end, this trauma felt largely ignored and then miraculously “fixed” with no growth or deeper exploration. This was definitely not the book for me.

Fang Fiction is a fun vampire book about Tess, who loves Blood Feud novels. She discovers that the books are real and that vampires exist. The book is a quick and entertaining read, with funny moments and heavy topics that are handled carefully by the author. The storytelling includes podcast segments, voicemail transcripts, text message transcripts, and books within books, making it very entertaining. I highly recommend this book, especially for the spooky season. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.