You know how some vampire books are so bad they’re addictive? Like the crave series and twilight? Well when I started Fang Fiction I was hoping that was the direction it would lead me in. The dialogue was cheesy but I was hoping in a fun tongue in cheek way. I quickly realized this would be a different kinda journey.

To be transparent, I’m not a fan frame stories. I like to dive right in media res. But I give them a chance when they arise. This one, however, was waaayyyy too long and busy. There was way too much going on three chapters in while still only being part of the set up and frame story. There was a partial background scene, cut to podcast, cut to email, cut to quick vampire soap opera moment, cut to present day. Oh wait, cut to a random blog post. Then a yelp review! It was just way too much jumping around, especially before the story even really started. It felt disjointed and distracting.

This continued beyond the frame story, once we dived into the Isle. Throughout the book there were random cuts to emails, Reddit posts, tumblr posts, and Snapchat transcripts. There were also unmarked switches between POVS and timelines which got confusing. Again, this felt very distracting and disjointed from the core story.

Which is too bad because the core of the story was really interesting! I think all of those cut to’s were a way for the author to build the world and offer explanations in a different way. But not everything need to be explained; I would have preferred to have learned things through seeing them play out or presented in the story itself.

All of these different entries were already a lot, but then side plots were added too. There was just so many moving parts to the book.

About halfway through was when I started enjoying the story. I think it’s such a cool concept and the author obviously put a lot of thought into it. Which is why it’s too bad I feel it got bogged down with over explanation. If this book was just made of the core story- Tess going to the Isle- than I would have loved this book. Tess trying to come to terms with the actual character of the vampires was compelling and her chemistry with Callum was fun to explore. The book just needed some simplification in my opinion. Others might find it fun, though! It is quirky and different than a typical vampire book.

While, unfortunately, this book was not for me, I would still recommend it. It is a neat concept, and everyone has different tastes. Just wasn’t my cup of tea!

This was a seriously fun read.. as a born and raised Twighlight lover I couldn’t put this down. This book is geared more for the mature audience but still a little silly (not in a bad way). Also who wouldn’t want to live in their favorite fantasy world!! Gosh I love vampires. There are some sensitive topics brought up but I felt they were done with taste. Would recommend this one.

Okay, first off, let's take care of the elephant that is in the room of every vampire-themed book since 2005 - if you enjoy(ed) Twilight, I think you'll like this! There are a few similar scenes that I found kinda hilarious, but they did not detract from the unique story that Kate was writing in Fang Fiction. I can always appreciate when a book hints at another popular novel without losing itself in it, y'know?

Also, second thing I gotta say before I get to the point - the author is a huge swiftie, which I super appreciate.

Okay, so, Fang Fiction.

This book is very much a delightful read that also does an excellent job at showing a character actively working through her past in what, to me, felt like a very honest approach. I have read plenty of books where a main character is struggling with the same things Tess is here, but this book still managed to feel fresh. The pacing for this book was great - it came close to insta-love without actually hitting it, which makes the romances far more tolerable.

Perhaps my favourite thing about this novel was the uses of mixed media - I love when authors use snippets of podcasts and news articles to fill out their stories, though sometimes that does not work out. But in this case, it absolutely did. It really helped showcase just what kind of presence Blood Feud has in Tess and Joni's world; you can tell me all you want that these books are bestsellers or whatever, but what really helps is showcasing the fandom. So that was a great touch and I am very glad that it was included, and also I want to listen to that podcast.

Overall, I think anyone who appreciates vampires, magical realism (shout out to the use of the Find My Friends app, that was hilarious!), and badass female characters, will enjoy this book. I do advise that you take note of the trigger warnings, though; Kate does a great job at telling Tess' story without getting gritty, but it still present, so be careful. If you read the trigger warnings and decide that you can handle it, then I heavily recommend you give this book a shot. I promise Callum is worth it.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this. I love (positive) fan behavior, fanfics, fanfic feeling and this was right there with it. I loved the additions of social media posts and transcripts as well because it added that EXTRA factor.
Was it predictable? Sure. Could the FMC get a little frustrating at times? Absolutely. Some people also may not like that this was a main character in her healing era, and what it took to get there. But I did enjoy it. The author went about discussing really difficult topics delicately and I think she did do it justice. I think it was also pretty realistic too (a survivors behavior). Job well done!
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this amazing opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this early. I had such a blast reading it!
Oh. My. God… this book spoke to my ADHD brain. This book had so many moving parts from how the information was delivered to the POVs. Normally I get super annoyed with multiple POCs because I want to find out what is happening but Kate Stayman-London did an amazing job of formatting it the way she did.
Some of the things were predictable while some things were not, So it all evened itself out.
I really did enjoy this book to the point that I hope we either get another in the series because some things were left open like there is room for another book maybe, or at least a spin-off series of some fun adventures🫢.
Also… I really really want to read Blood Feud 🥺

This book was so fun!!! Really loved the premise - who wouldn’t want their favorite book/movie/show to come to life?? Also loved seeing Tess’s journey and her healing after trauma and how she used her experience at The Isle to help with that. It feels like such a great parallel for how fiction can help you deal with and heal from trauma.

This really was not for me. I felt like the “flashbacks” to the book within the book took away from the story even though they were necessary. The story just did not keep me hooked.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

WOW!!! What a weird little book that absolutely blew me away. It's a funny, dark comedy that revolves around healing from sexual assault, through....an alternate vampire realm and a book within a book. Sound weird? IT IS. But I loved every second.

The way the book within a book storyline is done is so cool, and I adored following our main character, her best friend, and their respective love interests. It's steamy, passionate and everything you would love if you are a vampire girly. Trigger warning for SA!

For all those that love Buffy and/or Vampire Diaries and have dreamed of waking of in those fantasy worlds you will enjoy fang fiction. The main character Tess has loved the Blood Feud vampire series forever and has always believed in the possibility they could be real. And one day she comes across one of the vampires from her stories and embarks in her own adventure. I love that Tess is not some young teenage girl who gets swept up in the fantasy world but a real adult. The side characters in this story are charming and witty and violent and menacing… exactly what you need for a vampire would. So glad I got to read an arc!

Thank you to Random House Group and NetGalley for this ARC!

I wanted to love this book. The premise sounds fresh and fun, and I’m a sucker for a silly rom com. Unfortunately, the silly, borderline absurdity of the main plot (the vampires from a book series being real) paired with the incredibly serious (and honestly, a bit jarring) mentions of the FMC’s SA made this incredibly tough for me to get through. It almost felt as if the book would be having fun in a scene, and abruptly remembered that Tess was an SA survivor, and the sudden tone shift was, frankly, uncomfortable. I’m not saying there’s not a way to incorporate darker themes in a lighter toned novel, but this wasn’t it for me. As a disclaimer, though, I tend to avoid books with overt discussions of rape and assault just as a personal preference, so it’s certainly possible that I’m just not the target audience for this book.

Additionally, the writing felt pretty juvenile. It felt simultaneously like an airport harlequin romance and a middle school fanfiction. Maybe that was the intention, but it just didn’t land for me.

this was a fun read, i was invested with the characters and the story all the way through. some of the more sensitive parts were done tastefully but didn't feel like it overwhelmed the story and still kept the overall tone of the book light and fun.

this is perfect for the twilight lovers who want a little more mature reading experience.

3.5! This was FUN! I don’t even care that this was just one big cheese-fest, I had a great time reading this! I loooove any and all things vampire and I don’t often get to read ones that have a bit of humor to them, and this one had bunches. There is also the very heavy topic of sexual assault covered in this, but I think overall it was handled well. Tess and Callum were great, loved Joni and Octavia, and the other vamps were hilarious (the BOOK CLUB? I was cackling).

This book had aspects I adored and aspects that made me want to DNF, but we are going to start with the positives!

First off, the writing was straightforward and certainly lends itself to an easy "read it in one sitting" style. Dialogue was logical, no one was saying anything that I thought was out of left field or completely unreliable. The humour is a rom-com style that is filled with one-liners and funny side characters.

There were three aspects I didn't enjoy as much. First, the POV would change often and within the same chapters. I wished that the chapters were shorter and had POV headings because I often had to take a paragraph or two (or three or more) to figure out what POV we were in and where in the timeline. It was jarring and would result in me losing immersion. Secondly, I did feel quite a middle-book slump. There was one primary plot conflict and that left the middle of the book feeling like quite a slump. It focused on relationship development, but I did feel disinterested for the middle 150 pages or so.

Lastly, I had difficulty with the tone of the book switching rapidly from the light and fun rom-com to a much darker tone when the triggering topics came up (trigger warnings for SA, PTSD, panic attacks, and trauma recovery). These topics are critically important to discuss, but they did feel out of place in a paranormal rom-com. I would go from laughing to feeling moderately triggered within pages. If the reader is not triggered by these topics, I would say that they likely wouldn't feel a tone shift nearly as much. But if this is something that the reader is indeed triggered by, then it can be quite the whiplash going in and out of those topics.

Overall, I would recommend this book to lovers of the classic teen-angst vampire stories. It has a level of nostalgia, but it also feels fresh. However, as stated earlier, I would heed the author's note and the content warnings given.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced digital reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a fun read. I loved following our main girl, Tess, and learning with her as she’s on a journey discovering vampires?! I liked the epistolary elements as well, it broke up the book in a fun way.

thank you netgalley and random house publishing group for this arc!
i wasn’t expecting this to feel like reading a fantasy book bc the cover was giving contemporary romance w a lil bit of vampires but boy oh boy i was wrong!
honestly just picture this: edward or jacob or alice or rosalie or jasper or stephan or damon show up and ur like. omg???? so you’re a real person???? not just a book character???? and then u get submersed into their world. this book was SO WELL DONE and such an interesting concept and just WOWOWOWOWOOWOW read it!!!!

This book was not only very fun and entertaining to read but it also covered some heavier topics in a tasteful and respectful way. There were some topics that I personally thought were a bit too heavy (SA and being drugged) but the author didn't do it in a way that made me want to put the book down if that makes sense. I also just love the cover and I think we can all agree that we never got over twilight so this was just a fun vampire romance book to try to chase that feeling again, which worked very well. I would absolutely recommend this book and I cannot wait for October 1st so I can go get my own physical copy!!

This book was so fun and unlike anything I've read. The ending got pretty chaotic, but I was so invested in the characters by that point, it didn't really bother me. I don't know if it's the permanent Twilight fan in me, but I would be happy to keep living in this world and reading sequels and spin-offs indefinitely.

3.5 ✨
🌶️

I thought this book was super fun. TLDR Tess finds out her favorite vampire series is real and in a string of events must help the characters escape their prison. I am going back and forth on the plot though, for a book that was so light hearted and fun (no major magic system, no complex hierarchy or fights) I think Tess’s main story hinging on her being drugged and raped brings down what is otherwise a light book. The author did do a good job of empowering Tess and keeping anything graphic off the page, but overall that’s not what I seek fantasy out for. I also felt like I needed more dialogue between characters, the romance for both couples felt very insta love and I would have loved to have seen it fully fleshed out.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

this is a book about fiction and reality and a lot of romance between the twins and their respective partners. loved seeing it in real time with the posting and magic. I had an idea that the bad guy was someone else and glad that callum and tess found love along joni and oliva. good romance and got the buffy vibe.

Thank you to Kate Stayman-London, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review

I may be 27, but I never fully left my Twilight phase. This book was so fun and campy, but still managed to cover serious topics such as SA, anxiety, and depression in a thoughtful way.

I was nervous that the whole book was going to focus just on Tess on the Isle, but I was so pleasantly surprised when we kept up with what was going on back in New York.

The climax felt a bit, well, anti climatic, and seemed to wrap up almost too quickly (spoiler alert, but I feel like they should’ve stayed by the cabana suite to make sure the bad vamps burned up before leaving to rest/relax)?

The epilogue was so cute though, and I loved that Tess for her comeback and closure.

3.5/5