Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London is everything I love in a book: witty, sharp, and self-aware while still delivering the messy, dramatic, vampire-filled chaos I signed up for.

The story follows Tess Rosenbloom, a night-shift hotel manager who spends her days buried in the Blood Feud series. Except it turns out the world of Blood Feud isn’t so fictional after all, because when one of the characters, Octavia Yoo, shows up at Tess’s hotel, everything Tess thought she knew gets flipped upside down.

She’s dropped into an island straight out of the books and meets Callum, Octavia’s twin brother, who is supposed to be the villain, but, of course, he’s not just some bad guy. He’s brooding, complicated, and impossible not to fall for. Watching Tess try to figure out what’s real, what’s true, and what she even wants is the heart of the book.

I loved how the author played with the tropes while still leaning into the drama and romance. But there’s also some real emotional depth. Tess’s obsession with the Blood Feud series is about more than just vampires; it’s about how fantasy worlds can become a lifeline when real life feels too messy to handle.

If you’re a fan of vampires, fandoms, or stories that don’t take themselves too seriously while still packing an emotional punch, Fang Fiction is 100% worth your time. It’s clever, it’s chaotic, and it’s just the right amount of over-the-top. I loved it.

Thanks Netgalley and Random House for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

If you love vampires, then this is a must read! The characters are believable and the story hooks you in until the very end.

Fang Fiction was my introduction to Kate Stayman-London. I am a huge fan of vampires, both movies and books, so I was excited to jump straight into this one. Sadly, I just did not connect to the story like I had hoped I would. I loved the whole premise of the story. Imagine, if you will, a book series about real vampires! I would gobble that up!

I thought the book would be more romantic and less traumatic past, but I was wrong. We go from past accounts of trauma when romantic situations are brought up. I understand that it's real and needs to be addressed, but it's brought up quite a bit. The book was supposed to be more light-hearted, a rom-com. The book was a bit long, and it did feel like it drug on for longer than I would have liked.

The book did have some good moments of campiness, and it made many references to pop culture fandoms that I was very familiar with. I enjoyed its quirky take on things.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kate Stayman-London for gifting me an eARC of Fang Fiction. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this after loving the author’s debut novel but I found that I wasn’t prepared for the amount of trauma present in this book.

To start with a positive, I deeply appreciated the care that was put into this story with regard to the sexual assault. I also really enjoyed the sapphic relationship, and the twist about the author of the book in the novel. I did enjoy this one, but at some points I found the story to a bit campy with awkward pacing due to multiple POVs. I also didn’t find Calum and Tess to have much connection.

Fang Fiction offes an amusing, lighthearted read, but it ultimately falls short in delivering an engaing, memorable experience. The story follows TessRosenbloom who unexpectedly fins herself thrust in a world of real-life romance with characters from her favorite show Blood Feud. While the premise has potiential, the execution feels somewhat lacking.

One of the books main weaknesses is its underveloped characters. The protaganist, while relateable, often comes off as one dimensional, and her relationships with other characters feel forced rather than genuine. The secondary characters, including love interests and friends, are similarly flat and fail to add much depth to the narrative. As a result, it's hard to become emotionally invested in their journeys.

The plot itself is fairly predictable, with a few surprises along the way. Despite some charming moments, the story often relies on cliches, making it easy to predict what will happen next.

Overall, Fang Fiction is a fun breezy read if you're looking for something light, but lacks the depth and compelling characters that could have turned it into a truly memorable story.

Very fun, but also sensitive when exploring heavy topics. I like the meta elements of this book, and as a fan of vampires, appreciated a return to them in a unique way. Props for queer rep too.

This was just a lot of fun! And of course, I was very partial to and happy for the existence of the Octavia/Joni romance.

This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! Definitely worth the read!

3.5⭐️ rounded down

I really wanted to fall in love with Tess and Blood Feud but this story just kind of fell flat for me. It may have been the constantly switching perspectives, but I really didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. Kate Stayman-London does handle the topic of SA very carefully and this is a heavy theme throughout the book. I loved Stayman-London’s debut so hopefully whatever she comes up with next is a hit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a fun read. I enjoyed that the book included clips of a fan podcast and books excerpts. It felt like a fun way to expand the worldbuilding. I was not a huge fan of the romance subplot in the book and to be honest, I felt like the romance between the two side characters (Joni and Octavia) had more chemistry than the main couple. Overall, it was still an enjoyable read.

Tess is obsessed with the Blood Feud series about vampires. She is shocked when one of the characters from the series walks into the hotel she works at. Soon, Tess realizes that the stories are based on reality and finds herself transported into their world.

I loved the premise here, and was really looking forward to it because I loved One to Watch. I liked the first few chapters, but once Tess gets to the vampires' island, it just fell off for me. It felt too much like I was reading Twilight again, not in a good way (in terms of writing style).

Such a fun concept. You find out the book world you are obsessed with is real…. And you get to join it?!?! So fangtastic lol. Only thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was how long the chapters were at my reading speed.

I absolutely adored this. It's wild to me, considering Stayman-London's credentials, that this is such a delicious romantic story. The pacing is perfectly done and has just the right amount of fantasy to give it some special zing.

I don’t know why, but I struggled with this book normally, this would be right up my alley. I did not feel connected to the characters and I had a hard time buying into the love stories.

If you love vampire books and pop-culture references weaved throughout the book, you will enjoy picking up on these. Our main character is a victim of SA, and is discussed frequently, so always read content warnings. That being said, I felt the book started off strong, then kind of slowed down near the end. While I like serious, comedy, and spicy all mixed in the same book, it felt disjointed a lot here. Overall, I still feel like this is a strong debut, and I do look forward to seeing more from Kate.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group, NetGalley, and Kate Stayman-London for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love a book that does a bait and switch, which is what Fang Fiction provided to me in spades. I went into this forgetting what it was supposed to be about, and from the cover I thought it was going to be a rom-com, chicklit type book. Then I started reading and went “oh shit, this is actually a full on urban fantasy novel!” And from there, it just got better.

For those in need of the warning: this book has a subplot running through of SA and healing from it, but it is alluded to heavily from very early on in the book, and is worked into the story so the reader won’t be surprised or triggered when its details are inevitably revealed. I appreciated the author’s care in addressing the topic matter, and the agency she gave the FMC to have wounds she was scared of while still giving her time to heal and grow from them. It felt like a really tender and accurate portrayal of what many of us experienced, and it meant a lot to read.

On a lighter note, the romance and fantastical aspects of the story were so fun! With pop culture references to all of the big cultish vampire stories in the world, and a dip into fandom culture, I found myself fangirling and giggling along to the book myself. I also really appreciated the diversity in the characters, from race to sexual orientation to size diversity. It feels like that should be obvious in every book in the year of 2024, but we all know it is definitely NOT. So hats off to this author for doing it seamlessly.

On the whole, a fun romp of a book with characters you love and root for, and a plot you’re sucked into (vampire pun fully intended). 4⭐️, highly recommend.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

3/5 stars
1-2 fade to black spice scenes
Genre: Supernatural Romance
Would reread? Probably not
Would recommend: To some
Location: NYC

I loved that it was written like a fan fiction and gave special effort to hold the vampire era that was early 2000s, especially all the fangirling. I loved the idea and the writing style (mostly), but the execution left some to be desired. It was really slow from 40-70% , unnecessarily dragging and details that did not add much to the story. I'm still really glad I read it.

Tropes & themes:
-Bookish - favorite romantasy book is REAL
-Vampires - rival clans!
-ex best friends come together again over their love of a vampire book series
-Fan fiction
-Portals & quests
-Podcast, emails, texts

For fans of Twilight and Vampire Diaries.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

CW: sexual assault survivor, friend break ups

If you're looking for a story to get lost in, one that makes you think what if while opening your eyes to both sides of a story, this is the one for you.

This is one of those books that I just kept reaching for, one that I couldn't get out of my head, one that had me thinking about it when I couldn't have it in my hands.

While there are some really hard topics this is overall a vampire romance with notes of comedy, family, and the lengths you'll go to when your found family needs you.

Tess, oh, what can I say about Tess? I saw myself in parts of her and saw women that I know and love in her courage, strength, and her moments of panic. To those women, you know who you are, and I'm in awe of you now and always.

Anytime we see our favorite characters in a new light can be shocking, but sometimes that shock has to happen to be able to see their full potential, whether it's a Shakespeare sprouting vampire we think is perfect, living monsters, or witches who know how to get things done, fiction is the great love of my life and this book with these characters is a great example of why.

I can only hope we're going to get a book, two, with Joni and Ocatvias story, maybe some of the antics I'm sure will ensue when a certain couple arrives in London, or what happens in those other worlds that no one has written about yet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing a copy of this e-book; I have voluntarily read and reviewed it, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Just didn’t Hit for me and ended up a DNF… ((My apologies for the late review. (I am now cleaning them up for the new year)) overall this felt like fan fiction due to it being a DNF I will NOT be posting