This review was written in exchange for a free un-edited version of the novel.
On the surface Fang Fiction comes across as an interesting combination of a what if scenario and a general vampire romance novel. This all swiftly changes as you realize that this is a novel about the inner strength of women and the importance of being in community with the right people. The novel focuses on two independently developing relationships, neither of which over power the other. The characters of Tess, Callum, Jodi and Octavia are each given an opportunity to have standout moments.

When not focused on developing relationships the novel takes the time to discuss the journey to personal healing and empowerment after suffering a violent attack. In the prologue readers are informed that Tess, one of the FMCs was drugged and sexually assaulted by one of her fellow graduate students. It is this assault that causes the changes in Tess’s life that put her in the direct path of her future with Vampire Twin Callum.

Without giving too much away I will say this novel reminded me that sometimes those that present a perfect image are often the evillest. The novel also made sure to remind the readers that having and being in community with others doesn’t just mean they are only there for you on your good days. I really enjoyed this novel and think others will too.

Let me start off by saying the premise of this story is capital-A awesome, and between this book and other recent release Long Live Evil, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of this world-within-a-world–type storytelling in the next few years. That being said, I don’t think this book was particularly well executed, and the jumps between timelines, characters, and worlds left me reeling (and, sadly, not in a good way).

Fang Fiction, from the same author as One to Watch (which I LOVED), follows grad student Tess as she navigates life post-assault. She’s dropped out of her program at Columbia and is working nights at a hotel because she can’t sleep anyway, and she’s avoiding her best friend. In addition to all of this, Tess is a Feudie, a fandom of people obsessed with the fictional book series Blood Feud.

Enter Octavia Yoo, who is a character from Blood Feud, but also a real-life vampire, and she’s found Tess via her online articles about the characters and universe Octavia inhabits. She’s desperate for help, so Tess agrees to enter the fictional island where the series takes place in order to set things straight for her beloved characters.

At this point, we’re met with multiple storylines: there’s Tess on the Isle with a bunch of vampires and handsome Callum, Octavia in New York City hanging out with Tess’ ex–best friend Joni, snippets of the fictional Blood Feud world (Octavia and her brother’s past is key to the story), and also flashbacks and mentions of Tess’ past before she was assaulted. The result is a stilted amalgamation of romance, fangirling, trauma, and danger. With so much going on, it’s hard to get invested in any of the characters, and just as I started to, I’d get wrenched out of that time/perspective and into a different one.

The world-building was excellent, and I’d kill to get to visit the Isle (a sort-of parallel universe Manhattan) — between the mansions and the library and the jade pools, I was hooked. Not to mention the place is crawling with handsome Spike and Angel types. I wanted much more of the story of the Isle, and the characters there were begging to be more fully formed.

So overall, I enjoyed this, but I wanted so much more from it. I much preferred it to Long Live Evil (a similar character-enters-the-fictional-world-of-their-favorite-books story that fell incredibly flat), but Fang Fiction still didn’t quite do it for me. However, owing to the writing, the world-building, and the strength of Stayman-London’s first book, I’ll still be eagerly waiting to see what she writes next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After loving One to Watch I was excited to pick this one up, but it kind of fell flat for me. I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who thinks the synopsis sounds good to them, especially lovers of teen angst and vampires.

This book was cute read for the month of October . It wasn’t usually what I’m into but the story was interesting and seems to pull me in. If you love a good conspiracy theorist and mystery , this book is definitely for you! Although, I probably wouldn’t read the book again, I’d definitely recommend to friends and family .
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review .

I really enjoyed the writer's previous book, but I don't think I was the right reader for this one. It read like fan-fiction for much of it and felt too silly for my tastes, which was odd considering sexual assault is a big component to the story. While I think these sorts of stories are important, the tonal shifts were jarring. The idea of characters from a book being real is a fun one, but the story just didn't keep me engaged.

I brought like 5 physical books to Hawaii with me and barely picked up anything after I started Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London because I was so engrossed with this fast moving vampire tale.

Tess drops out of her graduate program in English suddenly leaving her best friend and roommate from the program, Joni, wondering what happened.

To cope Tess gets a night job and an upscale motel and throws herself into her favorite vampire trilogy comfort reads. Except is her comfort fiction really fiction after all?

We all need a good vampire novel every once in awhile and this one with favorite book characters come to life and a main character who is a lit nerd felt like it was written with an audience of me in mind 😂

A little on the nose and cringe at time but also I feel that’s what partly makes this genre fun. It was an easy read that sunk its fangs into me and sucked me into its pages.

If you are looking for a fun and fast paced read as we head into the holidays and vacation that will allow your brain to check out and just have fun for awhile this is definitely a good call.

Turns out this one just wasn’t for me. I loved the author’s first book and came in assuming I’d love this one too, but mostly everything just felt flat and superficial. Tess was the only character I remotely connected to, but everyone else plus the setting just didn’t pull me in. About halfway my attention really started to wander but I kept going hoping something would pop. As much as I liked Tess and wanted a happy ending for her it almost felt like everything was wrapped up too neatly with a pretty bow. All of this complex conflict was solved in one swoop and everyone lived happily ever after. It’s not bad by any means, just not for me. Thanks to Dial Press and NetGalley for access to the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept!

Fan fiction was a huge part of my reading journey and watching as the two worlds collide was awesome and comforting in a way I didn’t know I needed.

This was a ridiculous read & so so fun! It’s a great twist on the classic vampire story. I thought about all of the vampire characters in movies/tv that i love while reading this & it just made it all the more better.

If you’re looking for a fun vampire read with a little spice I’d say to give this one a try

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! What a fun concept, and a dream come true for anyone in a big fandom! It was thrilling to see that idea come to life and to imagine what it would actually be like if that ever happened. Falling in love with the "villain" of your favorite series?! Yes please! I was even finding myself wishing I could read Blood Feud :)
As I was describing this book to my husband, he pointed out that the structure was exactly like Coco, which...he is kinda right. But I'm not mad because I love Coco.
Character growth was fan(g)tastic and a joy to see! As a survivor of SA myself, I found this so well done and it was beautiful to see Callum and Joni's support.
I think this will be one that I read every fall, and I'm excited to read more from Kate.

vampires its everything I needed it because its just >>> love them to death they need to be more real. this book is just amazing and can't stop thinking about it

This is a frustrating book. I think it suffers from a real identity crisis - is it a romcom? A satire? A feminist piece about recovering from assault? None of the above? The marketing for this book made me expect one thing; what I got was a hodgepodge of all of them. The writing style makes me think this was attempting some kind of satire of Harlequin romance, but I wasn't totally convinced. I'm worried the cutesy cover and cheesy title will attract an audience who are unprepared for the seriousness of the main character's past assault hanging over the plot like a sword of damocles.

Such an interesting world and powerful message woven into a captivating story! Stayman-London's Fang Fiction will delight any readers who enjoy vampires, magical realism, and impactful discussions of trauma.

Tess has been hiding from her past for the past three years. She cut her promising graduate career at Columbia University short after she was assaulted by a classmate. Riddled with anxiety, panic attacks, and insomnia, she finds a job working night shift at a boutique hotel and she spends her spare time reading (and re-reading) Blood Feud, her favorite paranormal romance series. Then, one of the main characters of the series shows up at her workplace, and Tess is thrust into the world of Blood Feud itself - one full of magic, intrigue, and danger.

Fang Fiction’s handling of a woman’s recovery from sexual assault is superbly done. A content warning at the beginning of the book gives the reader advance notice of any triggering subjects, and it is clear that Kate Stayman-London did her due diligence to ensure her writing was coming from a safe, empathetic place. Over the course of the novel, Tess experiences the inevitable “coming out” that comes along with recounting incidents of intimate partner violence and comes to realize how destructive it is to internalize that trauma. I loved how the story navigated the process of exploring romance as a survivor, and I hope that real-world survivors see Tess as a figure of hope. I also adored that never, not once, did Tess question or apologize for being a plus-size woman in a romantic situation. I want more heroines like her in the books that I read.

Fang Fiction was one of my more anticipated releases of 2024, ever since I devoured One to Watch in 2023. Comparing Kate Stayman-London’s two published works, I think One to Watch gave the reader a bit more time to get to know the protagonist - to learn her flaws and to watch her grow. Where One to Watch deviated from Bea’s perspective (emails, posts on social media, and one half-chapter from the love interest’s point of view), it served to move the story forward and never took Bea out of the center of the book’s universe. In Fang Fiction, we get the majority of chapters from Tess’s viewpoint, but we also see the story from the perspective of her best friend and two Blood Feud characters along with the nods from the Blood Feud fandom itself. I can see why it’s necessary to leave Tess’s point of view - her primary conflict isn’t the only one that needs to be resolved. I think it’s down to the reader’s personal preference. If there’s anything that Netgalley has taught me this year, it is that I tend to prefer limited-perspective novels.

Kate Stayman-London is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, especially if I’m looking for stories about plus-size women reclaiming their space in the world. Readers who have liked Erin Sterling, Jenny L. Howe, and Jennifer Weiner's books will find a lot to love in Fang Fiction.

**Thank you to Random House Publishing Group (The Dial Press Imprint) and Kate Stayman-London for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**

Started this last month for the Halloween vibes. This was very campy which I enjoyed. However, some dialogues made me cringe no matter how much I like vampires. Would still read more books from this author!

I really wish I liked this book more than I did, and to be fair - the parts I did enjoy I had fun with! - but the other issues just took me so far out of the book that overall the enjoyment was tainted.

Now, I want to be clear. I in no way believe or want to imply that victims of assault cannot see themselves in romance novels, or that they don’t deserve to see themselves finding love and happiness in them. I’ve read romance books where the main character had been assaulted and didn’t end the book feeling as off about it as I did in this one. (The Ice Planet Barbarians book focusing on Tiffany I think does this fairly well in both addressing her trauma and having the physical relationship move in a realistic - and sexy - way.) So, believe me when I say my issues don’t stem from a main character having a specific trauma.

I think the biggest issue with this book is the dramatic tone shifting between Tess’ trauma after her assault - and the schloppy romance “spending days in bed having sex” plots. Having both be directly next to one another feels wrong, and there is a specific scene where Tess relates - in explicit detail - her trauma, and then immediately after her and the guy she’s with have marathon sex where, it’s explicitly stated, she doesn’t have any issues or triggers to avoid. And this book is filled with these wild tone shifts, where it can’t figure out a happy-medium between fun romcom lightheadedness and the seriousness of the assault, and the end result leaves the reader feeling overall uncomfortable even in lighthearted scenes.

Also, I think the scenes where Tess is dealing with her trauma kind of verge from storytelling and flowing in a plot, to “character says the best and most correct thing” here, and in many ways it felt less like a conversation happening and more like “this is a good character because they are saying the correct thing, regardless if this is how a conversation between people works,” type of deal. It wasn’t the biggest issue I had, but it was very noticeable during the conversation where Tess gets with her love interest. He says something to make her think she can’t trust him, and then he barely says anything to get her to trust him, and suddenly she does? And then they’re having marathon sex with no issues? (Also, the sex scene itself was underwhelming, which is fine but I did find it odd that the male love interest has a whole internal monologue about not wanting Tess to think she has to force herself to come, but when she does being like “I’m so happy she trusts me like this.” I will admit to being like, “Huh?” during this part.)

I also felt some of the descriptions to be odd, with similar ones being used for loved interests as well as men who we think may attempt to assault Tess.

These quotes are taken from a digital ARC copy, and may not be in the final product. I had only highlighted them in my copy because the first description made me a bit uncomfortable, which was only confirmed when the second description happened and I was like “Wait, wasn’t this almost exact thing said about a love interest?”

<i>“...with every aspect of this hulking brute of a man. He was easily a foot taller than she was, thick with muscle…”</i> - a scene describing a sexy romp within the world of the books this novel is about.

<i>“He was big - like, linebacker big…” </i>- a scene of a man trapping Tess in a hallway and potentially wanting to force himself on her.

Finally, this doesn’t really mean anything, but the brief interludes of the characters and scenes within the books this novel is about really took me out of the story. The writing style in these books was very Harlequin-style, trashy romance and every scene we were forced to read of this world just made me wonder why on earth these books would be popular. The plots and storylines shown, as well as the writing, in these “books” made the popularity of these books make no sense to me, and I could not understand how the main character not only read all 3 books but regularly re-read them for enjoyment.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and found the plot and romances to be fun and typical within a romance novel - nothing too surprising in one way or the other - and didn’t have an issue with any of it. However, the constant tonal shifts between Tess falling into bed with her love interest for days on end, and then having a complete 180 while she deals with her trauma and it becomes very serious, severely limited the enjoyment I felt while reading. The overall feeling was a kind of lukewarm, mildly uncomfortable mix that made the romance feel weak, and also made it hard to simply accept some of the sillier plot going on in the background. It’s not that this author didn’t handle the assault and trauma with care, but that it felt like an entirely separate book that was simply mashed together, rather than a cohesive story. Also, this is entirely just me, but if I wasn’t already going to give this 3 stars because of the overall mess of the book, I would have had to seriously consider knocking off a star <i>anyway</i> because apparently one character is named for a stupid Taylor Swift reference, and I’d like to go one single time reading an urban fantasy romance without having to deal with a stupid and unnecessary Swift reference. For once.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House for providing this e-ARC.

Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London 5/5 🧛‍♀️

This may have gotten me out of my book slump!! I really loved how this was a merge between fandom and finding out a book world you are obsessed with is real! I really enjoyed the dynamics between the characters and really loved Tess! She deserves everything good!

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!
CW:
Graphic-Sexual assault, Rape, Murder
Moderate-Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content
Minor-Alcohol, Abandonment, Sexism

(3.5/5) This was an easy read and a certainly entertaining one at that. However, the modern references took me out of the book at times (What We Do In The Shadows, AO3, etc). I did appreciate the world building, as it was easy to follow and absolutely addicting at points.

I loved this so much!

I went into this pretty blind and was so pleasantly surprised. Vampires mixing with humans always makes me think of Twilight, but this is nothing like that (and thank goodness for that!)

The characters are so well written, and I loved the book inside the book, Blood Feud. Tess and Joni’s friendship is peak friendship goals, and I want to be Octavia when I grow up.

There’s just the right amount of spice, there’s a bit of suspense and violence, but nothing over the top, and I absolutely loved how the fantasy tied in with the real world.

I haven’t read this author’s first book, but I’ll definitely be checking it out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy!

SO CUTE! Loved this, loved the FMC, and the only note was I wish we saw more of the vampire’s world instead of just their house and the valley/pond.