I thought this was a very sweet and interesting story that I would reccomend easily for others to enjoy. It was different to other PNR- type stories. Very enjoyable

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄
🧝🏻‍♀️ Folklore
☀ Grumpy/Sunshine
△ Love Triangles

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓
Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of becoming a human again — all she needs if for a mortal to grant her a kiss. After finding out the local exorcist, Kazik, is struggling with his powers, she agrees to keep his secret in exchange for him playing matchmaker. Gisela quickly sets her sights on Aleksey, but he already has a past connection with Kazik. As the three become closer, more complications arise and Gisela’s very existence is at risk.

𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
This was such a cute and whimsical read. This felt like a Little Mermaid retelling, but focused on Slavic folklore and had even more magical elements. My one complaint is that this was marketed as a queer, polyamorous romance, but it was really just a love triangle for the majority of the book. It was definitely set up to have a sequel, so we may see the relationship develop in later books. Overall, I gave this a 4/5⭐.

I enjoyed pretty much everything about this story and I’ll admit I couldn’t put the book down! It took me a while to get into it at first because I’ve been in a reading slump for months, but after some chapters I started devouring it.

Even though there was a tiny amount of predictability, this story never became boring to me. I was always thinking about what could be happening next and I’ll have to admit I found myself giggling, blushing and even gasping at various times: the banter between Kazik and Gisela, the way the characters interacted with each other, the amount of times I wished I could witness those scenes in real life or watch those same scenes as if they were in a movie!

There were moments beautifully written in which I could honestly imagine the whole thing as if it were right in front of my eyes. Some parts were pretty poetic, too. As someone who isn’t a native English speaker, I actually had the opportunity to learn some new words which was a bonus!

Overall, I’d suggest reading this novel if you like cozy and slightly mysterious romantic reads, focused on “feelings” rather than “adventure”. If you care more about the characters rather than the action, this is definitely the book for you!

FYI: there are three different POVs. The story is written in past simple tenses with a third person narrator. I’d say the reading level for non-native English speakers would probably be at least B2/Pre-advanced.

4.5 Stars
I had such a fun time reading this book. As someone Slavic, it was so nice to see a book with Slavic mythology and creatures. The cover is beautiful and the story inside is even prettier. It was the perfect blend of romance and world-building. By the time the book ended, I felt like I perfectly picture the town. The beginning was a bit slow because the characters and setting were being introduced. However, the payoff was worth it because I felt even more immersed in the story. I was tearing up by the end, and I can't wait for everyone to read it.

I can't wait to get a copy when it comes out!
-Thank you Net Galley and Peach Tree Teen for the ARC.

This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinska is a wonderfully cozy, whimsical fantasy book perfect for enjoyers of the enemies to lovers trope, magical towns, queer stories, mermaid-adjacent characters, and fairytales.

Though this book is releasing in September, I couldn't help but start this novel almost as soon as I got the email notification saying I was approved for this ARC. And I'm happy to say I do not regret that decision.

This book was a fun YA fantasy focused on a young water nymph, an exorcist, and the boy they both fall for. It was fun, relatively low stakes for the most part, funny, and had some good banter between characters. The novel had a few twists/reveals that seemed like they were supposed to be shocking, but I felt like they were easy to see from fairly early on.

Regardless, I enjoyed reading this novel a lot and don't really have any complaints about it. I do think that the book could have possibly been a bit longer though, as the end felt kind of incomplete, even if the author did want the end to be more open. I'm personally hoping the way things ended just means that we'll get a sequel or a companion novella or something.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this story in advance!

I love a good fairytale retelling, especially a mermaid one. “This Fatal Kiss” had me hooked from the very beginning, and I found myself so captivated by the story and its characters. This was a retelling of “The Little Mermaid” but with Russian folktale elements, and I thought that it was well-executed in terms of a fairytale retelling. I loved the relationship between Kazik and Gisela, and I thought their dialogue was so fun and flirty. Gisela and Kazik are also great characters, I loved reading from each of their POVs. The folktale elements were handled well, and readers will learn a lot about Russian/Balkan mythical creatures. I wish that there had been some more world-development, because I was thinking that this story was set in a more traditional, historical village, but then the author would mention that there were radios and teams in the setting, and the fashion that the girls wore seemed more modern. I’m fine with more of a mixed-world setting, but I think that needs to be explained more by the author. The ending also didn’t really tie up any loose ends, but I’m just hoping that means we’ll get a sequel to this story. Finally, I really liked how the polyamorous love story was treated. I’ve never seen polyamory handled in a YA novel, and I thought that the author did a great job in creating characters who were not only pansexual-coded, but also polyamorous (which, in my opinion, is always the best way to handle a love triangle). Overall, I thought this was a great retelling of The Little Mermaid, and I can’t wait to start recommending it!

Love Triangle, enemies to lovers and lovers to enemies! Yes please. I also love all the lore of mythology within the book. Amazing storytelling for each character. All around one of my favorite YA reads of the year so far.

I really enjoyed this book! Loved the slavic folklore, thought it worked really well and was really really interesting!! The humour was great and I enjoyed the romance, which is surprising for me! It was a little long at times, and somewhat repetitive with over-explaining plot points, so it felt a little hand-holdy narrative wise at times, however this is my only gripe, everything else was wonderful!

Truly a lovely cosy read with lots and lots to love!

The Folk of Elfhame meets Studio Ghibli
TLDR: likes
🫧whimsical writing style; felt very immersive
🫧the characters are so funny and charming and what you would expect in a fantasy/folk
🫧 queer and poly characters!!! representation is giving!
🫧to me, I think the plot was decently paced and unique
🫧reads easy and easy to follow along. Some fantasy reads can be hard to follow and very complex but this was simple and enjoyable

Gisela is trapped as a water nymph, stuck in the in between of the living and the dead. In order to return to the land of the living with a beating heart, she teams up with the towns Exorcist (who despises her kind) in hopes to get a kiss from a human, willingly.

Reading this made me feel transported into a whimsical world filled with towns of interesting creatures, pesty spirits and charming water goblins. This was a whirlwind of magic and hauntingly beautiful vibes you get while reading.
I had this on my anticipated reads as soon as I saw the cover and saw the poly and queer representation and it exceeded my expectations fully. Can’t wait for the second!!

This was such a delightful novel! For starters I am a sucker for anything involving folklore, and this book is full of it. The atmosphere was so magical, between the beautiful spa town setting and the fantastical creatures. I was fully in love with all of it. I was also fully in love with the main characters. The switching points of view between the three was great, and I loved getting each of their thoughts and feelings. I think if I had to pick, I would say Kazik was my favorite, with his brooding yet secretly romantic nature. But I loved Gisela and Aleksey just as much, with their flirty and fun banter, and their ability to fluster Kazik. They also both had a mysterious side, especially Gisela. I loved the little mystery side plot to figure that out her death. As for the main plot there were some things I found cliche, but overall it was strong, especially the chemistry between the three main characters. Though I will say that the ending gave me a lot of feelings and I am not sure if they are good or bad yet. But overall I am obsessed with this book and highly recommend it!

In This Fatal Kiss, we are introduced to the spa town of Leśna Woda, home to a community of humans and supernatural beings from Polish/broader Slavic folklore. The narrative switches between three POVs - Gisela, a coquettish rusałka who wants to understand the circumstances behind her death and reclaim her mortal life, Kazik, an exorcist whose crisis of faith coincides with the waning of his powers, and Aleksey, a mysterious young man with apparent ties to both Gisela and Kazik. The thrust of the plot occurs when Kazik agrees to aid Gisela in getting a mortal kiss, in order to restore her humanity.

Jasinska's choice to switch between character POVs allows for the town and its inhabitants to be sketched out in a natural way. It never feels expository when the various supernatural creatures or are introduced, and the magic system is a good fit for the low fantasy setting. Many novels use fairy tales or Ghibli movies as comparisons, but This Fatal Kiss is an example of those comparisons being apt, where the magic system, pacing, and character writing all bring Ghibli’s storytelling techniques to mind. The story is able to breathe, but scenes don’t feel extraneous. Characters are allowed to have dimension that isn’t directly tied into the plot. The setting and characters are well-realised enough to feel as though they exist outside of the confines of the story. The descriptions of food are also the prose equivalent of Ghibli’s lush animations.

The character dynamics were a particular strength. One of my personal favourites was the relationship between Gisela and her fellow rusałki and their adoptive father Wojciech. Each character felt distinctive and fully realised, and it was wonderful to see how Gisela found her place among this found family. Like with any other sort of family, Gisela’s arc included learning to accept her found family in the same way as the blood family she left behind, rough edges and all. Several of the best scenes in the book were related to these dynamics, including a confrontation where the other rusałki join forces against an antagonist, an understated discussion between Wojciech and Gisela after she takes an important item from him, and a moment of bi-lesbian solidarity between Gisela and Yulia where Yulia works through her internalised prejudice. These moments were the strongest thread in the story, and at times invoked tears.

The book also had a current of humour flowing throughout. Most of the jokes landed - one standout was of a water spirit side character recounting how he was preparing for a night of terrorising the local town when he was rudely interrupted by a plot-relevant event. The humour tended to be wry and observational, and fit in well with the tone.

In terms of Kazik’s point of view, it was interesting to read about how his relationship to religion was handled. Something a lot of fantasy authors employing Christian (especially Catholic)-coded religions miss the mark on is how it can syncretise with local practices, e.g. in Mexico, Ireland, and Poland, and how so-called “pagan” practices can arise in a Christian-dominated area. Kazik’s dynamic with his cousin Zuzanna was also memorable, and provided a great source of humour when he attempted to perform cover-up after cover-up, while Zuzanna acted supportive, if not skeptical. I appreciated how this dynamic contributed to the theme of families looking like all sorts of things. It was delightful to read about.

Another delightful aspect of the book was how natural the LGBT+ inclusion felt. Many small threads throughout were about how the characters related to their respective LGBT+ identities, which included a spectrum of experiences within the same identity. For example, both Gisela and Kazik are bisexual, but the narrative deals with Kazik accepting his bisexuality in the face of religious guilt, while Gisela dealt with her feelings on not being seen as “bisexual enough” for eventually dating people of a different gender. One point that I felt a bit let down on is that I would not consider the promise of a polyamorous relationship to have been fulfilled. I only hope that this will be explored in a sequel.

The relationship between Gisela and Kazik also had appropriate build-up and was well-paced. It was believable to see what they found in each other, and how their dynamic turned from begrudging allies to friends to romance.

The book does have weak spots in its prose and characterisation. An example is how the third POV character, Aleksey, is handled. We’re given repeated descriptions of his eyes and how one is the colour of the sky and the other is the colour of spring leaves in a way that invites unfavourable comparisons to 2010s YA. These descriptions could have been spent fleshing out his personality and interests to the same extent as the other characters. Part of the point of Aleksey is that he is shrouded in mystery, but this is done to such an extent that it feels detrimental to the reader’s understanding of him. It is partially justified in that this air of mystery around his identity is plot-important, but it invites further scrutiny about how none of the other characters seem to notice anything off. This feels like the one major contrivance in the story. It is also a bit difficult to believe that Kazik would disregard that Aleksey broke into his house so quickly. Despite this, his character development invites interesting questions regarding the nature of his feelings towards Kazik and Gisela.

Many of the plot threads are also clearly telegraphed, whereas others are abruptly cut and lead to dead ends. It isn’t a problem if a reader predicts something that is foreshadowed, but the narrative can suffer from providing repetitive information that could have been trimmed back and tightened, and had the effect of providing the reader with information at convenient times.

The prose was, at times, evocative and timeless. Other times, it read as contemporary enough to break my immersion. The characters sometimes speak as though they are teenagers in 2024, which isn't necessarily an issue considering it’s YA, but the language choices date the book and broke my immersion - e.g. “…Gisela could be reborn as a tall buff guy or something. Now that would be awesome.”, “Oh, that wicked exorcist. So dangerous. So sexy.”, “Kazik is so not my type”.

This is a small note, but I appreciated the (apparent) references in the book - for example, Gisela calling to mind the ballet Giselle, where the titular character dies of a broken heart and joins the Wiły, the ghosts of women who met untimely ends.

Ultimately, This Fatal Kiss is a work overflowing with charm and heart. I can tell how passionate Jasinska was about this work, and it evidently comes through. Despite some flaws that slightly impacted the final rating, I strongly recommend this work and look forward to any further returns the author does to this world.

A wonderfully endearing and enchanting book! The atmosphere is very all encompassing and really makes this story come alive. I love the fairytale/slavic folklore elements, it adds a perfect layer of easy enjoyment to the story.

The characters are also fabulous and so easy to love. I love to see a comfy YA book with a ton of queer representation that is normalized for the reader, it’s so refreshing and makes me so deeply happy that teens today can enjoy books like this one.

The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning and didn’t immediately grab me and get me obsessed with reading, but that’s probably my only complaint. Everything is executed so well and makes for an easy, fun, happy read.

Couldn't put it down! The cover is enchanting, the story is full of folklore, and the banter between the main characters was fun to read! The only time I was unhappy with this book was when I got to the cliffhanger at the end!

This book was such a fun read. The vibes were adorable. The setting was so neat. I fell in love with every character in this book. The romance arc was cute and felt very young adult and fun. The quippy dialogue between the characters was just fun. I just had a fun time reading this. Moments were making me kick my little feet and giggle and it even brought a couple of tears to my eyes.

I'm also such a huge sucker for fairy tales and creatures within those and love stories that use fairy tales to create a little pocket of a world. I would read this again and again and again. I would read a sequel, a spin off, a prequel or any other kind of story written in this world. It was a nice little break from reality and not a difficult read. The first few chapters were a bit slow but once I was in it, I could not put the book down.

I will be recommending this to people in my life and will be reading this again. Such a cute little story!

This book is beyond adorable.

It's incredibly endearing with it's absolutely stunning magic and gorgeous settings, along with a polyamorous romance that made my heart swell. It's the perfect combination of hijinks, banter, and true emotion rising to the surface. Whimsical was defined solely so this book could exist.

When I first saw this book in the catalog, I didn't hesitate to request it because I was hooked from the premise. This enchanting tale follows Gisela, a water nymph cursed to haunt a magical spa town's river, yearning to return to the living world and reunite with her family. To regain her humanity, she needs a kiss from a mortal, but everyone views her as a monster. Enter Kazik, a brooding spirit hunter and grandson of a local witch, who aims to eliminate beings like Gisela. After a failed exorcism attempt, Gisela strikes a deal with Kazik: she won't expose his waning magic if he helps her get a kiss. However, complications arise when Kazik also falls for the charming young man Gisela is interested in, who might be tied to her troubled past. This beautifully woven story, set in a magical landscape, offers a captivating journey for fans of fairy tales and queer romantic fantasy. I wanted to read it for my Pride Month reads, and it did not disappoint. I loved how the love story developed, and I fell in love with the characters. The quaint setting reminded me of Studio Ghibli movies but with romance. It was so refreshing to read.

What intrigued me the most about this book was the cover art! It pulled me in from the beginning — and how could it not? I love the dreamy, whimsical feeling it gave and I was instantly hooked and hoping I’d get approved for the ARC.

The book started off slow which was really hard for me at first. I didn’t want to DNF because I was still super excited and interested in the concept of the book, but this could definitely cause problems for other readers who need a good opening hook.

This was unlike any other fantasy book I’ve read before, I wasn’t familiar with the Slavic folklore beforehand but it was gripping! This Fatal Kiss felt very cozy and whimsical throughout, and I would definitely recommend to those who are just starting out in the YA fantasy genre and looking for something different than what’s normally out there, that also has LOTS of queer representation.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC! This Fatal Kiss was such a fun read and super enchanting.

I really enjoyed this! I thought it had really dreamy worldbuilding and the romance was lovely. It was a bit of a slow start and that will definitely make or break readers.

Loved! This was such a sweet little novel that was honestly incredibly heartwarming.

Where to start? I initially wanted to read this book from the cover illustration, and can anyone really blame me? Its enchanting.

This fatal kiss is about a young water nymph, Gisela, cursed to haunt the waters in which she drowned, who desperately seeks to return to her old life. But the key to her old life lays in the willing kiss of a mortal human. Kazic, the towns famed exorciser, attempts again to capture Gisela to rid her from the town. Instead, they create a plan where they both would reap the awards,,, if everything went to plan that is.

It took me a minute to get into, though I chalk this down to needing to give myself into the genre and embrace the whimsy. This is not the usual type of book I would pick up in current days, but oh gosh like 7 years ago I would've been all over this, and probably quite insufferable actually. I adore how accessible (and still satisfying) the text was, not everything has to be a headache to read, sometimes you can want something simple and charming. And a refreshing basis for the story to be set in slavic folklore.

I do really wish the word building was more developed, I felt it was abundant with possibility and would like this to have gone into more depth (I do just love a map). I would also suggest it was a tad bit deceitful to label this as polyamorous, as that part of the plot felt underdeveloped and read more as a confused love triangle, but I hope in time, and with the sequel, this'll be brought out more. Also just a couple phrases like "meet cute" and "sky daddy" pulled me out of the fantasy frame for a moment.

I would highly recommend for younger teens, fans of YA, or really just anyone looking to embrace the fantastical and indulge in a cute little slow burn enemies to lovers. It's for sure a cosy read and I promise you'll find it heartfelt and magical.

Thank you to Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink for the ARC!

If Once Upon a Broken Heart and he Cruel Prince AND The Witcher had a baby, it would be this book. Their very cute, gay baby.

If you like books with...
💚 Russian folklore
💚 chaotic bisexuals
💚 polyamorous love triangles
💚 grumpy/sunshine
💚 fake friendship
💚 mystery
💚 flirty banter
then this should be your next read!

This Fatal Kiss is an adorable, foklore-inspired fantasy story about a rusalka forming an unlikely partnership with her village's resident exorcist to help her become human again, a deal which involves procuring a kiss from a human boy, whom they both start to have growing feelings for. I was honestly pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. What started off as a book about playful YA high school-type shenanigans (but in a fairytale, fantasy setting), quickly turned out to be so much more. As soon as Gisela and Kazik made their deal, I could not put this book down.

"But Gisela was, well the treacherous spirit of a dead girl, and he was a grandson of a witch, a boy who communed with demons. Neither of them was exactly...prime kissing material."

At its core, this is a story about people who are unsure if they can be loved, finding love in the most unlikely places. And maybe finding some extra love while they're at it. The fact that this love triangle was a true, polyamorous love triangle had me kicking my feet and squealing with glee.

Alicia Jasinska, you beautiful queen, writing a romance story that forces you to think about ethics. What makes a monster a monster? Are all monsters evil? Do all monsters deserve to be killed for simply being a monster? And most important of all: can you truly love a monster? At least... I'm hoping that answer might come with a second book (please, Jasinska, don't leave me hanging like this).

Thank you, Jasinska, for the reminder that charming and playful, well-written YA still exists in this book world of faerie smut.

And thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!