Sapphic vampires, gods, monsters, and an epic journey? That’s a recipe for a fantasy I should have devoured. And while I could definitely see the author’s vision and ambition, this one just didn’t hit for me.

The story was weighed down by heavy info dumping, and I found it difficult to stay grounded in the shifting POVs—it left me feeling more confused than captivated.

That said, I did push through because the potential is there, and I truly hope this series finds the readers who will fall in love with the world the author worked so hard to build.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers, for approving me for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited to dive into this book! The synopsis pulled me in immediately! However, I felt the execution fell flat for me. When I started reading Where Shadows Meet, I was quite confused about what was happening. I thought it would become clearer as I read on, but the info-dumping made it even more complicated to understand. It was overwhelming. It took me a bit longer to finish this book because of this, and by the time I was done, I didn’t remember much. I loved the premise, but unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me.

I had a hard time with the world building. It was really heavy and a lot at the beginning. I was lost.

I DNFed at 45%

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! For a debut, this one was really good! Definitely worth the read!

Only made it about 50% into this one, and I wanted to like it so bad but just couldn’t get into the story!! It has an insanely cool premise and a collection of sick female leads, but the pacing was off and I couldn’t find myself emotionally invested in the storylines. Maybe I’ll pick this one back up in the future!

I want to thank @pncaldwell @stmartinspress for the #gifted e-book and @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2025 for the #gifted audiobook.

This book was truly captivating. I enhanced my reading experience by enjoying it alongside the audiobook for a fully immersive journey.

The narrative centers on Favre, who courageously sacrifices her wings for the love of Thana, a young goddess. However, Thana's choices ultimately lead her to destruction. Now, a thousand years later, Favre is determined to resurrect Thana, willing to go to any lengths to achieve it. Meanwhile, Layla, the princess of the vampire nation, embarks on a quest to find her best friend, risking the awakening of an ancient evil in the process.

As the first installment in an enthralling duology, this book offers a relatively quick yet deeply engaging read. The story unfolds from multiple perspectives and timelines, enriching the backstory of a world inhabited by gods, humans, and vampires. The pacing is steady, the writing flows seamlessly, and it keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The ending delivers a tantalizing cliffhanger that leaves you eager to discover what happens next.

If you're drawn to tales of vampires, gods, and intricate mysteries, this book is a must-read. Be sure to mark your calendars for its release on April 1, 2025!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this book.

To start, Where the Shadows Meet is a perfect example of how to do a cliffhanger right. There is some resolution but you know lingering there is going to be a bigger problem- I despise the ones that cut off right at a peak moment leaving you completely in the dark of what is to happen next.

This is a fantasy world with a lot of world building- you do have to accept that you will have no real idea on what is going on for awhile and trust that it will all come together eventually. I enjoyed the historical portion of this and the fact that there does not seem to be a love triangle involved, PHEW

I rounded up from a 3.5 because I loved the representation in this story, the potential in the types of vampires/beings and I am intrigued to know more when the 2nd book in this duology comes out.

I think that this has the potential to be a good series. But, man, me and this first book just really didn't mesh very well. I sort of think it was the writing style--It was descriptive to the point that it would pull me out of the story sometimes., yet it was still so surface level. It was like the wrong things were being lore dumped onto me. The POV shifts made my brain hurt, too. The first person, the third person, the epistolary bits, it was just not for me. I didn't dislike the characters, but because of the story they found themselves in, they didn't really get a chance to shine. It felt like their feelings and choices weren't supported by the narrative or writing style.
I don't know. I wanted to like this, and I do think that some people will, but I haven't decided yet if I'm willing to continue in this series.

A story of goddesses, vampires, magic and war.

A long time ago, Favre cut off her wings so that the girl she loved (Thana) loved could have powers. Theresa sacrifice though included losing the sun and led them to have to feed off of blood of others and a cursed life.

I was so excited for this, description had so many exciting elements, sometimes too descriptive of writing and not enough action.

This may just be one of those series where the first book is the worst book and is there for foundational knowledge. Would read more but this was just okay for me.

Great narration!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 4/1/25.

Where Shadows Meet is a dark and sapphic story from Patrice Caldwell. The lore behind this story is rich and detailed. Once upon a time, a girl named Favre cut her wings off for love. In the present day, a princess and a seer are fated to cross paths and either save or doom the world. I enjoyed the flashback sections which showed how the characters have arrived at this point. There is a lot of complex world-building so I am excited to see how the story continues in book two now that so much has been established.

Readers who enjoy slow-burn sapphic romance, detailed lore, and sapphic vampires should check out Where Shadows Meet.

Thank you so much to Patrice Caldwell, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

I really enjoyed the multiple POV's I love how we got both Leyla and Najja as the main characters but we also got in a way the villains Thana and Favre. I liked how it kept going back in time and we got the story of Thana and Favre over time and got to really understand it. I like how Leyla and Najja had a lot in common but where also so different from each other. I like the relationship they built and how they were always there for each other no matter what and knew what the other needed. I enjoyed the world and how we got the Royal Family Tree and the Bloodlines of Mnara. I liked that I could go back and reference those as needed.

I can't wait to read the next book! Thank you so much Patricia Caldwell and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be apart of the ARC team!❤️

2.5 stars: I love black romantasy, but this missed the mark for me :(

Where Shadows Meet had such a cool premise warring vampires, forbidden love, and ancient prophecies? Yes, please! But the execution didn’t quite live up to the hype. The world building felt surface-level, and instead of truly immersing me in the lore, it read more like a summary at times. Plus, the constant shifts between first and third person (with diary entries thrown in) made the story feel disjointed and spoiled major plot points too soon in my opinion...

There were so many moments that should have been epic, but it fell flat. I really wanted to love this one, but it just didn’t pull me in the way I hoped. If you’re into fantasy stories with unique vampire lore, you might enjoy it, but for me, it missed the mark.

I was a bit disappointed in this book to be honest - I expected more. The switch between third and first person and three POV's was confusing and disoriented. I did not care for the world-building, I think it was lacking quite a bit.

This book for me was about 1.5-2 stars. I really struggled with this book because it felt like it was all over the place. It really jumped back and forth in the timing of the story and between so many different story lines that it was hard to follow. I also really struggled to connect with the characters, and because it jumped so much was not able to understand sometimes why they were having the feelings they were having. I think Favre was a good character and the Leyla also had a lot of good character too, but the mix of them and the timeline of how the book ran just made it really hard for me to get through.

I loved the concept behind this book, a black sapphic vampire fantasy! I thought the world was really unique and interesting and the lore and way that the story unfolded across different periods of time and viewpoints was really well done. I love a book where the characters have to take journeys, both physical and within themselves and this book definitely delivered on that.

I think the romance was a bit too rushed and it was more so told than shown. I just didn’t fully buy into the turning point in their relationship as much as I would’ve wanted. And some parts I found that I was a bit confused and things didn’t quite make sense with other parts of the book. Overall though, a really interesting story and I will be reading the next one!

I really wanted to love this book! The premise sounded fascinating and so promising, but found that I couldn’t get into the story or feel passionately about the main character’s ARC. I found the writing to be a bit dull, and even while there was exciting action & worldbuilding taking place, I was quite disinterested.

I would still be open to trying another one of this author’s books in the future! But this wasn’t for me. DNF.

Unfortunately, this is going to be another DNF (25%) for me.

The story was taking too long to get started, I wasn't a fan of the narration style (switching between 1st and 3rd person was a bit much for me), and I didn't really care about any of the characters.

However, I was really interested in the fanatsy world that wasn't eurocentric. It was nice to see POC just living without the crushing weight of colonialism.

This isn't a bad book, it just isn't for me.

I was very excited to give another sapphic vampire book a try. And this was probably my favorite one so far. The story was very interesting for me, especially the lore it created, and I enjoy stories with multiple narratives happening throughout the book. Especially when those narratives slowly start connecting more and more and answering questions. But I definitely found myself more invested in the narrative started in the prologue than in the main narrative. And by the end, the story started to feel rushed. I started to get confused in the climax because everything happened so fast. Overall, I would have enjoyed them both as separate stories. Thana and Favre as a story and Leyla and Najja as their own. Together they just felt like competing stories, and I definitely favoured one over the other.

I was so excited by the synopsis for this book; it was like a Venn diagram of my reading interests overlapping, but unfortunately I was just not the right audience for this particular story. There was so much info dumping and switching of POV without actually getting to know any of the characters that I was struggling to follow the idea of the plot; I kept needing to backtrack and re-read. There were a lot of enjoyable descriptive details, but overall so much that just didn't seem cohesive or captivating. I think this book will find its audience but sadly that was not me!

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for this ARC!

Black. sapphic. fantasy. i truly thought ii was gonna eat this up and spoiler alert: i did not, in fact 😔 from the world building to the characters, i felt a bit of a disconnect and ultimately decided to dnf at 30%. this is by NO means a bad book, it simply wasn’t for me!!