Scan barcode
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Ava and her Mother are both vampires, with Ava being kept locked in the attic for the past two years. Her Mother regularly drains her of her magic in order to maintain her human disguise, and often leaves her to the cruel experiments of her step-father. Ava longs to escape, and often looks out the window searching for her best friend.
Kaye is a Flame witch, and has a single minded goal, wipe out vampires. Vampires killed her Mother, and she will let nothing get in the way for her revenge. She used to be best friends with Ava, but after seeing her in an attic window with blood running down her face knows she must be put down.
When Ava finally escapes the two must work together to get through the forest alive, no matter how much Kaye seems to hate her now. But the forest seems to be dying, and Ava's Mother has plans of her own.
I'll be honest with you dear reader, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Like I loved it! A lot! I didn't expect all the world building, the lore, the history. There was so much to this world and I was so blown away. I thought I knew what was going to happen in this story but the reveals that kept happening really swept the rug out from under me!
I really loved how the book had such themes as humans as the real monsters, fighting for freedom, and what happens if you hold your loved ones too tightly.
I will say I feel this book is 95% fantasy/angst and 5% sapphic romance but I'm not complaining. So many sapphic books are very light hearted romance, and it was nice to read a book where the focus was on more action and adventure instead.
One last thing I want to say I am so surprised and disappointed by how many reviewers are lowly rating this book because it is "not exactly like the original Rapunzel story." (People please use your critical thinking skills and look up what a retelling is. If it wasn't clear by the fact this is a book about vampires, why would you think this is going to be like the original fairy tale?) I also saw so many bad reviews complaining about the formatting for netgalley arcs, which isn't at all relevant to the actual story.
I highly recommend this book, especially for fans of world building, vampires, and of course fairy tales. I will definitely be reading more from Francesca Flores.
The Cover
Holy cow. Do y'all see this cover! I would like to give a round of applause for the cover artist, Olga Grlic! This is truly a work of art, my goodness. I love how we get so much information from them holding hands.
Ava's nails are blood red, with the ring from her Mother perched on her finger. I like how Kaye is almost seeming to be about to push it off of her. (Some symbolism of Ava breaking away from her Mother perhaps?)
Kaye's nails are gold, like the magic she wields, and her favored Flame witch bracelet is show on her wrist. (You guys do you see how detailed this is!) All around their hands are fireflies, flowers, and forestry. I believe the flowers are the ones that are heavily featured through the book. (I won't spoil for you what they do!)
I love how the title is lower on the page, it just flows so well with the composition. I really feel like the font works to convey the mood perfectly, and it goes with the cover.
Really the only microscopic complaint I would have is I feel the authors name would have been better suited to being white like the title font.
Cover design by Olga Grlic Cover illustration by Colin Verdi
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder and Racism
brewingespresso's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I wanted to love this book, but I’d say I only enjoyed it. It definitely drew me in at the end and got me to the “well I gotta finish it now.” point, however the overall plot is kinda rocky. I feel like there wasn’t a whole lot of time dedicated to planning out the whole book and instead it was made up along the way. I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t realize it was a Rapunzel adaptation until I read the description. The only similarities are that Ava is trapped in a tower and forced to grow out her hair. The rest is so wildly different that I had kinda just chalked the similarities up to coincidence. For a book with such “strong” main characters, their resolve flip-flops around and they lose so many fights. Then there was Tristan. Tristan was written in a way that makes me assume he was meant to be even just a little important. Nah. He’s just there. Sometimes.
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Blood
taelights's review against another edition
The writing is bad and repetitive. The world building is bad and hard to understand. Plus both main characters are both so annoying to me.
Also like i don't have issues with witches and/or vampires in general becaus I think there are respectful ways to write those types of creatures. But then there are ways to write those creatures that play into antisemitism. Personally I thought this book kind of protrayed vampires, and in a way witches, with antisemitic / blood libel themes which I personally foubd uncomfortable and yucky.
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Antisemitism
chymerra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Torture, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
applejacksbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Death of parent
lgbriteaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Minor: Violence, Death of parent, and Child abuse
jazzyjbox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Ava is locked away in her house after becoming a vampire. Kaye is a Flame witch trained to hunt vampires. After Ava escapes and Kaye sets off on her trail, the two have to work together to navigate the forest and uncover a dastardly plot.
This was a unique take on a classic tale. I liked Ava and Kaye as characters, and the worldbuilding was cool to see develop. The pacing was a little slow, but it was overall an enjoyable read.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent
atthelibrarywithmegan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
On the other side, Kaye has been training as a Flame witch, to kill vampires. When the two collide on the night of Ava’s escape, Kaye follows Ava, planning on eventually turning her in. But the forest has other plans, and everything they thought they knew drastically changes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores to review! Fairy tale retellings are usually a good time, so I was excited to jump into this book. Especially because the twist in this (a Rapunzel retelling with witches and vampires) sounded intriguing! For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.
My favorite thing about this was the way that Flores played with the Rapunzel story. She added some interesting twists and turns, and the characters are pretty great. For me, they were what made the story, especially the chemistry between Ava and Kaye. We’re here for a friends turned enemies turned lovers romance, honestly.
However, I did wish some of the world building would have been made more clear throughout the book. We get bits and pieces at the beginning, but never really the whole story, making some of the plot unclear. The plot itself also moves a bit too slowly at the beginning, meaning that a lot of the action is packed into the end, adding to some of the clarity issues.
Despite that, this is a quick read, and if you enjoy fairy tale retellings, you might get something out of this one! Especially if you’re just looking for something quick and easy to enjoy.
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Animal death
Moderate: Torture, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child death, Murder, and Vomit
diannasbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I was very excited to receive this book. Sapphic? Yes please! Rapunzel retelling! Yes! Witches, and vampires? It all sounded amazing. However this read as an upper middle grade rather than a YA for me. Which there isn’t anything wrong with that. I read it fairly fast. I really like the world that Francesca created. The romance was adorable, and I loved the world building as well. Overall it’s a quick and easy fantasy read!
Moderate: Physical abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Violence, War, Death of parent, Death, Torture, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit