bluehairedreads 's review for:

This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings

3.0

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3 stars.

I had been anticipating this book since I saw it announced on Twitter. Immediately, the concept of Black sapphic vampires in the 1920s Harlem intrigued me and I was excited to see Hayley Dennings's take on it.

I will say I was such a fan of the setting and time period Dennings chose to set this story in. I loved that even with the story set in the 1920s, there was so much casual queerness throughout the book. Of the two POVs, I really enjoyed Layla's chapters. I found the reapers and their relationships/history to be very fascinating. I specifically really liked Layla's dynamic with Mei. Getting OCD and anxiety rep in Elise's POV was an pleasant surprise. In my opinion, the book was at its strongest when discussing classism, racism, and systemic oppression, as well as the intersections between them. I loved the moments where privilege was called out, especially in scenes between Layla and Elise. One of the recurring messages in the book is that siding with oppressors cannot protect you, which feels very relevant. 

With that being said, I feel like this book would have benefited from a few more rounds of editing. I think the pacing really suffered at times. I didn't really care for the main romance and was surprisingly more invested in the friendship angst. I almost wish that the first book focused more on their friendship and reconciliation, as well as the budding feelings that they had, but that they got together in the sequel instead. I also wish that there were less scenes of Elise's father. They became quite repetitive early on because he is only there to emotionally abuse Elise and leave her distraught. Those scenes ran for a little too long and I think we could've got the same effect, with less page time. I feel like the vampire matroness was underutilized. I think she should have been more present and much more of a heavy hitter. I don't think it made sense for Layla to believe the Saint family, especially given her distrust of them and their empire. The ending fell flat for me and was a bit  anticlimactic. Honestly, it didn't end in a way that made me believe this needed to be two books instead of one. 

Overall, this was an ambitious debut. Hayley Dennings feels like an author with a lot of fresh and interesting ideas. I believe she will only improve with every book and I'm looking forward to see what she puts out in the future. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.