The Witch and the Vampire

The Witch and the Vampire
by Francesca Flores
 
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pub Date: March 21, 2023
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Book Links: Goodreads  Amazon
 
 
Francesca Flores's The Witch and the Vampire is a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn.

Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.

Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.

But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat—and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.
 
My Review: A Rapunzel retelling that starts strong. Within just the first page, you can tell its a Repunzel retelling because its just that strong.
 
Ava hides things with meaning to her. Remains in her room with a bar window and waits because her mother will come and take from her. Ava is a vampire, made against her will. She also still has the witch abilities after becoming a vampire too. Not only trapped by having to be inside all the time, but the barrier created to keep vampires away from the humans. Ava wants to get out and find Casiopea, the Vampire queen. 
 
Now, her parents I already have a strong dislike for. They have Narcassistic traits and its such a trigger, so do be warned about that. 
 
Kaye, a witch patrolling the forest. Missing Ava, but at the same time wondering if the night she left was due to her killing her mom. Could it be true? Or could it be that she was just forced to leave? Either way, she plans to get to her.

However, I only made a few more chapters after that before delcaring it a DNF. The cover and description of the book had dragged me to request it. But that's really it. This book didn't really come off as YA, it really boarded on the YA/MG line. 

There was too much info dump. You just keep being feed all this imforamtion to the point it was just a headache. The characters could have been devloped more and even though its told on dual POV, it seemed to blend rather than separate the characters, almost not needing it to be told in POV. This book would have benefited a lot more if this book went through a few more edits. 

 

My Rating:

✪✪