Review of This Ravenous Fate by Haley Dennings

My Rating: 4.25 stars

I received a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review

CW’s: violence, suggestive content, racism, drinking/substance abuse, racism (allegorical and literal), threats/calls for genocide by side characters.

The book started off really strong, and the atmosphere of the book really, really intrigued me from the get go. It usually takes me longer to get into a book, but this time I was able to really dive into it almost immediately.

Right off the bat, I thought the mythology and world building was pretty good, it was a bit info-dumpy, but I think it’s really hard to avoid info-dumping in fantasy novels.

I loved the two main characters right off the bat as well.

I think it’s key to point out their relationship here. It was somewhat cheapened by the “miscommunication” trope but I’ll admit to liking a bit of angst.

There’s definitely some graphic scenes, but it isn’t gratuitous or unnecessary to the plot, it’s just a lot to read when I’m not particularly into reading about violence.

Elise and Josi’s sisterhood was a bit bizarre, I don’t know if I’d be so close to my sibling, maybe it would be different with neglectful parents.

The setting was incredibly vibrant and immersive. Jazz age Harlem came alive in the book.

I loved the mentions of natural hair too!

The reason behind Layla’s hatred for Elise was, honestly, really conflicting. Part of me gets it, but I think blaming Elise for what happened was wildly unfair. I get what she went through, but I just think it’s unfair.

The issue of race was really well done too, especially for the time period. The author is BIPOC, so it doesn’t surprise me how well she handled race and how much time and effort was put into realism with the historical background. The era was well represented and proved to be pretty on par with the era, even the dialogue felt very genuine.

As for their relationship, it was sweet, no matter how much Layla claimed to hate Elise, the moments where she thought of Elise and her before the murder of her family, before all of the pain, were happy ones. She also calls Elise “My Saint” which was adorable. I love a protective GF. Doesn’t work so well with men, but women? Wonders.

The writing was definitely the star of this book, it was just so beautiful and intoxicating. It felt like a lot of the old YA books about mafia’s and gangs in paranormal romance, fantasy, and dystopian settings that I loved so much. I shouldn’t find teen romances so swoonworthy, but the way they truly cared for each other, no matter how much they hated each other.

All in all, the author did a wonderful job with plotting, characters, and writing. I did find Josi a bit annoying, and some of the plot points felt like they dragged, but a 4-star read nonetheless.