As a debut, I was very impressed with the writing throughout Born of Blood and Magic. I follow the author on TikTok, and pick up a lot of sapphic recs from her, so when I realised MC Hutson had a fantasy series I knew I had to check it out. A sapphic enemies-to-lovers with vampires and a vampire hunter, this was quite a thrilling read, keeping me guessing throughout. The narrator really brought both main characters to life!

My feelings are very VERY mixed here. Oh my.

First of all, Laura Horowitz did an AMAZING job with narrating the audiobook. 5/5 stars to her.

The plot was actually really interesting and engaging. I absolutely loved the world building and the concept of this modern fantasy where you have supernaturals and supernatural hunters…but the supernatural hunters are as fucked up and corrupt as any corporation that prays upon the vulnerable and outcast. That is my fucking jam when it comes to gritty vibes in modern times.

Olivia was an enjoyable antagonist as fucked up as she was. Kayla was also enjoyable to navigate as she was someone who wanted to prove her power and worth but the corruption she entangled herself in consumed her and so she became the fucking monster. Holy shiiit. Dustin served as the only good person in this story because seriously everyone is an asshole. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Vy was a solid protagonist…but it really felt like a lot of her actions were forced. The part about Dustin’s feelings for Petra influencing her own feelings for Petra felt…in-genuine but honestly there would be no other reason for Vy to put up with Petra’s constant hatred otherwise 🤷🏽‍♀️ just felt really cheap. I just felt really bad for Vy the whole time and she deserved better.

Petra was…yeah I did not like her and I didn’t warm up to her at all. I was just pissed off at her most of the story tbh. Every little thing set her off even by the end of the story when it’s SUPER OBVIOUS that Vy cares about her and isn’t manipulating her. I get it. She’s angry yes, but she’s so insufferable and grumpy the whole time. It’s so boring…

This was just enemies with benefits because the chemistry was not there. There was way too much tell and not enough show. Even Petra saving Vy felt more about guilt than genuine emotion. Because wow, even after all that Petra slung slurs and hate when Vy didn’t tell her about the hourglass IMMEDIATELY. Despite oh I don’t know ALMOST GETTING FUCKING RAPED??!!!

I would have given this story a 4 starts but there was no context warning for the sexual assault that graphically happened. That’s not cool. I saw it coming and I was fortunately in a mindset for it but SA 👏🏽 SHOULD 👏🏽 ALWAYS 👏🏽 BE 👏🏽 MENTIONED 👏🏽 IN 👏🏽 THE 👏🏽 CONTENT 👏🏽 WARNINGS 👏🏽

Yeah so the worldbuilding was great! The antagonists were great! Vy was okay and Petra sucked. It was a good read, but not sure if I’ll continue.

🩸 Bookish Thoughts
I’ll never say no to a sapphic vampire book, and Born of Blood and Magic delivered a solid dose of urban fantasy!

The worldbuilding was fun, and I liked the overall setup of sapphic cursed bloodlines and magical relics. And I loved Vy from the get go! Petra had her moments, but she was so wishy-washy it started to wear on me.

And while the audiobook was easy to follow, there were times the narrator sounded more like she was reading than fully performing, which pulled me out of the story a bit.

But if you love sapphic vamps and supernatural urban fantasy definitely read this one!

🖤 What You Can Expect:
• Urban fantasy vibes
• Sapphic vampire x assassin
• Enemies to lovers
• Reluctant allies


📖 Final Score: ⭐⭐⭐.75
🎧 Audio Score: ⭐⭐⭐
🎙️ Narration Style: Solo

Thank you to M.C. Hutson Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love been a fan of MC Hutson’s TikTok and being able to see her mind in book form has been eye opening. She has a way of being characters to life that many people don’t achieve. I enjoyed this book very much.
That whole will they/wont they/ when will they between the main characters made me so happy.

The way it ended was such a cool set up for the second book and I really can’t wait for the second one. It’s going to be so good.

FF
Multiple POV
Third Person
Urban fantasy
Enemies to lovers
Conspiracy
Multiple enemies
TW: violence, SA reference, attempted SA

Rating: 3/5 - I enjoyed this book but it isn't one I will reread, I will continue the series
🌶️: 2/5 - there were a few explicit intimate scenes

TLDR: Sapphic, gritty urban fantasy

I enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and kept me engaged. I don't know if I would have finished if I hadn't been listening. My attention span is short of I can't do anything with my hands and the characters and situations were just unlikeable enough that an eyeball read probably wouldn't have worked for me. Nothing was unlikeable in a way unexpected in a gritty urban fantasy. The story line is interesting enough that I want to see where the series goes. This book was sapphic from the jump which was nice. I don't think that's something I've seen in fantasy before and I hope we continue to see more representation in the future.

The audiobook performance was good! I was so excited to finally listen to a book narrated by Laura Horowitz. I love her Instagram content and I was not disappointed. Her accents and gendered voices were good. There was one mispronunciation but I think I only noticed because I worked in a lab setting for years.

Ultimately, I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys gritty urban fantasy and I would recommend consuming it via audio.

Thank you to the author, MC Hutson Press, and NetGalley for the advanced review copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

Loved the narrator for this book kept you hooked for the story throughout. Was very fun and entertaining. Would read from this author again.

This was a really fun book. The narration was great AND TRULY an enemies to lovers done well that I haven't read in quiet a long while. They are mortal enemies AND enemies because of what happened in their timeline. It has just the right level of stakes and suspense and it sets up really well for a sequel or more to come. Some parts I do think had some pacing issues like the feelings towards the end but overall I think it was well done with the time frame they were given. I also think that some parts of the other characters like Clay and Olivia weren't super necessary for the plot. While it was interesting to see what was happening within the organisation AND I suspect it's to set up for more, I do think there was a little too much time spent lingering on those characters that made it feel a little ehh. I do really love this book AND I will be picking up any others that come along in this series because i am SO curious to see what happens next. Thanks for Sharing!

I did finish this book, but unfortunately, it was not for me.

The SA scene, teenagers in s*x activity... not my thing.

Laura as a narrator is amazing, and why I decided to give this book a chance.

Born of Blood and Magic was a fun sapphic take on modern fantasy. I loved the modern world setting coupled with vampires, werewolves and witches. This book to me is reminiscent of old YA classics like the Mortal Instruments but tailored to an adult audience. This was a great book one in the series and the ending left me waiting for book two. I loved the sapphic romance elements in this book and felt they were well-balanced with the actual plot. The romance elements also had the perfect mix of romance, tension, and spice.

This was a great book to listen to on audio. Laura Horowitz was expressive and brought life to both characters. Her raspy and sarcastic voice really worked well for both characters and gave them distinct voices. The audiobook was produced well and the sound quality was great. I would highly recommend the audio version of Born of Blood and Magic.

If you are looking for a fast-paced, queer modern fantasy, look no further than Born of Blood and Magic.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I overall enjoyed the story, though it did drag in some places and got a little chaotic here and there. The world building was really interesting as well, I really like what Hutson did setting up this divided society of Lightness vs the Light.

I really didn't care for Petra, though. She was so hateful that it made it hard for me to care about the "romance". Vy was so interesting and then Petra was just this ball of anger. I'd love to learn more about Vy and her lineage.

The ending felt kind of like a sucker punch. I am interested to see where this series goes now, though. There's a lot of potential there.

3.75

The voice acting in this one is excellent, I really enjoyed the performance.

The story was quickly paced but not to fast. I enjoyed Vy and Petras relationship. The yearning/not so secret attraction was good. I appreciate that who killed Petras parents wasn't the twist.

All in all it was a pretty solid debut and first book to a series.

(Advance Listening Copy (ALC) courtesy of NetGalley and MC Press.)

(Putting the TL;DR at the top this time because there's <b>spoilers</b> below.)

TL;DR: The author shows a tremendous amount of promise, especially with the world-building, but if you're here at all for *romance* then this title just doesn't come together in the end.

2⭐

Let’s kick it off with the positive: world-building.

Sure, the whole “secret human organization holding back a superhuman flood” thing is a familiar trope, but this felt fresh in a way that’s hard to describe. Also, the vampire-who-swore-off-human-blood setup? Usually cliché as hell. But in this story? Surprisingly well-executed and honestly refreshing. The author has genuinely good ideas for her world.

Now, onto why this is a 2⭐ read for me.
<b>⚠️ WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️</b>

The main character starts the book in love with her best friend. One traumatic event leads to another, and years later, she ends up in an enemies-to-lovers arc with a different girl. It works. It’s compelling. You get invested.

But it all leads to time shenanigans and the MC ends up back in time with the original best friend. I found that deeply unsatisfying. And worse? It’s a series. So now I’m left wondering—are we going to undo the new/old romance? Are we doing more time shenanigans? Is another new romance going to be introduced? I can’t bring myself to read on and find out.

Connected to that, I really appreciated that the MC had trained hard and bulked up, such a rare and cool body type for a lead. (Think Vi from Arcane, and the cover art reinforced this too.) But of course, with the time travel reset, she doesn’t go through that same transformation. And that loss really undercut part of what made her so compelling.

🎧 AUDIO-SPECIFIC:
There were four or five female POVs in this book, and it often took me an uncomfortably long time after each chapter break to figure out whose perspective I was in. I’m not sure if that’s a writing issue or a writing and narration issue, but either way—it pulled me out of the story.

The narrator didn’t do enough to differentiate the voices. From one angle, I get it: you’ve got three young women, close in age. It's probably difficult to make them sound completely unique. But then you’ve also got a fourth, older military character (who could have been old enough to be all their moms) and she should sound completely different... Yet she still blended in vocally with the others.

⚠️ CW: rape threats directed towards a lesbian, attempted rape of a lesbian by a man (on page), sexual harassment, transphobic jokes

⭐️ /5 and DNF

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen to audiobook.

Firstly the narrator did a great job and i look forward to listening to more books narrated by them in the future.

The idea of vampire x vampire hunter is a trope i often love so i was excited to listed to this audiobook but It felt very underwhelming to me, I didn't find it entertaining and it felt like it dragged on. The world building didn't feel original at all instead felt like parts were ripped from other places. i also felt the the characters lacked chemistry, and as a result i wasn't rooting for their relationship.

⚠️ This book need to include the correct content warnings. I only found the content mentioned in reviews when I went searching for them. there was no mention of content warnings in the audiobook, on goodreads and the notes from the publisher on Netgalley wasn't complete (This audiobook contains: profanity, violence, gore, drug use, homophobia, and explicit sex scenes.). i have no idea if it is listed as a content warning in the kindle/ ebook/ physical edition as i received the audiobook.

⚠️ This book includes sexual assault and threats of and attempted rape towards a lesbian character. There is also a line in this book that to me read as incredible transphobic. Essentially it says that the MCs male friend can't come with them to the sapphic club because he has a dick and as a book about queer people i would expect better than this and it made me uncomfortable as a queer person myself who supports all trans people.

⚠️ While I do occasionally read books that contain mentions of SA/ rape they always have content warnings so i can expect to come across them, can make sure i'm in the correct headspace, and prepared to read that content, however when it isn't listed in the warnings or when no content warnings given on audiobooks and then it to happen during the story is just not ok to do and I have lost all trust in this author and won't be reading anything else they publish.

This one was not a vibe.
At the first 'rape joke' I was uncomfortable. There were no content warnings, which is highly irresponsible, since there was sexual assault as well.
The narrator did a lovely job - that isn't on them. It's on the author, and audiobook publisher, to have those content warnings there.

This was a fast paced sapphic true enemies to lovers slow burn romance.
This one took me a minute to get into and once I did I was sad that it was over. I enjoyed the overall story and the unique magic system. The story did take detours with filler that didn’t really need to be there. Which left me confused at times. But I liked Violet and Petra’s chemistry.

I also really liked the narration. I don’t normally love single narrator audios but this one was well done.

I listened to an excellent audiobook production A hatred to needed conspirators, to lover and needed left behind time travel altering fantasy. Plenty of action, and consequences for Vy - unwilling vampire, and Petra - assassin and avowed to destroy the vampire that killed her mother, who just happens to be Vy. What are they to do? Kill each other or help turn back time. Thank you to MC Press and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This book is so interesting. It felt like it's a great example of urban fantasy. The characters were very interesting to delve into and the questions that the author stirred about them were definitely strong enough to pull me into the story. The twists were great and honestly I did not expect the ending to be what it was. I look forward to what comes next in the series!
The only drawback was that after the prologue it felt slow for a few chapters. The prologue drew me in enough that I definitely wanted to keep going and then it definitely picked up. By the end I didn't want to pause for anything.
The narrator of the audiobook does a great job of shifting voices so that it's an immersive experience and obviously when different characters speak and when the perspective shifts.

There’s a lot of promise in Born of Blood and Magic. The magical system was one of the highlights for me—unique enough to hold my interest and definitely a reason I’m considering continuing the series. I’m curious to see how the author builds it out.

That said, the narration made it hard to fully settle into the story. The narrator added a lot of personality—too much, honestly. There were multiple moments where Petra’s dialogue or internal monologue felt overly dramatized, and I caught myself cringing at some of her reactions purely because of the delivery.

The ending left me a little disappointed. I was rooting for the women to end up together, and without Petra continuing as a vampire hunter, I’m not sure how the author will bring them back into each other’s orbit—if she even plans to.

Overall, a solid debut in the genre. There’s enough here to pique my interest for book two, but I’ll probably opt for a print or ebook format next time.

Born of Blood and Magic was my first foray into what I would call “big girl” fantasy. It is so much more than just a vampire novel. The world building, contemporary fantasy, and magic that Hutson has created is so intricate and unique, yet you can still clearly understand and follow the elements.

I listened to this one on audio and the narrator was easy to listen to. I feel the world building is likely easier to follow when reading on page than audio, but I felt immersed in the world around me with the audio.

And not to mention the romance between Vy and Petra… I’m a sucker for a good enemies-to-lovers and this one has just as much hatred as it does longing. Overall, I am looking forward to the next book in this series and happy to finally have a high fantasy sapphic read!

Decent book with sizzling chemistry. Ending felt a bit rushed and time travel was meh at best. Might check out the next one but idk.