A lesbian Witcher-esque monster versus hunter is totally my vibe! And I really liked the characters, however the plot was a bit flat in parts and in ways it felt more young YA? I still enjoyed the read but felt there was more to give.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be too on the nose and stilted--I really felt like the author was trying to keep "The Witcher" vibes going, but the mix of humor and monster fighting was not working in the same way those books do so well. The dialogue just felt super cheesy and the descriptions were repetitive --I kept rolling my eyes when Kas talked, especially. I also felt like the three POV switches were not needed and didn't offer much new perspective when we did switch. There was a lot going on and not enough time to really flesh out the storyline in a way that felt meaningful because things just happened offscreen a lot.

This was great! Basically a sapphic ‘The Witcher’ meets epic fantasy with vampires, warecats, slayers and monsters a plenty plus more fantastic beasts throughout.

We meet Kas a slayer who lost her family to a set of vampires at a young age who sets to rid the world of the terror she faced. She is one tough, sword wielding, monster slayer that runs into Claudia the half human, half vampire. There are sparks almost immediately that throws both of them! They are set to stop Sersia (Claudia’s half sister, vampire half that is!) from her rampage to free a terrifying monster of the ages.

This story is a wild ride that cuts into three POV plus parts that drift back to an origin story with Sersia and what made her the monster she is.

There is a lot separate parts that really build to the budding found family that has various members of their tribe including lesbian, bi and trans representation . There is a trigger warning at the start by the author to murder, loss, violence, blood, suicide (off page) and a few spicy moments. The budding romance is not lost in the pace of the tale. At some stages I was exhausted for Kas and Claudia during some of the fight scenes.

My only criticism is that I would have liked more of the budding romance and the ending exhausted as it was a bit flat in comparison to the body of the story.

I would highly recommend as it was a very enjoyable read and come out of the 15th April 2025. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of the ARC team to read this prior to release via NetGalley, the publisher and the author.

The plot of this book didn't really feel like it was going anywhere. The relationships felt either rushed or they just didn't have chemistry. The writing also felt very choppy at times with pretty bad pacing.

I really enjoyed A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters!
I liked the characters, the LGBTQ+ rep, the world building and the character relationships.
Personally, Kas’ development is my favourite. I think out of the main characters she changes the most in terms of adapting her world view based on what she sees and experiences. I love the different kids of monsters!
I did not enjoy how quickly the villain changed right at the end. It didn’t feel particularly natural or realistic to the character. I would love to see Kas and Claudia on their new travels and what happens with them!
A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters is a fun, action packed, enemies to lovers, found family, badass women fuelled read!

Honestly I don't have much to say. It's Vi Arcane in the Witcher with unoriginal fantasy ideas. The issue with most romantasy is that they all have boring uninspired fantasy setting so they need to compensate with good romance and romance writing but most can't even do that. Nothing made the characters stand out. They're basic, I have seen this story before with nothing to spice up the clichés. I am not even happy that lesnians are also getting low quality romantasy like the straights because we can barely get good ones.

This book was fun to read but I felt the plot was lacking. It should take place over a few months but almost none of that was shown. Because of that, all the relationships between characters seemed rushed and/or flat. Neither really had any attraction to each other until other than physically; and only after Claudia bites Kas on the ship. They don't have a moment of reflection on how they like non-physical aspects of the other.
There were also some plot holes. The main one I have issues with is how Serisa knew where the Slayers keep is. The Slayers keep has been there for hundreds or thousands of years and no vampyre/ or other monsters have gone in and killed the slayers? How does that make sense? Was there a reason this hasn't happened yet? Kas describes it as a place where not a lot of Slayers are there at one time so maybe that's why, but it still doesn't have sense. The fighting/ action scenes were really fun. This is one of the books you read you read for vibes not to read something life changing; or if your in a reading slump and need a quick read.

When I started reading this book, I was expecting a very different story and for the first 20% I even thought I would not like this book very much. Fortunately, this changed and I enjoyed the plots, spins and POVs more and more.
Were the side characters more fleshed out and the final plot twist a bit more detailed, I would have landed on 4 stars, so its 3,5 for me.

4.5 stars!!
Thank you to Rita Ruben and Netgalley for the ARC!!
Wow this was honestly such a breath of fresh air for me
I loved the story and plot for this book so much, it felt like I was embarking on the adventure with them and the banter and conversations between all of the characters felt so natural!
Kas and Claudia have my heart, like I love the lesbians so much
There was a lot of rep in this book!! I loved Aara’s trans rep, got a lot of lesbian relationships and different character traits and looks
I felt like this was just a super fun ride and I loved it the whole time
The pacing was also pretty good, it had plenty of action while also having lots of downtime for character development and exploring their world which I loved, all the traveling they did felt fun
Not to mention how Kas and Claudia had a pretty good enemies to lovers relationship, it worked out super well
The only thing I would change is for it to be longer :D

This is a great book for fans of fast paced monster/hunter dynamics with a multi-POV focus. For readers looking for something akin to The Witcher with classic fantasy lingo and settings that will leave those hoping for a darker, stormier, grungier slayer-book satisfied.

Review 2.5 ⭐️/3 ⭐️

I was super excited to read this book as the cover was stunning and the premise of the book sounded super interesting. A sapphic Witcher themed story of a monster hunter and half monster teaming up together to destroy a dragon remnant and stop them returning to the world, travelling together and battling other monsters and meeting new friends whilst also falling for each other along the way.

Unfortunately I think the writing was a little choppy and almost child like in places, even with the violence and adult themes. The sentence were all very matter of fact and didn’t really allow the reader to interpret things for themselves. Although the plot was a very linear course (meet, travel together, finish the quest) it seemed that during the travel, the relationship between the two main characters seemed to develop very suddenly when they were natural enemies and wanted to kill each other from the get go.

Overall I think that the book was very promising but seemed to have fallen flat slightly, it was still a very enjoyable read and I wouldn’t mind seeing what else the author creates in the future.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for the ARC!

I really loved the queer representation in this book! The premise of the book was interesting and I enjoyed reading from the three main character's POVs. However, the writing took so much away from the book. The pacing wasn't good and the writing and sentence structure was choppy. At times the dialogue also fell flat. The story could be predictable at times, and the way the author was over explaining everything and not letting the reader interpret things for themselves was tiring. I did not get very invested in the characters and their development as well, which was disappointing because I feel like more could have been done with this book.

A Ballad for Slayers & Monsters is a fun, action-packed sapphic fantasy with a compelling enemies-to-lovers romance. I loved the queer representation but the pacing felt uneven, and I wished for more depth in the characters and their relationships. The writing also felt a bit fragmented at times. Still, it’s an enjoyable read for fans of sapphic fantasy and romance!

Vampires and dragons oh my !
This sapphire take on Vampire Slayers I loved!
It was amazing.
I loved the characters so much.
It was really sad and dark but a lovely sapphire romance .
I'd definitely read more of this wonderful author.

I was immediately captivated with this novel from the very beginning. What a way to kick this story off! 'A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters' is such a fierce and beautiful story, and I loved every second!

Full of magical lore, and action-packed epic fights and battles with monstrous creatures, we follow our two main characters on a quest to protect their world from ruination. Kas of Veldenier - a menacing monster hunter - and her begrudging companion Claudia the vampyric were brilliant characters, with lots of background to their pasts, and great character arcs as the story progressed!

This novel was a heartfelt sapphic tale of enemies to lovers; a romance that felt forbidden in its nature. Their conflicting desires for each other battled against their growing bond as they traversed together alongside their animal companions. A vampyric and a Slayer could never be, Claudia is a heartless monster, after all. And yet the connection they formed was so intimate and beautiful to read! They were truly prepared to burn for the other.

This book was a thrilling adventure, and I ate up every page! It felt inspired by the 'The Witcher', as well as having incredible DnD vibes!

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this! I had an amazing time!

*I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you NetGalley and Rita A. Rubin for this ARC!

If I could, I would give this book a 4.5/5 rating.

The story has a strong opening, showing us how Kas came to be a Slayer, and from the start I was captivated by how well the action scenes were executed. It was easy for me to follow what was happening and I never felt lost. However, I wish there were more quieter scenes in between all the action. Kas and Claudia's relationship developed quite quickly and I was left wishing to see more down time where we could see them connect.

The chapter structure took a bit to get used to, but once I did I enjoyed getting different perspectives from Kas, Claudia and Serisa. The only downside is how awfully short some of the chapters came out to be, not giving me enough time to connect with what's going on from one perspective before jumping to another.

Despite these issues I had, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. The queer characters are written wonderfully. The enemies-to-lovers and slayer/vampire romance was wonderful and in the end, I wish the book was longer so I could spend more time with the characters!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that reminded me of the first season of the Witcher and the Stardust movie. This is definitely not a book that someone would look for if they are used to Sanderson-style high fantasy, but it was light, fun, and an enjoyable read while I was snowed in for an afternoon. This book straddles the line between YA and adult, making for an easy read with some more adult themes.
The plot-to-romance ratio was really well executed, and I liked the way that the relationship between Kas and Claudia developed over time. The author also did a really good job at demonstrating character's power in a way that made sense in the story and didn't come off as ridiculously OP and unbelievable. The action scenes were incredibly written- especially when describing fighting with different techniques and weapons.
While I did very much enjoy this book, I think it would have been better as a 2 book series. There were some issues where "big" fight scenes (especially the last) were resolved very quickly, and there were large time jumps that were fairly confusing. I agree with other reviews that claimed that the worldbuilding or certain scenes weren't covered in depth enough - something that I think would be covered better in other books.
Overall, this was a nice little escapist book to read in an afternoon. It was cozy, fun, and sprinkled with just the right amount of action.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I think this book was a good cozy read. I definitely agree with some of the other reviewers that it was lacking depth. I don’t think this book will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next, but I do think it’s a fun read if you’re cool with just being along for the ride.

Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by the action scenes. I often find that action scenes feel a bit cluttered, or hard to keep up with, but the fight scenes in this book were easy to follow. I do wish there was a little more action in this book, or at least more tension. The stakes are set pretty high (the potential return of world ending dragons) but the focus of this book is mostly on the relationship between Claudia and Kas.

If you’re someone who likes cozy fantasy, I think you would enjoy this.

The premise of this book excited me, but when I actually got to reading it, it was hard to get through.
The writing felt flat and took away from what the plot could have been. It also lacked the proper world and character building for me to really form any big connections with the characters, and there was so little focus on romance that I didn't feel connected to their relationship either.
I would have liked more exploration into the main characters relationship with each other, and how their pasts influence their decisions.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, but I'm sorry, I couldn't finish this one. I grant it two stars because there was nothing that angered me while reading - I love the premise and the general character design, but goodness, the writing and dialogue was so stilted. Here's an interaction that made me want to put the book down:

"Hmph," Ves snorted. "Even we can't travel as far and fast as a trastere stone."
"You're right about that. Well, Ves, I don't suppose you have a trastere stone of your own hidden somewhere on your immense person?" she asked the other vampire.

I made it through a quarter of the book, and it sadly did not get any better. There was nothing especially compelling about the world, story, or characters. It makes me sad, I really really wanted to like this one.