Title: The Fox and the Devil
Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Adult, horror, paranormal romance, historical fiction
Publication date: March 10th 2026
Published by: Del Rey
Source: eARC for review from publishers via Netgalley
Add it on Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | B&N
Synopsis: An obsession with a beautiful serial killer entangles a vampire hunter’s daughter in an immortal sapphic romance in this enthralling gothic fantasy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy Undying.
Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to studying vampires—up until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that plague Anneke every night.
Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest in forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch her mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicably dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.
But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps some crucial evidence to infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to Anneke, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola. Devil. The obsession is mutual, and all the more dangerous for it.
The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman, after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Because as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.
A heart that beats for Anneke alone.
I'll never let her have a moment's peace. I'll hunt her to the ends of the earth.
I really enjoy Kiersten White's writing, and I was really looking forward to this one because the concept sounded so interesting! Unfortunately, I think this was more of a case where I liked the premise more than the execution.
Requesting this ARC and going into this book, I basically only read that first sentence of the synopsis. Lol. I was like, "Yep, I'm in!" The fact that this book involved a serial killer and the daughter of a vampire hunter was literally all I needed to know. Lol. I went back and read the entire synopsis at one point after starting the book, so I felt like such an idiot when I was surprised to find out that the vampire hunter in question was none other than Van Helsing. This was literally in the synopsis 😆 But it was such a fun surprise for me going into this book!
As for the serial in question, she may or may not be a vampire, but she most definitely killed Anneke's father. Like I said, I loved this concept! But this is also where my issues with the book started. But maybe it's my fault for not taking the 'obsession' the synopsis mentioned more seriously before going into this book, because I really disliked it. You're telling me that Anneke finds this woman standing over the body of her father, his presumed killer, and she finds herself ATTRACTED to her?! Girl, what?! Okay, and fair, this woman may or may not be a vampire, so the whole vampire mesmerism thing could be coming into play. But still. This was so unhealthy! Anneke's obsession with finding this woman was all-consuming! She said it was to avenge her father... yeah, no. Lol. So yeah. I did not enjoy the Sapphic "romance" in this because, in my opinion, it was NOT romance. It could’ve been so good though! ðŸ˜
I also didn't love the characters. I loved that Anneke was a woman of science and that she was amazing at her job, especially in this time period. But that's it. I feel like the characters didn't have very distinct personalities. So when some of them started dying, I just didnt care 🤷♀️
I'm not gonna lie, I was definitely more engaged in the second half of the book, because that's when the mythology and folklore really started. I LOVE mythology! We know this about me 😆 So I found this and the overall supernatural aspect of the book very enjoyable.
But overall, this book was just... fine. It had SO much potential with all the different things it tried to combine (horror, mystery, mythology, historical fiction, paranormal romance), but it just fell a bit flat for me.
As for the serial in question, she may or may not be a vampire, but she most definitely killed Anneke's father. Like I said, I loved this concept! But this is also where my issues with the book started. But maybe it's my fault for not taking the 'obsession' the synopsis mentioned more seriously before going into this book, because I really disliked it. You're telling me that Anneke finds this woman standing over the body of her father, his presumed killer, and she finds herself ATTRACTED to her?! Girl, what?! Okay, and fair, this woman may or may not be a vampire, so the whole vampire mesmerism thing could be coming into play. But still. This was so unhealthy! Anneke's obsession with finding this woman was all-consuming! She said it was to avenge her father... yeah, no. Lol. So yeah. I did not enjoy the Sapphic "romance" in this because, in my opinion, it was NOT romance. It could’ve been so good though! ðŸ˜
I also didn't love the characters. I loved that Anneke was a woman of science and that she was amazing at her job, especially in this time period. But that's it. I feel like the characters didn't have very distinct personalities. So when some of them started dying, I just didnt care 🤷♀️
I'm not gonna lie, I was definitely more engaged in the second half of the book, because that's when the mythology and folklore really started. I LOVE mythology! We know this about me 😆 So I found this and the overall supernatural aspect of the book very enjoyable.
But overall, this book was just... fine. It had SO much potential with all the different things it tried to combine (horror, mystery, mythology, historical fiction, paranormal romance), but it just fell a bit flat for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment