ARC Book Review: The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

When I saw an email from Del Rey through Netgalley, offering an ARC of their upcoming gothic fantasy novel because they saw my review of The Bewitching, I thought I was imagining things. What an honour to have received this offer! Obviously, I had to do the book justice by taking my time to engage with the text and gather my thoughts before I jump into my review.

At the time of writing this post, I was back home for the Christmas holidays, so I binge-read the book in a couple of days, and I'm ready to share my review.

The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White follows Anneke Van Helsing, a vampire hunter's daughter seeking revenge for her father's murder at the hands of a beautiful and elusive woman. As mysterious deaths with inexplicable causes begin to appear, Anneke, believing her father's murderer is behind them all, puts together a team of detectives to catch the serial killer. But neither could have predicted how deadly the obsession would become.

The Good Stuff

The book started off really well because I was immediately hooked by the vampiric premise and the interesting mystery behind the inexplicable deaths. The beginning was set up in a way that built suspense with the bread-crumbing of information, and I liked Anneke as a female protagonist who showed her strength through intelligence. Although the different timelines and perspectives were confusing at first, you quickly got used to them as you started to understand the correlation between the main story and the Paris Exposition arc. In a way, the nonlinear plot reminded me of The Night Circus, and the pay off was similarly successful.

Another thing that stood out to me were the letters. I believed it slightly helped the pacing of the story to intercept the two timelines with tauntingly loving words written by the murderer, Diavola, and addressed to Anneke. Those letters gave us an insight into the enigmatic woman's psyche without the subjective lens of the protagonist.

The Not So Good Stuff

Although the premise was promising, and I had high hopes for the novel, I wasn't too keen on Anneke's repetitive inner turmoil regarding her father's murderer. I understand that she doesn't know how to feel about the elusive woman because of her loyalty towards her father, but at times her monologue just felt like a broken record of indecision and dilemmas.

I'm also not sure how to feel about the romance between Anneke and Diavola. It seemed too sudden, especially if you consider the aforementioned battle inside Anneke's psyche. They barely met a handful of times, and suddenly they are in love.

Dare I also say that I felt a bit misled by the vampiric premise?

Rating

2.5 ⭑

Overall, I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a slow-burn sapphic romance with hints of gothic fantasy and the supernatural.

The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White is out on the 10th March 2026.