Sapphic? Vampires? Historical Fiction? Sign me up! 

The premise of the book is delightful and I loved that Hayley Dennings decided to ground the settings in 1920s Harlem (We really need more fantasy and historical fiction stories spotlighting communities of color that does not simply start at the Civil Rights Movement!). And the historical setting of the novel strengthens its exploration of the theme of racism and sexism and their intersectionality with class. (For example:

The scene where Elise's family discusses the Tulsa Race Massacre is very poignant and offers us a way to examine these topics not as mere faraway distant past but very real horrific atrocities that affect people

). 

The characters are fantastic. I love Elise and Layla. I feel for their struggles and circumstances. Elise’s love for her sister is such a core part of her character and Hayley did a fantastic job centering this aspect of Elise’s character throughout the book. Layla’s conflicting emotions on her reaperhood is realistic and understandable, despite being at times upsetting. The supporting characters, especially the peers of Layla and Elise, do work well with their dynamics. Mostly.

The not-so-good things: 
The worldbuilding: Reapers's legal status is quite underdeveloped. Their integration into society is skirted around but not really elaborate upon. The difference between rogue reapers and "regular reapers that belong to a clan" is never fully explained, given the ever present threat of the Saints Security empire against the whole reaperhood. Not fully expanding this plotline elements also undermines the analogy of reapers as the oppressed minority, in my opinion. 
The novel drags in the middle. In fact, at a certain point, it gets very irritating to see how Elise and Layla fail to make the connections about the reaperhood cure, the clinic, and the weird deaths that readers already could like 5 chapters ago. Instead of us learning something new alongside Layla and Elise with every new discovery, we're stuck watching them running in circles and hoping that maybe they'll see what we saw already to advance the plot. 
Despite the numerous mentions to Harlem and the Jazz Age, the setting still feels generic in a way that if I exchange the name Harlem or NYC with any other big cities, it still works. 
The romance is too slow-burn that it becomes rushed when they suddenly are now into each other. I think the problem lies with the fact that Layla's and Elise's attractions are too subtle for like 80% of the book. The groundwork is there, I admit it, but it's too buried underground that once they confess, it leaves me feeling a bit dissatisfied. I want the yearning to be more present. I want the buildup to the confession to add to the tension of the story. 

Which leads to the final point: the villains in the book and its lack of satisfying resolution. There's not enough buildup that when it finally comes to the point of explosion, it just feels rushed. 

With that said, I do enjoy the novel. The prose is great, the humor is on point, the characters are worth rooting for. But tighter pacing, and more developed worldbuilding will make this an even better novel.