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Babylove #1

Babylove

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"Even with the blood, rituals, and resurrections, the most surprising thing about the summer of 2003 was Ivy Wexler."
When offered a chance to avoid summer school, goth girl Frankie Tanner reluctantly agrees to help Ivy Wexler, a cheerleader who has just resurrected her cat in preparation for bigger and better (dead) things.
Perfect for people who wanted The Craft to be sapphic.
BABYLOVE is a dark sapphic romance YA novella, and is a companion series to the ZOMBABE trilogy.

102 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2023

70 people are currently reading
2141 people want to read

About the author

I.S. Belle

12 books224 followers

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5 stars
164 (21%)
4 stars
289 (37%)
3 stars
251 (32%)
2 stars
56 (7%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
Profile Image for John Gilbert.
1,357 reviews208 followers
February 11, 2024
This was a bit of fun, I always love stories of misfits struggling in high school, Frankie is the one here. Goth, into weird occult things, and not afraid to clock the arrogant male in her class. She is recruited by cheerleader Ivy to help her with some occult doings (her dead cat is back and creating havoc) and they kind of fall for each other. First in a trilogy of short books, fun but not memorable. 3.5 stars.
Profile Image for khadeja.
120 reviews
August 18, 2025
‘𝘐𝘷𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.’

i will always have a soft spot for the popular cheerleader and the town outcast romance novels that are located in small homophobic towns. and frankie and ivy were no exception i love them so dearly 🫶

however i will say that the plot of this book made zero sense to me 😭 like a girls grandmas cat got posessed and started going crazy and eating the dogs in the town 🤨 regardless the romance was cute and i finished this in one sitting so….

𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘨’𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦. 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺. 𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘢𝘸𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘴.
“𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘥,” 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭.
Profile Image for Ida X.
177 reviews3 followers
January 10, 2025
-> 1.75 stars

Babylove must be one of the most unnecessary books EVER. I guess it’s a good short read if you want to finish your reading goal last minute and don’t really care about the quality of the books you are reading. Okay, that sounds so mean, but it’s the truth. The plot was just really meh, the characters felt one-dimensional, and the romance felt so flat as well. And that’s so sad because I feel like the story had quite a lot of potential, but I personally feel like the author didn’t really put a lot of effort into the story. It just feels like the book was written within a week and that the author was inspired by a lot of other books but wasn’t ready to put the afford that a good book requires into the writing process of this book.
Profile Image for Ahna Trojanowski.
27 reviews
August 1, 2024
While I did get camp vibes from this book, it also felt like unintentional camp. Which is the worst kind of camp. If the plot was more prevalent throughout the book then maybe I would have liked it better. There were cute moments but it was drowned out by more moments that made no sense.
Profile Image for Kajy.
15 reviews
August 31, 2024
eheheh cute wlw romance with spooky stuff
Profile Image for Koko.
44 reviews
March 7, 2023
This was a fun one.

The 2000s high school horror movies with cheerleaders and zombies made into a book. Plus we get the nerdy/goth + queen bee lesbian couple.

It won't blow your mind but it's really easy to read and you can get through the whole thing in one day.
Profile Image for Malcolm.
1,963 reviews559 followers
March 2, 2024
Bulldean is not the typical Maine township (except, of course, that thanks to Stephen King there’s many a horror tale set in small town Maine). Strange things happen – but most of all, there’s a thing about resurrection and more than a hint of a zombie or two, although not necessarily with the whole brain eating thing.

It’s in this setting that school It-girl and cheerleader Ivy Wexler approaches former friend and now well-outside-the-It-gang goth Frankie Tanner for help. Recognising the transactional nature of much of high school life, Ivy offers to help Frankie with classes she’s struggling in if Frankie will help her with a spell. Turns out, it’s to resurrect her grandfather. Ivy had a practice run with her granddad’s cat, which didn’t work out so well – it’s not a brain eater, but it does kill and eat the neighbour’s dog. Understandably, Ivy’s keen to avoid this problem with her grandfather.

It’s a sweet Sapphic story of witchcraft: Frankie fancies Ivy; it’s reciprocated – but it’s tough being a small town lesbian in 2003, so discretion is the name of the game. The study sessions are a clear cover. Belle writes the yearning well, avoiding teenage clichés in favour a well-crafted fear of unrequitedness on Frankie’s part, and the problems of the It-gang on Ivy’s –all set nicely a weird small town where nothing seems quite right. It’s a well-built sense of being just off-kilter, which everyone recognises but no-one talks about.

It’s also a short novella, at just 77 pages, but the first of three with a parallel Zombabe series where stories seem to interact and share characters. It’s also good fun – sharp, witty, ironically unpicking aspects of YA and light horror genre that left me looking forward to delving into the rest of Belle’s world.
Profile Image for court of stories.
780 reviews
January 16, 2024
꧁BABYLOVE꧂
r e v i e w


Tropes:
– opposites attract
– cheerleader x goth girl
– sapphic
– creepy cat
– YA


This book is so damn sweet. I think it‘s not so easy to find my kind of sweet romance, and to be honest, I did not expect to find it in ‘Babylove‘. Often books labeled as ‘sweet‘ are cuteness overload, and afterwards I don‘t feel like picking up another for some time. But I think it‘s the dark themes, and the fact that Frankie and Ivy are not this constantly-in-your-face kind of cute (like f.e. Heartstopper) – though it is definitely as addictive as Heartstopper. I inhaled it in one day, and I want more. I‘m so glad I already have the second one waiting on my tbr. Frankie and Ivy are both characters I instantly connected with. They are polar opposites when it comes to outside image, but from their first interaction forward they are perfect for each other and it‘s so much fun reading about them. Aside from the love story I liked Frankie‘s relationship with her sister so very much. I hope this will also play a role in the following novellas.

4/5⭐️
Profile Image for Gray.
51 reviews6 followers
Read
June 19, 2024
yay pride month
Profile Image for ♡.
18 reviews1 follower
February 20, 2024
it’s giving janis and regina but throw an evil resurrected cat into the mix
Profile Image for estefanía.
4 reviews2 followers
September 16, 2023
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐

Content Warnings: mentioned harm children, animal death, gore, bullying, drug use, smoking, profanity.

This sapphic novella was super fun to read and I loved the characters so much, now I'm hooked to this trilogy and I want read the next books ASAP.

I loved the contrast between Frankie and Ivy and how despite how different they could look to anyone outside their bubble, they weren't really that different personality-wise. I also loved a lot how open Frankie was about her feelings towards Ivy, even if it was scary at first for her. They were really well-shaped characters through the whole novella and the written was [chef's kiss] amazing, 10 out of 10 would recommend because I. S. Belle did a great job showing the complexity of their relationship/situationship without being overwhelming or feeling like they didn't have any chemistry. It's difficult to write clichés such as the "goth girl that's standoffish and scary for most people and the cheerleader "queen bee" that has never been afraid of the goth girl" and make these tropes actually work correctly, both Ivy and Frankie are everything to me and I hope to see more of them in the next books.

For fans of everything spooky and witchy, zombies and the "sunshine x sunshine protector" trope, this is the perfect novella for you and I hope you have as much fun as I did while reading it!
Profile Image for ✩ maggs ✩.
185 reviews6 followers
February 17, 2024
it was okay 🤷🏻‍♀️ usually novellas are either hit or miss for me and this one just didn’t hit as hard as honeyblood did 😔
Profile Image for Anna.
55 reviews3 followers
May 2, 2024
Okay sooo… noting happend?
Profile Image for Alix Gray.
171 reviews4 followers
June 30, 2024
Une excellente romance sapphic YA.
J’ai adoré et j’ai hâte de voir comment va évoluer leur relation.

Frankie aime ses cheveux noirs, son rouge à lèvre noir, ses vêtements noirs… et son crush en tenue de pom-pom girl colorée, blonde et populaire. Et apparemment assez téméraire pour ressusciter son chat d’entre les morts.

La vie d’Ivy (la fameuse pom-pom girl) n’est en réalité pas si rose que ça. Elle est tiraillé entre deux facette de sa personnalité: celle de la fille populaire régie par des codes et des faux semblants, et son moi spontané et authentique qu’elle n’autorise que très peu à sortir. Et une vieille promesse de résurrection qui la lie malgré elle.

Je recommande vivement à celle.ux qui aiment:

- Lycée dans une petite ville pleine de mystères
- Cheerleader/Goth girl💄🔪
- Romance lesbienne
- Zombies
- Enemies to Lovers
- Opposite attract

P.S.: J’ai aussi beaucoup apprécié ce petit Crossover/Easter egg avec l’autre livre de l’auteure, Zombabe. Hâte de lire celui-là aussi.😇🧟
Profile Image for Issy Waldrom.
Author 10 books54 followers
May 3, 2024
Something isn't quite right in the small town of Bulldean, something sinister lurking in the background. And the town itself - not overly accepting. Frankie has that dark look, is a loner at the school, while Ivy is as far from her as you can get - a cheerleader, and popular. But when Ivy approaches Frankie with an offer, who is she to refuse ^^

Cute, fun, a little dark and a little spooky, this story deals with the request that Ivy made, setting the scene for the events of Zombabe (and crossing over a little), but more so, looks at the relationship that starts to develop between the two of them. It's neither easy nor smooth, and yet, through it all, perhaps there is the potential for something more.

And as to Babylove itself - yeah, that was a bit of a surprise.

It's not a long read, but it is very enjoyable slow burn romance, and I am very keen to see what happens to the two of them and how their relationship continues to develop in the remaining two books of the trilogy.
Profile Image for abby (xoxobookishgirl).
85 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2024
⭐⭐⭐ DNF 50%
Rep: Lesbian MC, Sapphic relationship
CW: Death of dog, death of cat, graphic

1) I love the Honeybloods series by this author but this book doesn't hit the same. I can definitely tell they've improved since writing this as Honeybloods is way more compelling and the romance is so good.

2) The dynamic between the MCs didn't really work for me instantly like in Honeybloods so I wasn't invested in them getting together.

3) The plot felt much slower paced so it wasn't as much of a wild bonkers ride like I was looking for

4) I had to DNF as the death of animals in this book was way too prevalent and detailed for me to stomach. I can't deal with the death of dogs in books so the reason I DNF'd is a me issue not a book issue.
Profile Image for Serena ♡.
212 reviews11 followers
June 25, 2024
Very silly, but not bad!! Read it in an evening. Like sitting down to watch a good 2000s Teen gory comedy-horror, my favorite kind of movies!!! So this fit me better than I expected.

It was still too short, though, shit happened so quickly. Indeed very much gives off The Craft vibes!! Jennifer’s Body a little too. Crazy shit just happens and everybody knows how to revive dead people 🤷

I was surprised how well written this was, and how likable Frankie and Ivy are. I… expected it to be very cringe. I mean, most romcoms already are, but self published ones? A girl speaks from experience. But it was really well written and Frankie and Ivy both have their own weird quirks and stuff going on. Still needed more build up, but whatever.
Profile Image for Elischa.
36 reviews3 followers
October 22, 2023
cw heavy violence against animals

A nice, quick read for spooky season. Nothing deep, maybe a little too quick, but it’s entertaining and I like that the characters actually act like believable high school students.
I really didn’t like what happened to the cat though. Almost made me want to drop it
Profile Image for Peter.
376 reviews
April 3, 2023
A brilliant, fast-paced novella that has great characters, and a wonderful queer romance in the the midst of a horror setting.
Profile Image for Amber Lewis.
Author 11 books84 followers
August 8, 2023
I enjoyed this a little more than Zombabe, but honestly wanted more from it. The story was kind of flat and not much really happened.
Profile Image for cassy.
45 reviews2 followers
April 24, 2024
GOD THIS WAS SO GOOD I NEED THE NEXT ONE RIGHT NOW
Profile Image for Nika.
73 reviews
August 2, 2023
It was short and cute, and a little dark. I liked it.
Profile Image for toby⋒.
389 reviews
December 20, 2024
3.5 stars eh this was a fun little novella to read. Not much more to say about it.
Profile Image for SJ.
204 reviews43 followers
July 18, 2023
This was a quick, fun read with sapphic, spooky vibes with the perfect opening line! I really enjoyed Frankie and Ivy’s story. They are two seemingly opposite characters - goth girl/cheerleader, grumpy/sunshine - but when it comes down to it, they really aren’t all that different under the surface. Babylove is kind of a combination of The Craft, Warm Bodies, Mean Girls, and Frankenweenie…but sapphic! You get pet resurrection, zombies, rituals, and other paranormal goodness all mixed up with the typical teen high school popularity drama of who’s cool and who’s not. It was an all around quick and enjoyable read!

I didn’t realize until after I read this book that it was a prequel to I.S. Belle’s Zombabe. I don’t think it was necessary to read Zombabe first, but I think it would have helped me have a better understanding about the town (Bulldeen) and who the characters were. I’m looking forward to the next two books in the series and hope to learn more about Bulldeen and this spooky cast of characters.
Profile Image for Liz   ݁ ˖ִ ࣪✩₊ ⊹˚.
239 reviews25 followers
June 15, 2024
what a lovely novelette! I sped through this.

although I didn't completely understand some sentences, I enjoyed it so tremendously that I can't help but give it 5 stars. it just read so easily and the horrory vibes were immaculate. and what can I say? I have a soft spot for grumpy x sunshine
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