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anna_hepworth's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Harris has written a very clever vampire themed who-dunnit. I loved so many of the details of this story, from Gary — the young looking guy who is stuck in the 1960s, but is still trying to learn everything he can about science — to the loving detail in which Melbourne of the early 2000s is portrayed. Particularly the locations and details of the goth scene.
It being vampires, the deaths are more gruesome than in more cosy mysteries, but unlike a lot of the grim ‘realistic’ oeuvre, they aren’t presented for the titillation of the reader. Yes, we have unnamed young women dead, but unlike some books I’ve was, they aren’t paraded naked in lurid detail. Instead, the story focuses on the action of our protagonist, Lissa, who find the bodies.
We get a lot of Lissa’s back story throughout, through their interactions with their sibling and parents (the former being a force for good in Lissa’s life, the latter chaos and disappointment). Harris has done a spectacular job of capturing a particular dysfunctional family dynamic. There were certainly moments where I imagine many readers would have the same reaction I did — “I see, you’ve met my mother.”
The stand out relationships in the story are those of the two siblings, learning how to work together as adults, and the developing friendship between Lissa and Gary, which starts badly, and gets mishandled badly by Lissa.
It being vampires, the deaths are more gruesome than in more cosy mysteries, but unlike a lot of the grim ‘realistic’ oeuvre, they aren’t presented for the titillation of the reader. Yes, we have unnamed young women dead, but unlike some books I’ve was, they aren’t paraded naked in lurid detail. Instead, the story focuses on the action of our protagonist, Lissa, who find the bodies.
We get a lot of Lissa’s back story throughout, through their interactions with their sibling and parents (the former being a force for good in Lissa’s life, the latter chaos and disappointment). Harris has done a spectacular job of capturing a particular dysfunctional family dynamic. There were certainly moments where I imagine many readers would have the same reaction I did — “I see, you’ve met my mother.”
The stand out relationships in the story are those of the two siblings, learning how to work together as adults, and the developing friendship between Lissa and Gary, which starts badly, and gets mishandled badly by Lissa.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Child death
Seriously shitty parenting from both of Lissa’s parents
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