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laurenology's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I worked as an archivist during grad school, so I appreciated some of the little inside jokes and references about that line of work peppered throughout this book. I didn't think very deeply about the larger impact of what I was doing during that time, nor was I very skilled in the work, but what Fellman eventually has to say about archiving and preservation has made me think about that part of my life and career more deeply.
It takes a while (like 60% of the way through) for anything that noticable to happen, but I found the premise and characters intriguing enough to keep on going. Glad I did.
It takes a while (like 60% of the way through) for anything that noticable to happen, but I found the premise and characters intriguing enough to keep on going. Glad I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Transphobia, Blood, Outing, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Car accident
elenavarg's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I wanted something more from this, but I’m a little unsure what.
The whole book felt like a collection of interesting themes and ideas, but none of those themes and ideas get fully explored, except for the romance, which is very insta-lovey, which is not really my thing.
The dialogue also feels kinda off to me. I can’t quite explain it, but Sol talks like an MCU character (derogatory) and it really took me out of the story!
The whole book felt like a collection of interesting themes and ideas, but none of those themes and ideas get fully explored, except for the romance, which is very insta-lovey, which is not really my thing.
The dialogue also feels kinda off to me. I can’t quite explain it, but Sol talks like an MCU character (derogatory) and it really took me out of the story!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Outing, Dysphoria, and Classism
mgpalpha's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“Transgender vampire archivist” hit all the things I love to read about, I absolutely adored it
Also thevampire bite sex was hot
Also the
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Transphobia
anxieteaisme's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This had a lot less vampire than I expected and a lot more trans, which I’m fine with. I liked the vampire concept in this book, their lives etc, I just wish it was more fleshed out. I also like the comparison between vampirism and transness; it’s a really interesting one.
Overall it was pretty good, just not my favourite.
Overall it was pretty good, just not my favourite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Grief
anna_hepworth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really really loved this book, and I have no idea who I would ever recommend it to. I described it to a friend as the mid-life equivalent to those Rainbow Rowell books that are so filled with fanfiction and college age US pop culture.
Having read the blurb, I knew going in that Sol is a vampire, and the world building around this is wonderful. That vampirism is used as a treatment for otherwise fatal diseases, that there is a network of services, that it is the cause of issues with HR were all wonderful details that interrogated the vampire tropes from a disability perspective.
There were other things that I didn't know, which I did really love. Sol's relationship with gender, and then their relationship with Elise, and how gender was both fundamental and a tiny part of their relationship were beautifully done. And, as mentioned, fan culture and fanfiction played an important role.
Having read the blurb, I knew going in that Sol is a vampire, and the world building around this is wonderful. That vampirism is used as a treatment for otherwise fatal diseases, that there is a network of services, that it is the cause of issues with HR were all wonderful details that interrogated the vampire tropes from a disability perspective.
There were other things that I didn't know, which I did really love. Sol's relationship with gender, and then their relationship with Elise, and how gender was both fundamental and a tiny part of their relationship were beautifully done. And, as mentioned, fan culture and fanfiction played an important role.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
bacteriosage's review
0.5
not sure if i want to put the energy into writing an actual review of this book because i already put enough energy into finishing it, but i truly think that was the worst book i’ve read to date. it felt deeply lesbophobic, and incredibly reductive in its portrayal of transness. about a quarter into the book i just gave the author the benefit of the doubt and read as though all the problematic stuff was solely a result of the characters being frankly awful people, but there are too many stereotypes and clear biases of the author within the metanarrative for that to make sense. and at one point the main character Sol does address how his love interest is toxic in a lot of ways and fetishizes him, but the literal one paragraph that discusses that seems to just conclude “well i’m codependent and in love with them so it’s okay.” the relationship itself also felt very insta-lovey and comprised of primarily trauma-bonding, and the sex scenes were incredibly uncomfortable to read imo (also lots of scenes and phrases that just. don’t leave room for aro/ace people to exist in this fictional world much, if at all). again, if there were some explanation for this in the broader context of the work i would love to hear it, i’m not expecting the book to tell me that “problematic characters are problematic” or hold my hand through figuring out what’s homophobic/transphobic or not, but as far as i can figure there was no larger message or meaning that gave me any explanation for that.
the last thing i’ll say is HOWWW are these characters in their FORTIES???? they read like teenagers steeped in the deepest trenches of tumblr discourse. almost DNF’d at finding out the love interest works for AO3, then again with supernatural fanfic jokes, then again with an “assigned cop at birth” joke. admittedly i don’t tend to enjoy when books date themselves, just a personal preference, but i absolutely loved tamsyn muir’s pop culture references in tlt — this felt like a horribly ham-fisted version of that.
maybe i will try to put together a more coherent review later because i think what sucks (pun intended) the most is that the concept of a transmasc, vampire archivist is SO COOL and there were even a few pages that connnected those themes in really interesting ways, but the overall thread of them was totally lost in the story as a whole for me and i just felt like i was stuck listening to the two most obnoxious characters on earth talk ad nauseum and still say absolutely nothing. i couldn’t even tell the difference in character voices honestly, they all just felt like different vessels for the author because they all speak the same. i don’t think i’ve ever finished a book so quickly just because i needed it to be over.
okay TRULY the last thing i’ll say but there was absolutely no trans joy in this book that was not in some way connected to dysphoria, and i think we deserve better than that, especially when the book is written by a trans author.
the last thing i’ll say is HOWWW are these characters in their FORTIES???? they read like teenagers steeped in the deepest trenches of tumblr discourse. almost DNF’d at finding out the love interest works for AO3, then again with supernatural fanfic jokes, then again with an “assigned cop at birth” joke. admittedly i don’t tend to enjoy when books date themselves, just a personal preference, but i absolutely loved tamsyn muir’s pop culture references in tlt — this felt like a horribly ham-fisted version of that.
maybe i will try to put together a more coherent review later because i think what sucks (pun intended) the most is that the concept of a transmasc, vampire archivist is SO COOL and there were even a few pages that connnected those themes in really interesting ways, but the overall thread of them was totally lost in the story as a whole for me and i just felt like i was stuck listening to the two most obnoxious characters on earth talk ad nauseum and still say absolutely nothing. i couldn’t even tell the difference in character voices honestly, they all just felt like different vessels for the author because they all speak the same. i don’t think i’ve ever finished a book so quickly just because i needed it to be over.
okay TRULY the last thing i’ll say but there was absolutely no trans joy in this book that was not in some way connected to dysphoria, and i think we deserve better than that, especially when the book is written by a trans author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Car accident
the d*ke slur is used repeatedly in this book, it does not appear to be used as a slur in the context but given the overall deeply lesbophobic themes in the book it does read that way in my opinionc_alexander's review against another edition
Found the writing style to be a little too repetitive, and the characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out. Got told details about the protagonist without ever experiencing them. The actual plot was also a bit vague sometimes in favour of the protagonists inner world - eg it wasn’t even clear at the start that it was the two character’s first time meeting which is an important detail
The description of women, physically, in general was a little uncomfortable. Some parts
parts also read like the author just found out about the word “dyke” and was excited to show it off, yet despite that there wasn’t really exploration into the experience or even existence of transmasc lesbians? Which seemed a bit antithetical
Also struggled with the reliance on fanfiction + ao3 as a plot device. It’s clear this was written by an archivist who has a deep passion for the craft, but the particular way fandom was used to explore this really fell flat. The TV show the protagonist is involved in the fandom of also had a LOT of excerpts and long descriptions of what happened in it - it felt very much like that was a seperate story the author also wanted to tell, but it didn’t run parallel to the story of Dead Collections, we just got random chunks of it
It definitely read like the love interest was going to realise they’re genderqueer and the joking/hinting about this was really stale/stunted/awkward
Usually love work that is queer in structure/form/style as well as in storytelling, and the autobiographical feel of the narrative was interesting, but found I was forcing myself to get through each chapter of this
The description of women, physically, in general was a little uncomfortable. Some parts
parts also read like the author just found out about the word “dyke” and was excited to show it off, yet despite that there wasn’t really exploration into the experience or even existence of transmasc lesbians? Which seemed a bit antithetical
Also struggled with the reliance on fanfiction + ao3 as a plot device. It’s clear this was written by an archivist who has a deep passion for the craft, but the particular way fandom was used to explore this really fell flat. The TV show the protagonist is involved in the fandom of also had a LOT of excerpts and long descriptions of what happened in it - it felt very much like that was a seperate story the author also wanted to tell, but it didn’t run parallel to the story of Dead Collections, we just got random chunks of it
It definitely read like the love interest was going to realise they’re genderqueer and the joking/hinting about this was really stale/stunted/awkward
Usually love work that is queer in structure/form/style as well as in storytelling, and the autobiographical feel of the narrative was interesting, but found I was forcing myself to get through each chapter of this
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
elxla's review
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
As a queer archivist, I had really high hopes for this book! It was written well, and I enjoyed the various epistle episodes and in world interludes. unfortunately, I struggled with the vampirism metaphor and like many of the reviewers, felt that the exploration of gender and sexuality was difficult to navigate (and leaned into stereotypes and vague lesphobia and transphobia). I wish the pacing had been a little more consistent- much of the book felt rushed, but all in separate ways. Fellman presents a very melancholic view of the archives.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Blood
soggycedar's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Minor: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Outing
buttermellow's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Car accident, and Dysphoria