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emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well-written and interesting, just not my particular cuppa.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Blood, Outing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gore, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Outing
Minor: Car accident, Dysphoria
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Outing, Dysphoria
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
interesting premise, and parts of this were really nice & fun.
I’m glad i kept reading bc the second half seemed to have a much clearer point and the pacing was a lot better. the t4t romance was a highlight. the points being made about main themes like exploration of gender identity, vampirism as disability, etc. were not at all subtle but i think mostly worked well.
tbh i didn’t really care about the fanfic parts, at least partially bc the fictional tv show didn’t seem very interesting to me. but the focus on that seemed to fade away as the book went on.
i didn’t love how the writing style changed throughout, which was intended to reflect archiving of events but seemed like the author was just trying things out and seeing what stuck. however, i listened to this on audio, and those parts might have worked better w physical book though.
i also really struggled w how most of the characters seemed like outlines of people. also multiple butch women had the primary character trait of backwards beliefs about trans people??
idk lol i kinda wish this book had gone through some more drafts?
I’m glad i kept reading bc the second half seemed to have a much clearer point and the pacing was a lot better. the t4t romance was a highlight. the points being made about main themes like exploration of gender identity, vampirism as disability, etc. were not at all subtle but i think mostly worked well.
tbh i didn’t really care about the fanfic parts, at least partially bc the fictional tv show didn’t seem very interesting to me. but the focus on that seemed to fade away as the book went on.
i didn’t love how the writing style changed throughout, which was intended to reflect archiving of events but seemed like the author was just trying things out and seeing what stuck. however, i listened to this on audio, and those parts might have worked better w physical book though.
i also really struggled w how most of the characters seemed like outlines of people. also multiple butch women had the primary character trait of backwards beliefs about trans people??
idk lol i kinda wish this book had gone through some more drafts?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
read 2: august 2024
this really clicked with me a lot more than last time (last time i think it was more of a 3.5 but i was too scared to rate it lowly bc my best friend absolutely loved it but this time it's more like 4.25) and i couldn't quite say why. i've really lately been loving books that toy with the intersection of genre and literary but not really in a magical realism way, like this is a literary story in an urban fantasy shell (the taxonomy of book genres is something that can be sooo special to me) but like all that aside. i really liked the writing, i like the way it was sort of quiet, i thought the idea of vampirism as an accepted medical cure was so interesting..i will say that sometimes the dialogue did not real like something anyone would ever say, like it read like they were reading prose out loud when they tried to describe their feelings, and i wish that more time had been spent on the eidolism because it was SOOOO interesting but came in so quickly and was resolved just as quickly. idk.
read 1: april 2022
i really loved the end of this book. maybe that's a weird thing to start my review on but the last couple chapters were so wonderful. i also really liked the concept of eidolism and the unique bits of the vampire lore in this! i didn't like as much how the plot wasn't always there, especially in the beginning (i'm very much a plot reader and there's a few exceptions but not many) but the writing was really good!
this really clicked with me a lot more than last time (last time i think it was more of a 3.5 but i was too scared to rate it lowly bc my best friend absolutely loved it but this time it's more like 4.25) and i couldn't quite say why. i've really lately been loving books that toy with the intersection of genre and literary but not really in a magical realism way, like this is a literary story in an urban fantasy shell (the taxonomy of book genres is something that can be sooo special to me) but like all that aside. i really liked the writing, i like the way it was sort of quiet, i thought the idea of vampirism as an accepted medical cure was so interesting..i will say that sometimes the dialogue did not real like something anyone would ever say, like it read like they were reading prose out loud when they tried to describe their feelings, and i wish that more time had been spent on the eidolism because it was SOOOO interesting but came in so quickly and was resolved just as quickly. idk.
read 1: april 2022
i really loved the end of this book. maybe that's a weird thing to start my review on but the last couple chapters were so wonderful. i also really liked the concept of eidolism and the unique bits of the vampire lore in this! i didn't like as much how the plot wasn't always there, especially in the beginning (i'm very much a plot reader and there's a few exceptions but not many) but the writing was really good!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Blood
Moderate: Medical content
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
paper copy. i was really interested in the premise of it. i liked the exploration of fandom a lot and thought that was fun. also was interested in the ways that the characters explored and played with gender. again the analogies were not subtle but they still were solid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Outing
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Outing, Dysphoria
Moderate: Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Outing, Dysphoria
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Car accident
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
Wow. This cut close to the quick for me.
If you're looking for slick supernatural vampires doing slick supernatural vampire things that's not what this book is interested in. This one is more literary and interested in considering what vampirism might look like if it was more like an illness. I for one found it fascinating, and I was glad I went into it with very little foreknowledge nor expectations. This is a meditative and broody book, not an adventure yarn.
This story reads a bit like a noir, especially with the snappy dialogue, but there isn't really a mystery to solve in any traditional sense. It's much more of a romance than anything else, though the style and structure are not what I would call romantic. It's peppered with alternate styles of writing, like message board posts, articles, emails, and text threads, just like the archives that are so central to the story and the main character. The writing is crisp and evocative, descriptive without ever becoming flowery. The pace clips along. The real focus, though, is on character and how it feels to walk through life when you're different and the world isn't made for you, especially when you feel hollowed out and stuck. You could replace vampirism with any host of disabilities and the story remains intact.
So much of this book is about trans identity (especially trans masculine and genderfluid), disability, discrimination, being nocturnal, being in love, watching an old life and the things you cared about decay, and trying to build something new when you're scared and don't know if you can. It's about taking chances, some you should and some you shouldn't. It's about figuring out who you are and who you want to be. It's also about archives and what we leave behind. And yeah, I guess it's also about vampires.
I'm glad I took a chance on this one when the author's debut was so lukewarm for me. I look forward to future offerings.
If you're looking for slick supernatural vampires doing slick supernatural vampire things that's not what this book is interested in. This one is more literary and interested in considering what vampirism might look like if it was more like an illness. I for one found it fascinating, and I was glad I went into it with very little foreknowledge nor expectations. This is a meditative and broody book, not an adventure yarn.
This story reads a bit like a noir, especially with the snappy dialogue, but there isn't really a mystery to solve in any traditional sense. It's much more of a romance than anything else, though the style and structure are not what I would call romantic. It's peppered with alternate styles of writing, like message board posts, articles, emails, and text threads, just like the archives that are so central to the story and the main character. The writing is crisp and evocative, descriptive without ever becoming flowery. The pace clips along. The real focus, though, is on character and how it feels to walk through life when you're different and the world isn't made for you, especially when you feel hollowed out and stuck. You could replace vampirism with any host of disabilities and the story remains intact.
So much of this book is about trans identity (especially trans masculine and genderfluid), disability, discrimination, being nocturnal, being in love, watching an old life and the things you cared about decay, and trying to build something new when you're scared and don't know if you can. It's about taking chances, some you should and some you shouldn't. It's about figuring out who you are and who you want to be. It's also about archives and what we leave behind. And yeah, I guess it's also about vampires.
I'm glad I took a chance on this one when the author's debut was so lukewarm for me. I look forward to future offerings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Outing, Dysphoria
Minor: Deadnaming, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail