Reviews with content warning for Death - Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things

The title and premise of this book intrigued me. First, I will say the dad part gets me in the feel as my own dad is a cancer survivor and my best friend, so in that way I can relate to our protagonist, Victoria. While I at first enjoyed the direction of the story once Victoria and Henry get to New Orleans, about 100-150 pages in I realized I didn't really relate to Victoria, especially as I am someone who basically over feels every emotion and is very comfortable with the fact that everyone dies. At times I felt she was disagreeable and immature. I rushed through the next bit of the book just reading it to be done. I will say at the very end, I felt like Victoria came into a more likable person and had a good arc in the last couple of chapters. But honestly, I have no idea how Henry put up with her all that time.

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debussy's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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

4.0

Margie Fuston is the best debut I've read this year. Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things is an introspective book on living with grief, from the perspective of the eighteen-year-old Victoria, a vampire-obsessed prospective art student with a father given a terminal cancer diagnosis. Deciding she's the last best hope to save his life, Victoria flies to New Orleans in search of a vampire--one came out years ago to the national media, only to quickly go back into hiding. People aren't sure if vampires are real, but if they are? Surely they're in New Orleans. Henry, Victoria's former childhood friend and crush, escorts her, and the two are put on a vampiric quest to prove Victoria can truly live, as being a vampire does involve a lot of living. Victoria does the tasks--eat, be merry, steal things, kiss boys under the moon, but she only tailspins. Can she truly be happy--truly let herself feel any emotion at all--when her father is dying and she's the last hope to save his life?

Like I said, Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things spends a lot of time in Victoria's head. Discussions on grief, on emotional health, on coping, happiness, the future, death, what it all means if you're a vampire--it's drenched in thoughts. Victoria has to overcome her past with Henry, learn how to live without her dad, and win the vampire's game so she doesn't have to. Victoria can be a hard character to love--she's willing to believe a lot to get what she wants, and willing to put anyone around her in danger for the hope she can turn her father into a vampire. It's a hard ask for readers, but I think Fuston makes it work by relentlessly reminding us where Victoria is in the grieving process--denial, and boatloads of it.

Only two things jump out at me to make this less than a five star read--I found it difficult to believe two teenagers straight out of high school would make this major trip so spur of the moment (and that two sets of parents would be totally cool with it), and the climax felt incredibly quick given the time spent with the tasks. Some New Orleans details felt poorly threaded--the why of it all a sketch without color--but overall it's a solid addition to the vampire book crew.

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betweentheshelves's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of this to review! Honestly, the cover jumped out at me and the premise sounded so unique and interesting. Plus, the cover really pulls you it because it’s so beautiful!

At the heart, this is very much a book about grief. It’s Victoria’s journey working through losing her dad, and you can feel her desperation to do anything to save him. Adding in the vampires worked as a nice foil to her journey working through her emotions. Especially her interactions with Nicholas, going out and doing things she never would have done before. Fuston does this aspect of the book so well, bring all kinds of emotions into the story and really fleshing out the characters.

Outside of Victoria, Henry and Nicholas were also really fleshed out. They all bounced off each other and worked well together, bringing even more to the story. Especially the relationship between Victoria and Henry. You can tell there is so much history between them and I loved the way the interacted. They care for each other, even if their flaws sometimes get in the way of that.

All in all, this is a unique, emotional novel that will definitely make you feel all the things. Plus, vampires! They’re making a comeback, and I’m kind of here for it.

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This is such an emotional, unique read. More to come in a full review tomorrow!

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