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ada_rosales's review
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
jamieleepilk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual content
readingpicnic's review against another edition
3.75
Erotic, but also deeply sad. The dreary, crumbling cemetery setting of most of the novel works so well towards creating a bleak atmosphere. This book wasn't the sapphic romance I initially thought it would be. It centers more on persecution and murder in an ever-changing and unfamiliar world in the vampire's case, and being a single mom and drifting away from everyone while grieving her ever-ailing elderly mother in Alma's case. I do think I preferred the vampire's chapters over the latter half of the book and found them more interesting; Alma's chapters dragged for me at times and it didn't feel like much was happening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Abandonment and Sexual harassment
kaiyakaiyo's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
the split pov is pretty disjointed, and the first half felt like it could have been its own book. hundreds of years covered in 100 or so pages was… a choice. Alma’s(?) half is simultaneously more rushed feeling and more of a drag in comparison; we read about her cleaning her floor and going to vividly described bars for nearly half of her story, then she just ups and leaves her son for a sapphic vampire existence… the blood drinking scenes were wonderful, and the writing is nice on the eyes, but the narrative itself was so sparse it bordered on incomplete
this is also the first time I’ve been bored by vampire women, I honestly didn’t know that was possible for me
this is also the first time I’ve been bored by vampire women, I honestly didn’t know that was possible for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
kathleencoughlin's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Confinement, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
caseythereader's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
junejunejulyjuly's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
30something_reads's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Death had come to inhabit my body. It was a possession, not a visit.
I'm still trying to figure out my full feelings about the ending but overall, this was gorgeous. The narrative structure was really compelling- I could not stop reading!
-------
A sweeping journey from the Old World to modern day Buenos Aires, this story is told in two parts from two very different women.
The first half of the narrative is told through the eyes of a centuries old vampire as we follow her journey from her violent conception and across the world to Buenos Aires for a new beginning.
The second half is told through the eyes of a modern day woman in Buenos Aires as she navigates her career, motherhood, and the inevitable loss of her own mother to a terminal illness.
Two seemingly unconnected stories slowly begin to intertwine in a haunting, obsessive tale about grief, female agency, and desire.
--------
All of the dark, gothic, sapphic vampire vibes that I was hoping to get out of AEoM- I got them here.
I'm still trying to figure out my full feelings about the ending but overall, this was gorgeous. The narrative structure was really compelling- I could not stop reading!
-------
A sweeping journey from the Old World to modern day Buenos Aires, this story is told in two parts from two very different women.
The first half of the narrative is told through the eyes of a centuries old vampire as we follow her journey from her violent conception and across the world to Buenos Aires for a new beginning.
The second half is told through the eyes of a modern day woman in Buenos Aires as she navigates her career, motherhood, and the inevitable loss of her own mother to a terminal illness.
Two seemingly unconnected stories slowly begin to intertwine in a haunting, obsessive tale about grief, female agency, and desire.
--------
All of the dark, gothic, sapphic vampire vibes that I was hoping to get out of AEoM- I got them here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Confinement, Sexual content, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
savvylit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I absolutely loved Thirst. This fast-paced novel includes all of the best vampire tropes. Best of all, these tropes are included in ways that wink at the genre rather than seem played out. The unnamed vampire at the center of the story is as alluring and fascinating as any vampire fan could hope! Furthermore, readers are allowed to witness immense changes in the city of Buenos Aires from a resident who watched it all from the shadows. I love that Thirst is historical fiction without being dull or overwrought.
The novel is divided into two parts: the vampire's perspective & the perspective of her eventual liberator, Alma. Both women are complex, sensual, and occupied by death. I enjoyed each of their narratives and, especially, when the two women finally get close to one another.
Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for the advance reader copy of Thirst in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The novel is divided into two parts: the vampire's perspective & the perspective of her eventual liberator, Alma. Both women are complex, sensual, and occupied by death. I enjoyed each of their narratives and, especially, when the two women finally get close to one another.
Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for the advance reader copy of Thirst in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
herelieshenry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
In the interest of full disclosure, this review is specifically regarding a DRC copy of the book from Net Galley, so while I imagine this eBook was pretty close to finalized, some details may have been changed between my copy and the official release.
I would recommend this book to people with an interest in fresh takes on the vampire novel or anyone with an interest in the Death Positivity movement. It has a lot of interesting perspectives on life, death, and the choice to live or die, and if someone isn’t squeamish to those discussions, I definitely think this is a book worth picking up. The strongest aspect at play is the author’s stellar use of themes and imagery. The weakest is, in my opinion, the abruptness of the ending. I think it ended at the perfect point in the story, but the scene itself could have used some added exposition for the sake of clarity. All that being said, I’m very curious to read more of the author’s work when translated in the future.
This book is incredibly thematically rich. Themes of grief, motherhood, the dynamic of parenting vs being parented, and the complexities of choice are strong in this novel, effortlessly woven into the narrative. The overarching plot is meticulously crafted. It’s very tight and, for the most part, tied up neatly with a bow at the end. The secondary narrative, wherein the Part II narrator is grappling with her mother’s terminal illness and the complex emotions alongside it, is well-incorporated into the story. The family dynamics in the second half of the novel were striking, and I did shed tears multiple times over the complicated “grieving a loved one while they’re still alive” aspect of the inverted mother-daughter dynamic where the parent, in illness and old age, has become the parented.
The writing style is candid and compelling, overall very reasonable and appropriate for the story being told. Grammar and syntax were tidy and unencumbered, while word choice was direct and potent. Pacing was incredibly linear and straightforward, making it a quick and easy read. The use of description was skillfully executed: sparse in some parts and lush in others, almost always elegant. Imagery and metaphor were rich and gothic, peppered effectively throughout the prose. Overall, the prose is clean and elegant, occasionally grotesque and blunt in what it shows you but beautiful in its morbidity.
The structure at hand is interesting; instead of alternating point of view chapter-by-chapter, the point of view character changes only in the second half of the novel. Part II does away with chapters entirely, instead having a linear day-to-day structure. I think this choice was fresh and suitable for the novel. Beyond the two protagonists, the cast isn’t delved deeply into (though the mother of the Part II narrator and her son, Santiago, are very richly characterized) beyond what is necessary for the narrators to tell their story. I think this is a good example of a book where the extended cast is not the main focus and where not delving too deeply into them is a more effective choice. I think getting into the weeds of developing minor characters in this particular work would have bogged the story down and felt tedious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Racism, and Classism
Dental trauma