Reviews tagging 'Death'

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

21 reviews

batbaby's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

I devoured the first half of this book in one sitting with thunderstorm sounds and gothic classical music in the background and it really matched the vibe.We follow a vampire for a few decades and watch how the city of Buenos Ares grows and changes in that time. I loved how dark the story felt and anytime you might be foolish enough to think the vampire had changed and maybe had a bit of humanity she’d prove to you the monster she was. There’s a point where the vampire doesn’t know how much time has passed and the chapter doesn’t have a number, I thought that was really clever.

The second half was a little harder for me to get into at first but I still really enjoyed it. We follow a main character who is continually grieving as her mother slowly succumbs to a degenerative disease. She becomes obsessed with things and ideas maybe in a way to distract herself from what’s really going on. She spends a long time considering and worrying about a Pandora’s box that her mother tells her not to open and her need to rebel against that. My only complaint is I that I wish the ending wasn’t so opened ended and we got a tiny bit more maybe even a page.

I just don’t understand how she could abandon Santiago like that when the majority of the book we see how infatuated she is with him.

This book looks at the complexities of identity and humanity when facing death and grief.

#ad I received this book for free as an arc but the opinions are entirely my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mhartford's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

The first half was a little slow; the second half moved quickly, and kept me turning pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

ashworks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

A much more somber and literary treatment of a vampire novel. This book spends a great deal of time contemplating death and two different characters' relationships with death. Fits squarely in that "makes me sit with myself for a little while" camp that is hard to rate and pinpoint at a star rating, but I'm marking 3.75 for now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Medical content

lexcellent's review against another edition

dark fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

rheagoveas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood

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

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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.

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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

bookishvicky's review against another edition

4.5

“We’re all standing at death’s door; someone has to be next in line”

THIRST was a beautiful novel about death and wanting, about mourning and identity versus an ever changing world. This unique take on the vampire genre was refreshing and wonderfully melancholic, yet animalistic to its core. Even as a vampire, she remains flawed, scared, lonely, emotions we see reflected in Alma, a human mother watching her own mother slowly fade from life. 

I adored this book; while I did think the plot slowed down toward the end, the overall story was more than enough to keep me interested. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for a new take on vampires! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

veridae's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail