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ladynocturnal's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
A lackluster vampire novel that somehow makes the human character more interesting than the vampire. The characters were just not good enough to hold my attention and the story was disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt
softanimal's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Best book I've read so far this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
raisinreads's review against another edition
reflective
3.5
I had really high expectations for this based on the blurb and that it had basically all of my favorite tropes (vampires, sapphics, loneliness, yearning) but uh that's on me, my bad. it was okay. i do love vampires and people being gay though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt
nini23's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Murder
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
sarahweyand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
3.25
Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feedback are my own.
I love reading translated fiction whenever I can, and queer vampire horror seemed like a really fun place to start this year. I really, really liked the first 50% of this book. I found the atmosphere and characters to be compelling, and I wanted to know more about our protagonist. It felt like a vampire placed into a historical fiction novel. I enjoyed the setting in Buenos Aires as a place I hadn't read a lot of in fiction and I was ready to give this book four or so stars.
And then we get to halfway-ish through the novella, where the time and point of view change drastically and the book becomes much more of a literary drama. Unfortunately, I couldn't really bring myself to care about a new set of characters and their problems when I had been so interested in the other ones. I understand how everything ties together, but it just wasn't my favorite.
I love reading translated fiction whenever I can, and queer vampire horror seemed like a really fun place to start this year. I really, really liked the first 50% of this book. I found the atmosphere and characters to be compelling, and I wanted to know more about our protagonist. It felt like a vampire placed into a historical fiction novel. I enjoyed the setting in Buenos Aires as a place I hadn't read a lot of in fiction and I was ready to give this book four or so stars.
And then we get to halfway-ish through the novella, where the time and point of view change drastically and the book becomes much more of a literary drama. Unfortunately, I couldn't really bring myself to care about a new set of characters and their problems when I had been so interested in the other ones. I understand how everything ties together, but it just wasn't my favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement and Suicide attempt
sophia_mt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
“Every horror has a moment when it glistens; after that, it's just sad.”
Thirst is structured in two parts, the first a chaptered account of a girl turned vampire against her will, her persecution starting in Europe, and her flight to Buenos Aires. These chapters are compelling, gory, and full of lust, as she tries to balance her overwhelming desire with survival.
The second part of the story is formatted as diary entries from a woman, Alma, in the process of accepting her mother’s illness and explaining it to her young son. Surprisingly, I felt more drawn into this part of the book. Yuszczuk’s descriptions of grief were poignant and heartbreaking. I felt so connected to this heroine and her struggles with loneliness and fear.
The two women’s paths converge in present-day Buenos Aires, seemingly very late in the book, and they find themselves drawn to one another. This is where I feel I disconnected with the story. The tone felt more melancholy than tense or thrilling, and rather than getting a ‘Killing Eve’ vibe between these women, I felt more mournful for Alma’s story.
All said, this book is beautifully written and has interesting reflections on mortality, motherhood, and desire. If the premise interests you, I recommend checking it out.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
readingwithsierra's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
This was the femme vampire story I have been waiting ages for. I really enjoyed this book and the author’s writing style, it felt very immersive and was super entertaining to read.
This book is told from two timelines with two POVs, and each POV highlights the pain, loneliness and anger each woman felt. The two story lines do come together eventually and it was really fun to see how it would play out, especially as a reader knowing the background information from the first part of the book.
I will say the tone shifted immensely between the two storylines and could have benefited from a dual storyline told alongside each other. Reading the first half of the book kind of set the tone that I would be reading a vampire novel about how she survived centuries as a monster, but then we get to the second half of the story that felt very anticlimactic and a little disjointed. Both women are dealing with massive amounts of grief and telling their story’s alongside each other could have built up the climax a bit more.
Overall, I thought this was pretty good. I love vampires, I love lesbians, and I love unhinged women, what more could you want?
Thank you NetGalley and Dutton (Penguin Group) for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is told from two timelines with two POVs, and each POV highlights the pain, loneliness and anger each woman felt. The two story lines do come together eventually and it was really fun to see how it would play out, especially as a reader knowing the background information from the first part of the book.
I will say the tone shifted immensely between the two storylines and could have benefited from a dual storyline told alongside each other. Reading the first half of the book kind of set the tone that I would be reading a vampire novel about how she survived centuries as a monster, but then we get to the second half of the story that felt very anticlimactic and a little disjointed. Both women are dealing with massive amounts of grief and telling their story’s alongside each other could have built up the climax a bit more.
Overall, I thought this was pretty good. I love vampires, I love lesbians, and I love unhinged women, what more could you want?
Thank you NetGalley and Dutton (Penguin Group) for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Murder
not_another_ana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Es solo la carne la que conoce el horror; los huesos, cuando están limpios, bien podrían ser fósiles, pedazos de madera, objeto de curiosidad. Pero la carne es lo que me desvela estos días.
Hay una vampira suelta en la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Acecha de día y de noche, sedienta, en busca de su próxima víctima. A través de sus ojos podemos ver el desarrollo de esta ciudad desde el siglo XIX en adelante y lo pesado y solitario que es ser inmortal. En la otra mitad del libro una mujer argentina del siglo XXI se pasea por el cementerio de la Recoleta y entra en contacto con este ser sobrenatural.
He visto otras reseñas donde se critica la estructura de este libro y estoy 100% de acuerdo. La primera parte está dedicada solo a la vampiresa y su historia. El cómo, cuándo y por qué. Es además una novela histórica, traslandándonos a las calles de una Buenos Aires que apenas comenzaba y por un evento histórico importante como lo fue la epidemia de fiebre amarilla en 1871. Disfruté la narración pero la trama en sí no me pareció original, al menos en cuanto a ficción sobre vampiros. Ya hacia el final le agarré más cariño solo para que terminara esta historia y me aventaran al siglo XXI.
La segunda mitad ya transcurre en la actualidad y es contada por otro personaje. Esta parte es la más débil de la obra y creo que es porque le pone un freno a la trama anterior. Pasamos de una historia más emocionante, de una narradora sobrehumana, a un tema más terrenal y humano. En la segunda mitad esta nueva protagonista está lideando con la salud de su mamá y su futura muerte. La madre padece una enfermedad degenerativa que le está robando la movilidad y que pronto la llevará a la tumba. Es un drama más sutil, más interpersonal y emocional. Creo que por separado las dos historia me hubieran gustado más, una enfocada en los vampiros y otra en el duelo.
Eventualmente las dos mujeres se conocen pero ya para ese momento no estaba tan interesada en la conexión que compartian. Me pareció apresurado el final y nunca sentí que de verdad existiera algo entre las dos que las llevara a tomar las decisiones que nos presenta la narración.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
pil4r's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
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