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A review by bebocarrick
Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I'll admit, this book is not what I was expecting. I was expecting more shock factor, but this book ended up pleasantly surprising me with a slower, thoughtful, and emotional exploration of life, hunger, and grief.
The first half of the book goes through the centuries that a nameless vampire woman has lived through, and her debilitating thirst for blood. I really enjoyed this portrayal of vampirism, with none of the weaknesses that most vampires fall prey to (sunlight, garlic, holy water, etc.) save for the need to keep the deaths hidden. I thought it was very interesting that this novel explored how much more difficult hiding her crimes got for the vampire after so many centuries.
The second half of the book follows a woman whose mother is slowly dying from a terminal illness and how she grieves this excruciatingly slow loss. I don't think I've ever read a book that dealt with the feelings associated with a slow decline, rather than a fast one, and this book showed those emotions so beautifully.
I really enjoyed the connection of the two storylines. I have seen other readers describe it as forced, but I found it to be quite beautiful and organic. The intertwining of these two storylines was clearly intricately plotted out.
All this to say, I greatly enjoyed this introspective, literary fiction take on the vampire story. I would love to see more vampire lit take this approach, and I eagerly await more novels by this author!
I'll admit, this book is not what I was expecting. I was expecting more shock factor, but this book ended up pleasantly surprising me with a slower, thoughtful, and emotional exploration of life, hunger, and grief.
The first half of the book goes through the centuries that a nameless vampire woman has lived through, and her debilitating thirst for blood. I really enjoyed this portrayal of vampirism, with none of the weaknesses that most vampires fall prey to (sunlight, garlic, holy water, etc.) save for the need to keep the deaths hidden. I thought it was very interesting that this novel explored how much more difficult hiding her crimes got for the vampire after so many centuries.
The second half of the book follows a woman whose mother is slowly dying from a terminal illness and how she grieves this excruciatingly slow loss. I don't think I've ever read a book that dealt with the feelings associated with a slow decline, rather than a fast one, and this book showed those emotions so beautifully.
I really enjoyed the connection of the two storylines. I have seen other readers describe it as forced, but I found it to be quite beautiful and organic. The intertwining of these two storylines was clearly intricately plotted out.
All this to say, I greatly enjoyed this introspective, literary fiction take on the vampire story. I would love to see more vampire lit take this approach, and I eagerly await more novels by this author!