5 out of 5

After not being able to pick up a book for four months, this was the perfect read to remind me how much I love books. From the very first page it sank it’s teeth and hooked me in (pun intended). Grady Hendrix has such an appealing style of writing that is equally terrifying and comedic. The whole experience from beginning to end was so enjoyable!

There’s so many themes being explored here, from sexism to racism to self-liberation. I find it fascinating how till this day vampires have been seen as a representation of deep desires, which Hendrix definitely plays into in the plot. While the vampire did have a critical role in the plot, in my point of view, it was more of a means to an end rather than the major issue that the main character was struggling with personally.

I would classify the horror elements more as gore and psychological. Two scenes in particular made me either have to take a break because of how disgusted I was or because I was fuming with anger. When a book is able to give me such a visceral reaction, I definitely think the author did their job well as a storyteller. But if you are sensitive to these type of things I would recommend checking out trigger warning just in case.

I really had such a fun time each time I picked it up to read. I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed it overall. This is also the first book in the book club I joined, which the irony of it all makes me giggle