by Rachel Harrison

“Sometimes, to pull you out of a rut, your bestie gets you drunk. Other times, she gets you turned into a vampire.”

— Initial Book Reaction

Meter Ratings

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Meter Ratings 〰️

Overall Book Vibes:

Immaculate

Trigger Warnings:

Gore, death, unfaithfulness, sexual content

Summary

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Summary 〰️

Meet Sloane. Sloane is not so much happy in her life as she is complacent because, let’s be honest, things are wildly mediocre. She has her house. She has her secure job. She has her husband who swore her would never cheat on her again after the last…couple times. And everything is held in place by her anxiety that this as-good-as-it-can-get life she built could get ripped away. She is highly aware that she is not getting any younger, and life could be way worse.

Now, meet Sloane’s BFF, Naomi. Naomi travels the world with her boyfriend and his successful band. She throws herself fully into life in the most chaotic of ways. Basically, Naomi is the opposite of Sloane. It seems that the only thing they have in common is that they both have their idea of a ‘dream mall,’ but they’ve been through so much together, and been friends for so long, that they’re in this friendship for the long haul.

So, when Sloane’s husband gives her the birthday surprise of a weekend getaway, Sloane kinda has to go. Despite dreading her birthday, alongside the clear signs of getting older that draw stark lines across her face, she figures it could be nice to have a weekend of fluffy bathrobes and endless wine.

Little does she know that Naomi plans to use her chaos to force the small box Sloane has shoved her life into wide open.

What starts as a wild night for them both ends in both of their lives ending and extending at the same time Through bites and blood, Sloane and Naomi must find a way to navigate their friendship, and the rest of their lives, through a new normal of seductive strangers, gory gas stations, and lots and lots of thirst.

My Review

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My Review 〰️

I don’t know what I was expecting when I cracked this book open, but it certainly was not to be entirely bewitched. I’ll be honest – I went to meet Rachel Harrison at an author event that my friend invited me to. I had never read her work, but I figured another vampire book during spooky season couldn’t hurt! And suddenly I found myself tumbling down this rabbit hold of existential crises about ageing, sexuality, and friendship.

At its core, this book isn’t about becoming undead. It’s about expanding life.

The writing is what first drew me in. Harrison has a way of writing prose that are descriptive and lush enough that you can picture the scene in real time. We are dropped right into Sloane’s head at the beginning, and I truly felt like she and I were a part of each other through the book’s duration.

The themes were what sucked me in next. The one that struck me the most was the unease of getting older. The way this book talks about ageing into a life you don’t love is jarring in how real it is. Sloane is 36. I’m 32. And this book had me questioning where the fearless girl from my early twenties went. I relate a little too well to Sloane’s comfort in the mundane and fear of stepping out of her routine. At one point, she says “I never noticed or cared about how old people were until suddenly everyone was younger than me” and I FELT THAT.

The other theme that kept me riveted was friendship. This book has vampires and gore and sex and death but, at its core, it is really a touching story about female friendship. I love how the relationship between Sloane and Naomi is raw and realistic. It isn’t perfect, nor is it easy to be tethered to another person who is so different from you. But this book shows that some female friendships run deeper than any romantic relationship ever could. It tells us that having that other person who knows you better than you know yourself, who has loved and will continue to love you through your worst times and worst decisions, can get two people through anything.

So Thirsty is a wonderfully refreshing take on vampires. I was amazed at all the emotions it took me through. I found myself falling for the group of mysterious, misfit strangers. Both Sloane and Naomi experience character growth throughout the book that is rich and refreshing. And that vampire orgy? Well, that’s just a bonus.

Overall Rating on my shelf: 5/5

Favorite Quotes

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Favorite Quotes 〰️

“We gift each other the freedom to gnash our teeth, to growl and gnaw. Behave badly. Be terrible. Because we’ll love each other through it and no one else will.”

— Page 39

“Time has etched itself into my face and made my own body a foe, fickle and unforgiving, more a cage than a vessel.”

— Page 95

“It’s easy to forget that the brave aren’t immune to fear. There’s nothing more terrifying than sitting across from the bravest person you know and watching fear slowly take them, drag them under, bully them, break them until they’re as scared as the rest of us.”

— Page 118

“Aging isn’t just about our bodies decaying while we’re still inside them. It’s about living with the accumulation of experiences. The heavy burden of the ugly ones, the longing for the beautiful.”

— Page 183