Book Review: ‘So Thirsty’ by Rachel Harrison (feminist vampire horror)
The second I saw the cover of Rachel Harrison’s ‘So Thirsty’, I knew I needed to read it and that it would be for me. Feeling rather smug about it because I was 100% correct - I loved it.
I am still on the vampire hype train, I never left it, and I’m so glad they’re coming back into vogue with a more traditional darker, more sinister edge and with a whole lot of social and feminist commentary. I love me a vampire romance, but vampires can represent and interrogate so many big ideas and constructs that I’m glad that the potential is really being dug into in this new wave of vampires.
A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today-bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.
Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn't need a reminder she's getting older, or that she's feeling indifferent about her own life. Her husband surprises her with a birthday-weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane's longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi. Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she'd rather not confront, like her husband's repeated infidelity.
But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane's and Naomi's lives literally forever. The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it's never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.
Female friendship? Check. Vampires? Check.
This novel is a love letter to female friendship, but not just the rose-tinted Instagram version of female friendship - the real stuff. Sloane and Naomi have been friends since they were teenagers - over 20 years ago - and they have changed, and so has their relationship, but they love each other unconditionally. Even when they sometimes hate each other, sometimes resent each other, and don’t agree with the other’s choices.
The tension between Sloane and Naomi throughout the entire novel feels so tangible and the tension carries across. With Naomi being so unpredictable and Sloane being so repressed there was no way to see where the next chapter would take them, both before and after their turn.
Both women are unhappy with their lives - Naomi following her musician boyfriend around the world, abandoning her dreams to support his; and Sloane is married to a man who keeps cheating on her, but she stays because it’s comfortable and predictable - and unwilling to do anything about it until they are forced to when a party turns deadly. The way they grapple with their dissatisfaction with their lives and themselves is really raw and messy and honest, ‘So Thirsty’ isn’t a romanticised look at female friendship and modern life in your mid-30s.
“I don’t really desire my life, but I’m reluctant to leave it. There’s comfort in the mundane, safety in the routine. In waking up and knowing exactly what my day will look like.”
There’s a lot of quotes like this that were a real gut punch and I related to Sloane a lot, which is probably not something that I should admit.
Along with the exploration of female friendship, there’s also a criticism of female experience in our society.
“My worldview, my rules, my morality were all constructed as a cage for my shame, shame forged by forces outside of myself.”
There’s the obvious ways that Sloane and Naomi come face to face with predators, abusers and violence against women, but there’s also the more subtle violences of being called ‘crazy’ when expressing emotions or raising issues with someone meant to be a partner, the world being built for couples in every way, and the preconception that you should be happy with what you’ve been given. It’s subtle and thought-provoking, but to everyone who’s lived in our society as female-presenting then they’ll be very familiar.
‘So Thirsty’ is a dark, thought-provoking, and thrilling read that’s perfect for spooky season. It delivered everything I wanted from a vampire book and I’m glad that Harrison has a backlist for me to dive into.
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan for the review copy.
‘So Thirsty’ by Rachel Harrison is released in paperback and e-book in the UK by Titan Books on 10 September 2024.
Written by Sophie
