I really wanted to love Vampire Weekend. The premise is wonderful: a middle-aged vampire and punk rocker who just wants to join a band. There's a lot of comedy and pathos to be mined in the "normal person vampire" story. And, in the beginning of the novel, Mike Chen does present these very interesting ideas about vampires as a race, and vampirism as a way of dealing with the finality of death (especially in light of COVID, which is mentioned in the novel -- definitely the first time I've seen COVID in a vampire novel!). I also was intrigued by his take on a Chinese-American vampire and excited to see how this might influence the story.

Unfortunately, Vampire Weekend is just boring. There's a lot of exposition, a lot of repetition, and those intriguing themes I mentioned? They never get explored with any depth.

But that's okay, maybe the plot will make up for that? I have bad news on that front. There are hints that there will be a big conspiracy or twist that never materializes.

Ultimately, Vampire Weekend is a story of family and acceptance with a side of comedy, but it takes much too long to get where it's going, and is often hampered by its own mythology.

I feel awful giving this review, both because the premise of Vampire Weekend is excellent, and because in the acknowledgments, Mike Chen seemed so very excited about this book, but in the end, I need to be honest and say that the novel was a disappointing read for me.

Thank you, MIRA, for allowing me to read Vampire Weekend early!

This book was lots of fun in novel form. I didn't stop reading for a second once I started.