I feel mixed on this book. The first half was deeply engrossing, and I loved getting the backstory of a female vampire - how she was created, and what her life was like. It was an interesting concept, and really showcased how she balanced her "monster" side with the parts of her that were still deeply human. The writing is gothic and dark and really evocative, I felt as though I could picture it easily.

The second half of this book dragged a bit for me. I did not enjoy switching to the present day, nor did I enjoy the new main character. It also felt as though there were unnecessary deviations from the story (I didn't need the dentist trip, unless it was to make certain later decisions more palatable haha). The present day story just didn't grip me in the way that the first half did. I did enjoy when some of the mystery was figured out, and characters came back into play.

I did enjoy this, but the back end sagged for me. However, it's a relatively short read, and I think it's worth reading as a solid horror entry.

- Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

- Overall Thoughts: This was a very solid book. Kudos to Heather Cleary for doing such a wonderful job translating the original to allow non-Spanish speakers the chance to read it! I quite enjoyed the first half of the book that focused on the vampire's story, and somewhat enjoyed parts of the second half that focused on the human protagonist. The story started off very compelling, but I will admit that there were elements to the second part that made me feel like I was dragging my feet waiting for something interesting to happen. It was borderline slice of life, with a splash of vampire. The story did have an impact, at times I found myself enthralled, at other times intrigued and disgusted. Definitely worth a read.

- Character(s): This is a dual perspective story split into two parts. The first part focuses on the vampire, the second part the human in present day. I found the vampire incredibly more fascinating to read about, and devoured the first half of the book. I was captivated and left wanting so much more of her story. I found myself feeling a lot of pity for the human, but over time found the day to day aspect of her story slow and daunting. It went from a fast paced, bloody and exotic story to a slice of life with a protagonist who is drowning in the sorrows of her mother's terminal illness. Not to sound apathetic, but the contrast was stark between the two parts and I found myself struggling with it at times. The motivations of the human were lost on me near the end, and I have a hard time feeling any sense of satisfaction towards the ending.

- World Building: Marina Yuszczuk does a wonderful job of bringing Buenos Aires to life in its historical setting as well as it's present. Her attention to detail and descriptions were not overwhelming, and felt like it had it's place. With the two different parts and perspectives, it helped to really solidify the impact that time and change has on the world around us each day.

- Voice: The overall voice in this story, writing and prose were absolutely stunning. I devoured every word even when I found parts of the story itself a bit dull and redundant simply because of the way that Yuszczuk writes. Beautiful, and almost lyrical I was entranced.

- Pacing: Pacing in the first half seemed fast (in a good way) due to how exciting it was to read. You never really knew what the vampire was going to do next. I was constantly at the edge of my seat just waiting to see what she would decide to do next. The second half was much slower, and that may have been a creative choice due to the mindset and experiences of the main character. From an artistic point of view, it worked. From a reader point of view, the contrast was almost too much to handle sometimes.

- Story: I do find myself incredibly dissatisfied with the final parts of the second half of the novel. The relationship between the human and the vampire seemed rushed, and came rather out of left field for me. I did appreciate certain decisions that were made by the human protagonist, but other choices she made were very confusing and seemed to lack any clear motivations.

- TLDR:

Pros:

- Absolutely gorgeous prose!
- Killer vampire lady!
- LGBTQ representation

Cons:

- Dull human character
- Rushed relationship, no real bridge between the first part and second part of the book
- Lack of clear motivations for human protagonist

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This novel was beautifully written and for that alone it deserves 5 stars. I loved getting the two perspectives throughout this story and how deeply you could feel the vampire’s (María even though I don’t think we ever get her real name) loneliness as she tries to fill the void left by her sisters and everything else she has lost. Once we meet Alma, we learn that she too is experiencing her own loneliness through the gradual loss of her mother. The two women somehow perfectly fill the void within each other (sexually and metaphorically).

I loved the eventual connection between the two of them and how Mario could never bring himself to get rid of her photo, passing it down through his descendants with her keys.

I do wish we got a bit more background on María’s “Maker” and were able to discover other vampires- though I suppose her never meeting another only contributes to her isolation and loneliness. I kept wondering if Alma’s mother knew what the keys would unlock and if that was why she warned her daughter to not use them.

TLDR this is a dark historical fiction/queer/feminist/vampire story, and if you’re intrigued by any of these things, you should absolutely check out Marina Yuszczuk’s US publishing debut.

4.25

Setting: Argentina
Rep: two sapphic protagonists

This is definitely a Weird Girl book and one that I'm sure fans of A Dowry of Blood will enjoy. A sapphic vampire book set in Argentina (written by an Argentinian author and translated). The translation is excellent - I often find translated books can be clunky or awkward but this wasn't. It's atmospheric and weird and I enjoyed both timelines - the one from the 1870s and the present day - and I only wish we got to see more of the two women together!

Marina Yuszczuk has beautiful prose and a lyrical sense of grief and loneliness. I'll admit that I was expecting THIRST to be much longer and perhaps a bit more fantastical, based on the descriptions I had read of the book. But I realize that I glossed over the most important adjectives offered by the published: Latin American Feminist Gothic. It really does remind me of classic gothic literature, and it is emerging out of a specific strain of Latin American feminist writing!

THIRST is a more restrained vampire story than I was expecting, but it is clearly written by someone with a strong sense of Buenos Aires as a place across centuries. I found it to be a book focused on the specific grief and loneliness of two women who stand apart from the women (and men) around them, who are looking for someone to act as mirror, confidante, other half.

I enjoyed this book, but I will admit that I am not a frequent reader of classic gothic literature. I think someone more familiar with the genre would have a lot to chew on here. If you, like me, aren't a huge gothic lit reader, I would still recommend picking up this book—it's a quick read, and it's such a treat to find a Latin American woman writer in translation, as here.

40/100 or 2.00 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this. The description was promising, and the beginning chapter was captivating. Unfortunately, it got less interesting as I read, and I almost DNF'd this book a few times. It has a great opening chapter. The ending was predictable but well written. The rest was disappointing. This was not bad story, but it was boring.

half historical fiction, half rumination on anticipatory grief, thirst is a beautiful and new take on the vampire genre. there was a slight disconnect between the two sections which i wish would’ve been bridged a bit more, but overall a quick and enjoyable read

Thirst was so good 😫

This is a translated sapphic literary vampire novel split in two parts.

In the first half we follow a vampire (who has been around since practically the beginning of time) mostly in Buenos Aires in the 1800s. Yellow fever has broken out and she has to figure out how to live in the city undetected.

The second half is set in modern day and follows a woman whose dying mother has passed on a key to an old crypt that she never knew existed.

I LOVED the first half, I was eating it up!! The historical setting was moody and engaging. The MC is so animalistic which had me on my toes because I never knew what she’d do next.

I was less enthralled with the second half as it felt more ordinary, but by the end it was worth it to see the two parts connect.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

Vampires??? Queer vampires??? Sold. This book delivered everything it promised and I was positively surprised by the translation! I absolutely recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! I really loved the first half of the book, told from the vampire’s perspective. The transition to present day was a little jarring and I didn’t enjoy the second half as much. The end was surprising and left you thinking.

Gothic sapphic vampires! need i say more?

thanks to netgalley and dutton for the arc!

the book is organized in two parts - the first is the story of a nineteenth century vampire who was created in europe and escapes to buenos aires as she tries to live in the shadows of society. and the second half is set in present day buenos aires of a woman who is dealing with her mother's terminal illness and the discovery of a mystery key which leads to a burial plot in a cemetery.

I really enjoyed this book, but I can't lie I wanted so much more. The way it was set up, it could have been a 500 page sweeping love story instead of a borderline novella. I thought both characters were so interesting and the way their paths cross was very swoony.

it was gothic look across buenos aires history which is not a typical setting for a vampire story (which are often very euro-centric) so I appreciated a fresh, new setting (to me).

Queer vampires IN A BOOK? I was hooked. A booktoker I follow recommended this book so I requested it and was not disappointed! Vampires are the in fantasy thing that will always have me hooked.

i wish i connected with this story! at times the prose was very beautiful, and i enjoyed the vampire's story. after the half way point the writing seemed to be rambling, and i thought it strayed from the plot for a bit, but i can't be sure if that's true because it might be the translation that altered the way i portrayed the story. i didn't understand how some storylines fit into the theme and the ending, and it might not be mine or the author's fault.

I had a weird time with this book. I enjoyed the first half of the book and could barely put it down. It didn’t feel like a translated novel to me which was interesting. It was very cool to see different historical events from the perspective of an unaffected party. Her portion was unexpectedly tragic and a searing expression of loneliness. The second half of the book was from the perspective of a human woman and her parts didn’t always work for me. She had moments of immense introspection and clarity but then much of her behavior didn’t line up with what I learned of her. The underlying themes of grief and loneliness from the human perspective was interesting and the parts related to her mother were raw and intense. But I found many parts of her day-to-day dragged on. Also her motivations toward the end of the book really confused me and I didn’t think they were well-explained. Overall I gave this book a 3.5 stars. Super cool concept and it’s interesting themes on who you can trust, grief, loss, and humanity but overall the execution felt wonky to me.

A vampire in sun drenched Buenas Aires? Intriguing from the get go. Sensual, lyrical and lush , this gothic vampire tale is definitely worth a read. A solid 3.5.

Recommended.

I had wanted to read this book for so long, but I never imagined I would love it this much. I'm not a big fan of vampire themes, but I found it to be an incredibly interesting story with a structure that keeps you hooked from start to finish. It's divided into two parts: my favorite was the first, where it narrates the perspective of a vampire who migrates and arrives in Buenos Aires in search of innocent victims to attack. What fascinated me the most was was connection and this sort of desperate longing to be fully one with another person. Highly recommend!

While this book was not for me, I don't think it was a bad book. I think for people looking for something of a dark romance that also includes themes of grief, gender roles, and the loss of self, this might be something they really enjoy. It seems I didn't understand the book's synopsis very well and simply picked up a book that was not likely to be my cup of tea.

After realizing this book was originally written in Spanish, I was a bit worried that the translation might've taken away from the quality of the writing, but I didn't find that to be the case. While of course I don't know, I got the impression that the English translation did a good job reflecting what Yuszczuk intended.

Additionally, I found the descriptions of Buenos Aires to be beautiful, and I could really get lost in those streets the same way the main characters do. The cemetery and old estates in particular drew me in best.

Again, this wasn't a great book for me personally, but I believe it will be a good book for many others. Thank you NetGalley and Dutton Books for granting me access to this ARC.

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk is a short book, but somehow is not a quick read. Told mostly by exposition, this novel is jam-packed with prose; lots of telling the reader what happened instead of showing, completely locking me out of submerging with the story and caring about the characters. There were maybe fifteen total lines of actual dialogue in this book, and most of the dialogue takes place in the second part of the novel, which could've been unique except this was the most boring book I've read this year so far.

The first part of the book reads as a series of journal entries from the most boring, repressed vampire of all time, who basically lives in constant fear of being exposed and avoids fostering connections with others. A lot of her behavior was impulsive and nonsensical, and I don't feel like Yuszczuk did a great job of convincing the reader that she was worth caring about. The second part draws together this vampire, who remains unnamed throughout the entire novel despite all the time you spend with her, to Alma, who is a single mother living in modern day, post the mandated masking leg of COVID, juggling raising a small boy with her mother who is dying of an unnamed illness.

I was drawn in by the description of this being a sapphic, Gothic, feminist vampire novel set in Argentina—I don't think I have ever read a vampire book based in South America—but it fell flat in so many areas. So many important things needed to take place to make this an enjoyable read, but when I finished the novel I very much felt like I'd just read a book of journal entries where absolutely nothing happened. There is no "why" for this story, there is nothing to grab onto, and it's a shame because the concept was so interesting.

Despite all that, there were some parts of this novel that were truly beautifully written—Yuszczuk is a skilled writer and even though this is a translated text, that skill shines through. However, this wasn't a horror, this wasn't a sapphic romance, and I was left feeling…nothing.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2 ⭐️s
2 🌶️s
Pub Date: 3/5/24

I have been wanting to make sure I read more translated works this year and what a great start. This book is hauntingly beautiful. The first part of the story is filled with thirst, loneliness, and grief. We are following our vampire from her creation in Europe and eventual travels to Buenos Aires. We live with her as she sees the changes in the city. Mainly focused on the yellow fever epidemic in the 1800's. Her knowledge that changes in the world may cause her to be caught or killed eventually leads her to locking herself away. The second half of the book picks up with Alma in present day Buenos Aires. She has people around her but loneliness also permeates her life. Her mother is dying from a terminal illness and only finds joy when she is able to spend time with her son. I loved the way it all came together in the end. I will be thinking about this book for a long time and will absolutely be preordering a physical copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A devastating look into desire and mortality, this quickly sucked me in, but ultimately left me wanting just a bit more...

Rating: 3/5 ✰

Summary:
I can't help but be drawn to vampire literature, especially when centered about women's experiences, so a sapphic vampire novel seemed right up my alley. The book is split into two parts and two perspectives, and I definitely tended to enjoy the vampire/historical parts more, not only because of my preferences but also because it just felt stronger. This isn't to say they aren't both well done - I think their themes tie in well with each other, and both characters have a unique, compelling voice that draws you in - but it was a bit difficult staying as interested in the mundane compared to the vampire's hypnotic, bloody backstory. This felt especially intense when their worlds finally collided, and it felt like everything interesting about the vampire herself became downplayed so they could just rush through to the ending.

Characters:
We started out from Alma's (the human) perspective, getting a glimpse into her life as a mother trying to be strong for her child while watching her own mom's health take a brutal downward slope. She struggles to find socially acceptable ways to cope with her grief in a society where death and suffering is seen as relatively taboo. It's easy to feel for her, and the details into her mother's health battle were incredibly difficult to read in their authenticity. Her story hit very close to home for me, so I really sympathized.

In the vampire's portion of the book, we get to see her move through time and evolve as a creature throughout the ages. Sometimes completely feral, sometimes completely civilized, she seemed to dance between the lines of being a sympathetic character and just a compulsive monster. This can especially be seen during the yellow fever period, which the author described perfectly in all it's devastating details. All the various side characters she met during that time were incredibly sympathetic as well; I honestly could've just stayed here for 100 more pages and been completely content.

Closing thoughts:
Overall, I loved the gothic atmosphere and thought this was a good representation of vampirism. Being able to see Buenos Aires change through the decades was definitely really interesting - especially since I didn't know that much about it before reading. I do wish the sapphic elements had been stronger though, especially later when their stories started to collide more. I expected more tension and depth, an intense meeting of minds both immersed in the macabre and consumed by the fragility of life, but instead it was mostly filled with uneasy silence and distance between them. This made their decision making together seem incredibly spontaneous and bizarre; I understand that vampires have an intense allure to those around them, but it really just didn't feel like they had sufficient time together for that sort of effect to happen yet.