I was very excited to read a Rachel Harrison vampire book, and this lived up to my hopes for it. It's insightful into female friendship, trust, settling, and relationships. I didn't find it too scary, but it is about vampires so... there are definitely some more gory moments.

3.5
I absolutely love everything Rachel Harrison writes, so I was really looking forward to this one.
I do feel like it falls short compared to her other novels in my own personal ranking.
I absolutely loved that Rachel Harrison decided to do a vampire story, but I feel like the main focus was on Sloane and Naomi’s friendship. I really didn’t connect to either of them, which is usually a huge element in her novels. I always see a bit of myself in them. However, I found both women so irritating. I almost couldn’t handle how much I disliked them and how infuriating their choices and actions were.
I appreciate what the story did and was trying to do, I just don’t think it worked for me as well as her other books have.

Thank you Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of So Thirsty in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second book I’ve read/listened to by Rachel Harrison and I am strangely enough – a fan?! I never would have thought that I’d be one to like books about vampires but there’s something so engaging and fun about Harrison’s books and I for sure will be adding the rest of her books to my tbr!

I love how the author explores some deep issues while giving us an entertaining story at the same time. Here we have two women in their 30s, trying to figure out just what that means. We also get a good look at friendship as a whole. These two women may be complete opposites, but they have a bond that carries them through thick and thin.

I loved the vampire lore that was part of this book. This was the area I was most concerned about not liking but it ended up working just fine for me – though I will say, there is blood, so be warned! I mean, the title says it all!!!

So Thirsty is my first book by Rachel Harrison, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. To my pleasant surprise, Harrison combines multiple genres in this unique take on a vampire story. While listed as horror, the story has a more subtle, low-key horror vibe. Of course, it's filled with bloody scenes, typical of vampire stories, but it also incorporates elements of women’s fiction, romance, and a delightful friendship dynamic reminiscent of Thelma and Louise.

Sloane and Naomi are not exactly likable characters. Sloane tends to wallow in self-pity, while Naomi comes across as immature for her age. However, their unwavering loyalty to each other is admirable. I enjoyed the vampire gang; Ilie is particularly entertaining. That being said, I felt that their backgrounds could have been developed more thoroughly.

Brittany Pressley narrates the audiobook. Her narrations have always been a big hit for me. She includes multiple accents and a bit of an introspective tone for Sloane, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend this format!

4 stars. Fact paced and dark thriller. If I’m being honest, I think I may need to read it again because there was a lot going on but made me really enjoy the paranormal aspect, which isn’t usually what I gravitate towards.

Rachel Harrison has done a great job of making her mark in horror with stories that tend to be women centered and take on feminist issues while also bringing on the scares. I was eagerly waiting for her to take on the vampire sub-genre, as she had done fun things with witches and werewolves, so I was very excited for SO THIRSTY. And it was another fun book! I enjoyed the complicated friendship between Sloane and Naomi, with Sloane being more cautious and Naomi being for free wheeling (which leads to their lives being changed forever when they become tangled up with some vampires), and the tension that arises between them no matter how much they really do love each other. I also liked the idea of a new beginning for a woman who has become perhaps too comfortable with a life that she doesn't REALLY want but is nervous to leave. I also liked the vampires in this book, they had interesting mythos and were also entertaining as heck. Another fun horror tale!

Look who's back

Back again

Rachel Harrison, is back

tell a friend.

Like what I did there? Sometimes I think i'm clever but i'm sure i'm just corny.

So Thirsty

This book is what nightmares are made of.

Let's just take a minute to admire this cover. I mean it's Harrison, did you expect anything less?

Ive been a huge fan of Harrison's since I first picked up Black Sheep, my love only grew as I finished Such Sharp Teeth but then came, So Thirsty, and my little black heart is quite literally swooning with joy.

So Thirsty, is not your typical thriller, this is much more than a couple of weeks of "over the shoulder glances" . This is a book that once you conclude, you will never stop thinking about it... EVER


Check out this teaser :

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.

Fall is upon us and what better way to welcome it than by reading something paranormal? If you’re like me, and you enjoy a modern twist on the classic vampire tale, then So Thirsty is for you. It’s a sort of coming-of-age story between 2 lifelong friends, who were forced to confront their midlife issues when they became Undead. I really liked how the author explored the essence of being a woman in their 30s. Aside from the feminist aspect, I also enjoyed the deep friendship that Sloane and Naomi had. I didn’t care for their lovelives or the other characters, but I was deeply invested in their ride-or-die loyalty to each other. I wished the story was longer and didn’t end abruptly. But overall, it was a delightful read for me. Thanks to @berkleypub for providing me a digital ARC.

Rachel Harrison is a new to me author and I’ve circled around her books for a while now. I will admit that a story about best friends turned bloodthirsty vampires appealed to me, which is why I finally hit that request button when it came up for review.

This is the story of two best friends, complete opposites in every way, who get caught up in a terrifying situation. Sloane Parker is a woman who lives a mundane life, settled into her comfortable domestic existence, turning a blind eye to her husband’s affairs, and worried about her aging body. Her best friend Naomi is wild and untamed, working for her rockstar boyfriend’s band, she travels the world and lives free and unencumbered.

For her upcoming birthday Sloane’s husband gifts her a long weekend away with her BFF at a resort out of town. Sloane can’t decide whether this is a ruse to get her out of the house or a genuine gift. But she’ll take the time away with Naomi. The resort is nice, and they reconnect immediately. Then at a bar on a night out Naomi meets an intriguing man who invites them to a party the very next evening, and despite Sloane’s misgivings, they go. That’s when everything goes to hell.

First let me say, I read this book cover to cover in a little over five hours. I literally could not put it down. This is a book about friendship, loyalty, letting go of the past and accepting your future. Think Thelma and Louise but make it vampires. There is a hint of romance, lots and lots of blood and gore, and two friends who love each other, but are having a hard time adjusting to their new normal. And their new dietary needs.

I really enjoyed Sloane and Naomi’s friendship, which never wavers despite the circumstances. The story is faced paced, full of terrifying, yet exciting moments and a cast of characters that spice up the pages. Even the ending appealed to me. I kind of expected something drearier, so I was happily surprised at how it all wrapped up.

Overall, So Thirsty was a bloody, gory, yet fun read. As soon as I finished, I immediately decided to dive into this author’s backlist. I would recommend for fans of the genre or someone looking for something different for Halloween.

#SoThirsty:⁣
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Thanks for the free audiobook @prhaudio #PRHAudioPartner ⁣
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“To exist is to participate in destruction.”⁣
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I saw Brittany Pressley was the reader so immediately I had to get the audio. There’s no way I’m passing up a vampire Brittany Pressley audiobook. Not in this economy. ⁣
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Honestly, the only thing I can think of to describe this book is: holy shit. It’s full of action, adventure, debauchery, horrible exes…i I mean there’s so much in a book that has less than 300 pages and i ate it up. I finished this book in one day because it was phenomenal. ⁣
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The dynamic between Sloane and Naomi was so good. They have an old tried and true relationship, to where you’ve never can outgrow it. They’ve seen you at your worst, and best, and it was beautifully written. Their banter was equally hilarious, and I was laughing, which is what I really needed last week. ⁣
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I want to make all the punny things like “it was delicious read, I drank it up” “it quenched my thirst from my book hangover” but I’ll just leave it with I needed this book and it truly delivered. ⁣
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Out tomorrow, Sept. 10th, but it is an @aardvarkbookclub pick, and so beautiful in person.⁣
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QOTD: name an iconic duo, or what you’re having for dinner.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley and Ms. Harrison for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. I'm new to Ms. Harrison although I've had my eye on Black Sheep for a while.

Sloane is a tired, restless, underwhelmed woman of 30something (36?) who is starting to feel age creep up and has for some time felt unsatisfied with her husband (whom she has caught cheating twice). Said husband plans a birthday surprise for Sloane that involves a girls' trip with her best friend Naomi, currently touring Europe with her boyfriend's band, which Sloane finds suspicious for multiple reasons. Naomi and Sloane have known each other since school days and are literally polar opposites: Sloane picks the staid, safe, conservative route, whereas Naomi is the wildest of all wild women.

At the girl's retreat, Naomi talks Sloane into going to a house party with strangers that is not what it appears, with some pretty long-lasting consequences: the two women are now vampires. (This is NOT a spoiler.) The rest of the book is split between Naomi and Sloane learning to handle their new craving for blood, and Naomi and Sloane resenting each other. When they were human, I really liked both Sloane and Naomi as characters; they both seemed vulnerable and prickly and relatable to me as a woman of (sort of) similar age. They both struggle with answering the questions: have I got what I hoped for out of life? Am I where I wanted to be? And with WHOM I want to be? Is this the best I can hope for, or is there more? … I feel like these questions basically reflect a general human experience, especially for women, and I felt so invested in both characters finding their answers.

Then they turn into vampires, and everything goes upside down. Now, Sloane and Naomi are consumed with their craving (basically, they’ve been turned into blood junkies) and both are filled with resentment towards each other. Naomi seems to feel that Sloane is a buzzkill, a downer, too stuck in her rut to embrace change and opportunity. Sloane feels that Naomi is reckless, selfish, impulsive and rash, and blames Naomi entirely for the predicament they’re in. Their entire longstanding friendship seemed to erode and turn toxic as soon as they weren’t human anymore. As invested as I was in the story overall, I began to really dislike the characters: Sloane’s wallowing and festering resentment was repellent, and Naomi’s obliviousness and impulsivity even more so. The other vampires’ involvement felt very tangential to the story, which really seemed to focus on Sloane and Naomi: a toxic, vampiric Thelma and Louise.

Despite souring on the characters in the second half, I really enjoyed the book. It was a fun ride and I actually really liked the characters even as I disliked them. I wanted to see what would happen, if the two of them would drive off the proverbial cliff, or if they would lean into their new (eternal) life as vampires. I will definitely check out more by this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rachel Harrison is an instant read author for me. Her books are horror which I never read but she has such great characters, humor, wit, and the right amount of camp injected into each one that I’m always hooked! This one was no exception. I loved the friendship in this one and how messy/real the dynamic felt. I also loved that this was a new vampire genre—no twilight here. It felt new and fun and is the perf book for spooky season.

Is it even spooky season without a new Rachel Harrison book? Fall has become synonymous with a new release, and I eagerly look forward to the latest in her fun, spooky lineup. I think I say this every time, but So Thirsty is my favorite yet. What woman can't identify with Sloane as she gets older and falls into a rut? I mean, she loves her Dyson vacuum nearly as much as I do. Or maybe you can identify with the more impulsive Naomi, but, either way, I hope everyone has been fortunate enough to have a friend like they are to each other. When things get crazy and life takes a turn they weren't expected, that's when So Thirsty gets really interesting, and I was there for every bloody minute of it. While I say "every bloody minute". (because...vampires), and it's technically listed as horror, it's not gory. It's the perfect mix of snark, spook, and sisterhood.

I've always loved Rachel Harrison's approach to horror writing. It's eerie, it's chilling, but it's also fun to read her because her writing sparkles! So Thirsty is no exception. There's horror and heartbreak in this one to be sure, but there are also many laugh out loud moments too. The main character, Sloane is dealing with the dissolution of her marriage to a serial cheater. She's on a birthday getaway with her childhood best friend, Naomi, to a Winter Resort where they hope to reconnect and have a wild girl's weekend away. They meet up with a group of international jet setters in a bar and agree to get together the next night to party. That's where the whole thing takes off onto an odyssey of learning not only how to survive, while letting others survive, but also how to transcend. The journey is dotted with all sorts of interesting and harrowing situations, but also charming, if homicidally so, characters who have centuries of wisdom they want to share. Harrison masterfully blends horror and humor into a book that will have you chilled in parts, and laughing out loud in others. Her dry humor and descriptions of situations are wonderful and refreshing in a horror book. I've loved every book of hers I've ever read, and this one is no exception! Treat yourself to this wonderful spin on a vampire tale!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Berkley for this arc!

This book in one word; delicious. Just delicious for my reader brain. I mean, the cover in and of itself was a standout, but with a fantastic story within? How could I not be in love. Sloan was such a fantastic character study - the fear of aging, being undesirable and growing out of love was so present on the page that just being in her brain felt like a treasure. And of course, the horror elements were just out of this world good, ESPECIALLY as we approach true spooky season.

Sloane is trudging through life and just going through the motions. Her husband surprises her with a trip for her birthday but not with him. Instead it’s a girls weekend with her trouble making best friend Naomi. When Naomi plans a night out with some strangers their lives are changed forever.

I’m not generally into vampires but this was a fun, crazy, bloody good time. It’s a fast paced, entertaining book with Sloane finally trying to just live and do what makes her happy. The cast of characters were interesting and likable and unique. There are some horror elements and some gore and it’s a great choice for spooky season.

Rachel Harrison does it again! I was a huge fan of Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth, so I knew I had to get my hands on this one! She has such a masterful way of blending the right amount of weird with the paranormal and a dash of all the feel good emotions! If you love vampires, female friendships, feminine rage, and a fun and twisty time pick this one up immediately!

Publishing 9/10/24

Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this book! This was my second Harrison novel after reading Black Sheep and I absolutely loved it.

So Thirsty is a vampire novel, but it is so much more than that. Harrison provides a fresh take on the vampire genre, subverting the usual vampire lore while still paying homage to the genre. At the heart of this novel, though, is the friendship between Sloane and her friend Naomi, after what starts as a fun night celebrating Sloane’s birthday irrevocably changes them.

So Thirsty examines life and friendship and how one’s desires shift and change through life. Most importantly, it is about making changes for yourself and taking ownership of your life. Harrison’s tight prose and witty humor plays well with the dark themes in this book.

This one gets a strong recommendation from me, especially if you are looking for a fast, first-person, plot/character hybrid with a fun twist on the vampire genre. If you enjoyed her previous novel, Black Sheep, I think you’ll enjoy this one, too.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC!

Synopsis:

Sloane believes she’s content with her uneventful life. She has a nice home, a high-end vacuum, and a sweet little peach tree growing in her yard. Why would she ever want to change that? When her husband sends her on a girls' getaway weekend, Sloane is reluctant to go but excited to reconnect with her BFF Naomi. Sloane pictures a weekend filled with wine and cozy robes, but Naomi has other plans. Naomi thinks Sloane is drowning in her boring life and wants her to have some fun. Only her idea of “fun” involves a secluded house party and a group of sexy strangers. Sloane and Naomi may not agree on the same definition of fun, but one thing they will agree on is that this birthday weekend is going to be a weekend they remember for eternity.

My Thoughts:

This was a fun read about friendship, love, found family, and vampires. At times, there’s a bit of a Thelma and Louise vibe, which I enjoyed. The characters are all fantastic. I found Sloane relatable but also a little frustrating. She’s someone who mistakes comfort/security for happiness, and even when true happiness presents itself, she clings to what she already has, too afraid to embrace what she really wants. I think I saw myself a little too clearly in this character, and that frustration I was feeling was really frustration at myself, but I digress. 😅

I’m not a big fan of romance in general, but I did root for the two love birds in this story to get together. There are a few spicy scenes. Spice isn’t really my thing either, but I thought it was done well and fit the story. For me, the best part was Sloane and Naomi’s friendship. Both women are headstrong, and they clash at times, but it’s obvious how much they care for each other. Best friends for eternity. Blood sisters for life.

✅ Recommend

My favorite voice in feminist horror, Rachel Harrison, returns with a novel to sink your teeth into! As you might have guessed, So Thirsty follows the lives of Sloane and Naomi, two seemingly opposite best friends, who are turned into vampires after a weekend getaway turns bloody. Following their transformation, they join a rag tag team keen on showing them the ropes of their newfangled immortality, but guilt and thirst are a powerful thing, and Sloane and Naomi will have to figure out how to live with both.

Thematically, So Thirsty could be a companion novel with Harrison’s previous release, Such Sharp Teeth (a dissection of the female werewolf experience). In this book, Harrison analyzes the practicalities of vampiric life. She dives into the logistics of how vampires can ethically aquire sustenance, if it’s possible to lay down roots during an immortal lifespan, and how the bloodthirsty grapple with survival vs conscience. We as readers are asked to speculate what makes a victim and what makes a monster, or is there an in-between where the two can coexist?

There is also the fleeting nature of youth, and the longing to remain in unencumbered juvenility. The desire for everlasting youth is something many of us can relate to, but how would our outlooks change if we were granted such a wish? There is a beauty in aging. A beauty that only experience and growth can offer. Harrison brings this dilemma forth by showcasing Sloane’s reluctance for immortality despite her earlier detestation of celebrating her birthday.

The above themes are driven home through Sloane and Naomi’s friendship and the fundamental differences between both women. Sloane, the former self-destructive party girl turned complacent housewife, and Naomi, the nomadic wild child, are at two different stages of life. Watching them wrestle with their newfound fate and forge a path that complies with their diverging lifestyles was interesting to behold. Female relationships are near and dear to my heart and I enjoyed discovering how these childhood friends adapted to their circumstances as they slowly uncovered changes in each other.

So Thirsty is a fast-paced paranormal read that will keep readers flipping pages. I was so engrossed that I finished it in two quick sittings. Rachel Harrison has become one of my favorite literary voices and it’s always exciting to devour and analyze her work.

Many thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.