Oh, I do like Rachel Harrison’s angry women. When I read her books, I feel like I want to know these women in real life and I really, really find myself rooting for them.

It’s definitely a good and, at times, gruesome read.

There’s a good mixture of humor and edge and I felt like I’d been taken on an adventure.

I will say that I felt a little cheated because there was a certain character who need a little comeuppance and I felt like they’d been forgotten. I kept waiting for our MC to pay this character a little visit, like HONEY, I’M HOME, but got nothing.

Otherwise, though, it was a great read and I want another book, please!

• ARC via Publisher

This was my first book that I have read by Rachel Harrison and it definitely won’t be the last. Her writing style was so smooth and addictive that I found myself unable to stop flipping the pages. I adored this book and the found family aspect that was written so beautifully.

I adored the friendship of Sloane and Naomi. Their banter was amazing and I had moments where I literally laughed out loud. I found myself relating to Sloane more than I’d like to admit.

This book had the perfect amount of horror, comedy, and a little bit of romance. I will definitely recommend.

Rachel Harrison is magic. She's cornered the market on writing supernatural horror with female main characters, and supporting characters, that are so relatable. Weird things happen and no one ever panics, they just go, "Well. Shit." and handle it in realistic ways. She writes with humor and heart and every book she releases is stellar.

Look, I love Harrison's books. She is an auto-read (and purchase) for me and I recommend her books to any and all horror fans. Lots of spoilers ahead, sorry. So Thirsty was such a disappointment and it pains me to write that. Harrison often writes about female friendships and it's usually a strength of hers but this friendship is toxic garbage.

I hate Naomi so, so much. She's selfish, careless, and has no impulse control and once she becomes a vampire she's even worse. I have friends that have been my best friends for over 20 years and I would never, never want to participate with them or see them participate in an orgy. Just kill me instead. So inappropriate and bizarre. And Henry instantly falls for Sloane. Why? Because she's so clearly a doormat? Not sexy. She also has ZERO personality. This vampire group isn't even cool! They're homeless, broke misfits--in what universe is that appealing? How is that preferable to a life of not drinking blood?! How do you live hundreds of years and not figure out a way to have wealth?! Oh, but these are ethical vampires. They drink blood from blood banks; that they steal from! And they sure as shit do plenty of killing mostly because Naomi is a child. The section with Alice was interesting--the most interesting part--but I was so disgusted with these characters and the plot at this point if felt like being thrown a bone (no pun intended). I was almost happy at the end until I read the epilogue.

The best thing about this book is how short it is. I'm giving this two stars instead of one because it has caused such a visceral and lasting impression. I cannot recommend this book to anyone but I will still recommend all Harrison's other books because they are creative, scary, and fantastic.

I’m starting to realize that I don’t mesh well with Harrison’s version of writing/storytelling and that’s okay. I felt that this started out promising but the story started to lose me after that. Perhaps this is for someone else but it isn’t for me.

So Thirsty was just fine for me. It had a promising start, but I felt myself trudging through it. The writing style was what I like and it was an easy read, but I found the character development lacking and their actions predictable. The ending was satisfactory, but also predictable.

I appreciated the realness and the closeness of the two main character’s relationship. I didn’t enjoy the insta-love or the horrible decision-making from one character. I don’t know, it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review So Thirsty. I give it 3/5 stars. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Once again, Rachel Harrison delivers a book so honest, so reflective of the female experience, that one feels they need to read it alone. She delivers our private thoughts out loud, and we can't let others see them. Though this book is about female friendship, territory she always explores so well, it's also about women aging in a youth obsessed culture. Our main character, Sloane, must contend with more than just leaving a marriage and finding blood. She no longer has access to her old self. Without her reflection, her entire existence turns inward, and it's the kind of mountain so few of us are prepared to climb, even with our very best friends along for the ride.

I loved this book and highly recommend it.

I adore this author and read her every release. Thankfully this didn't disappoint. It was real, raw, engaging and emotional. Recommended.

Sloane is dissatisfied with her mundane life, but she also feels safe in it. She hates surprises and doesn't like risks. She kids herself that she has forgiven her cheating husband but somewhere in the back of her mind she knows he won't change. She stays with him more from a fear of leaving than any sense of trust or love. When he surprises her with a long weekend getaway without him she is not that keen to go. Did he set this up so she could spend time with her best friend Naomi or did he just want her out of the house? The doorbell camera app on her phone has answers to that.

Naomi's life is anything but mundane but she too has grown dissatisfied with her relationship, work, and constant travel. What once seemed exciting is just exhausting now. When Naomi talks Sloane into partying with a group of strangers to celebrate her birthday, neither of them will ever be able to return to their old tedious ways of life.

So Thirsty is a vampire novel that will likely appeal to fans of True Blood and the Charlaine Harris books that launched Sookie off the page and onto the screen.
Themes of friendship and loyalty interspersed with domestic drama and lots of bloodshed kept me hooked on the story.
I could relate to Sloane's feeling of being unseen as a woman getting older, no longer viewed as someone who matters, while the horror fan in me was enjoying the creepy vibe and carnage.

My thanks to Berkley Publishing

A solid addition to the vampire genre, and one that neither shies away from the monstrous nor revels in it.

Sloane and Naomi are best friends on a girls’ trip for Sloane’s birthday. They are grappling with the realities of getting older, marriage, relationships, and female friendships, when a wild night at a party turns into a sinister encounter with the undead. Sloane and Naomi must come to terms with their new reality.

This is my second book by Rachel Harrison and I love her writing style. She has a way of combining feminism, humor, and making bold statements about society all within horror tales. This one wasn’t especially dark or scary, and involved lots of vampire lore and focus on female friendship and character growth. I loved the Thelma and Louise moments and the powerful foreshadowing that is tucked throughout the book until the exciting ending. This book cements the fact that I will want to read anything Rachel writes!

Thank you to Rachel Harrison, Berkley Publishing, and Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

While I didn’t love this book as much as I did Black Sheep, I still finished it in like 2 sittings. A beautifully written, fast-paced story about learning to live while not technically being alive. The characters were real, the emotions raw, and the conflict and tension were handled expertly.

I’m over the moon this ended on a happy note— I was getting serious “Thirsty” by MT Anderson vibes from this, and I’m happy these characters got the good they deserved out of lives that dealt them shitty hands. Vampire and girl friendships— literally what could be better?

Nothing says mid-life crisis like vampires!
Sloane is turning 40 and dreading it - so much so that she's not even looking forward to the girls-only weekend with her bff Naomi. When Sloane's husband surprised her with the weekend getaway, he said it would be for her to reconnect with Naomi after years of being apart, but does he have a more devious reason? Naomi certainly does - she's going to break Sloane out of her humdrum, boring, worst-case scenario life or die trying! Sloane is convinced an invite to a house filled with strangers on a deserted street during a snowstorm is the perfect place for something to horrible to happen, but to Naomi's rock and roll lifestyle, it's just another Thursday night!
With a crazy cast of characters and a depressingly realistic main character, So Thirsty is a perfect gothic book for a chick lit book club or for gabbing about with your girlfriends!
I just reviewed So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison. #SoThirsty #NetGalley

A huge, huge thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC!

To know me is to know that any upcoming Rachel Harrison release is my most anticipated release. Naturally, So Thirsty sits at the very top of my list for upcoming titles being published this year, and, upon reading, this top spot is earned in spades. Sloane Parker is getting older, and with her birthday approaching, a sense of acquiescence emerges. Married to a man with a more than questionable track record in the loyalty department, Sloane spends her birthday with her (very) free-spirited friend, Naomi. In true Naomi fashion, Sloane finds herself on a night out with strangers of the weirdest variety in an effort to live a little. This night turns into something unexpected, something that pushes both Naomi and Sloane to reconsider their lifestyles and make some rather brutal choices. But what does this violent shove into the unknown look like? Is it something Sloane and Naomi’s friendship can survive?

The queen of the uniquely horrific female experience, Rachel Harrison has tackled her share of complex dynamics, relationships, and misfortunes. In her previous works such as The Return and Such Sharp Teeth, Harrison explores the complexities of female friendship in combination with unwanted, traumatic occurrences befalling women. So Thirsty also thrives in a similar space that unpacks what it means to handle unexpected, horrific changes through the lens of camaraderie and discovery of self-worth. Sloane and Naomi’s relationship feels utterly authentic; they love each other dearly yet see each other's flaws. Yet, despite the small idiosyncrasies that may drive each other slightly crazy, there’s so much love to be found.

Harrison’s character studies craft some of the most compelling arcs I’ve read in recent horror fiction. Meeting Sloane at the beginning of the novel presents a woman who has settled into her life, a place where she feels comfortable (to a degree) despite mistreatment from her husband. She feels like the embodiment of “the devil you know” as she does not want to rock the proverbial boat to attain fairness. This is in deep contrast to Naomi’s character, a woman who acts on impulse in the name of not wasting a single moment (think Samantha from Sex and the City but a little hippier). The situation they find themselves in at the crux of the novel only magnifies these qualities, initiating an evaluation of what these characters truly desire and forcing a state of metamorphosis, both figuratively and literally.

It’s no secret So Thirsty is a vampire novel, a unique subgenre of horror that typically entails blood and sex. While this novel manages to check those boxes, Harrison manages to turn this dichotomy on its head and uses vampirism as a means to explore female empowerment, desire, gluttony, and guilt. Your traditional, textbook vampire often oozes with lust and desire, ideas that are presented to Sloane as foreign objects. One of the deepest emotions she experiences is that of guilt, something that feels representative of a uniquely feminine experience. In truth, this repression of desires exemplified by Sloane feeds into an ugly, gruesome repository of self-loathing and unhappiness. The realization that her previous lifestyle was not substantial becomes overly apparent, not unlike a vampire going without blood. Harrison proves that desiring equitable treatment is not gluttonous, that space is yours to occupy, all through the relationship of vampirism and guilt.

A cellular inspection of the ties that bind, So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison blends the sexy, classic tropes of vampirism we’ve come to know and love with a nuanced, feminine experience that examines guilt, love, and indulgence. Both Sloane and Naomi provide a unique context to define what it means to be a friend in the face of the inconceivable, both rooted in reality and the otherworldly. Another stellar entry in her catalog, Rachel Harrison harnesses the supernatural to give us another widely enjoyable, moving feminine tale that should not be missed.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 on the recommendation of a dear friend of mine and it did not disappoint. Rachel Harrison's writing is engaging and I loved the world that she built and filled with interesting, complex characters. This is ultimately a celebration of the power of female friendship, with a dash of vampires on the side. I thought Sloane was an interesting narrator and I was intrigued to learn more about her life and relationships as she navigated her life, marriage, and friendship with Naomi. I thought both main characters also had great character growth and the supporting cast was also a delight. Highly recommend!

Title: So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
Genre: Horror
Pub Date: September 10, 2024

⭐️ 4/5

🩸Anxious FMC
🩸Unfaithful Spouse
🩸Trauma/Horror
🩸Fledglings
🩸Ride or Die Besties

Sloane gets more than she bargains for when she accepts a girls only birthday trip from her hubby to a mountain retreat with her bestie, Naomi. Sloane usually errs on the side of caution, but Naomi wants her to step out of her shell and brings her to an "adult group party" that ends in the women nearly dying... or, did they really die?

My Review:

I will admit that I'm a sucker for all things vampire. Essentially we follow Naomi and Sloane while they’re newly turned, trying to break all ties to the normal world and resist the insatiable thirst that comes with being turned. We get a little spice, some angst, nice character development, and a touch of gore! I read this in just a few hours and truly enjoyed it. If you love vampires it was a fun read!

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Berkley, for the digital review copy!

Sloane’s husband gives her a birthday gift of a getaway with her best friend Naomi. Sloane and Naomi meet a group of party people and against her better judgment Sloane allows Naomi to convince her to hang out with them. All those warnings about stranger danger rear their heads as Sloane finds out the mysterious group are not what they appear and that monsters are real.
Another great Rachel Harrison read. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

The first half feels like Thelma and Louise showed up at a classic Brad Pit vampire orgy only to have the mood killed by Van Helsing level horror resulting in confusion, thirst, and chaos!

Then the second half felt like the inner thoughts of every woman who was forced into a box and then conditioned to compare themselves against other women, tainting the beauty of their friendships but never letting it defeat you. I'm sure there are so many women who have struggled with self worth, unworthy love, sub-par partners, and an overall pressure to make themselves smaller and to be content with settling.

At times you dislike both FMC and can't understand their friendship but then you remember you love them and both their stories are unique and they behave the way they do largely due to the same, and different experiences theyve had.

I only wish I got almost an equal look into Naomi's head. I feel like a dual POV would have just pushed this over the top for me!

(And side note to anyone who would like to know, both FMC are childfree, there are no pregnancy tropes, and there are intimate scenes but no real spice)

Another darkly humorous read from Rachel Harrison. One of her strengths is exploring relationships between women in detail, outside of their relationships with men. Her books are feminist and strongly focused on the experiences of women. Slone Parker and her best friend Naomi have been sent on a getaway as a birthday present from Slone's husband. It's an opportunity to party, relax, and ignore the issues at home, including ennui, concerns about aging, and the repeated infidelity of Slone's husband. Naomi after meeting some mysterious strangers, convinces Slone to attend a party at their place. This one night changes everything for the two friends.

Recommended for those who like their horror with a side of humor like Grady Hendrix or those looking for a female centered horror novel with a deep dive into the complexities of friendship.

This isn't my first Rachel Harrison book, and it won't be my last. She has a way of drawing you into the world she's creating. I always have a blast reading her stories. Can't wait for more