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

Well, I had high hopes for this one. Because, vampires have been one of my favorite tropes for many years now. Unfortunately, this one fell very flat. The storyline felt rushed and I didn't enjoy how the dynamic with the spouse/boyfriend was just severed (not that it shouldn't have been, but the way it happened wasn't written well). I just felt like this book was just thrown together and, while I finished it, it probably should have been a DNF for me.

This was my first Rachel Harrison novel, so I had no idea what to expect! Now onto the review.

This book is not a typical vampire story nor is it heavy in the horror elements that I went into this book expecting. I know that Rachel Harrison is known more as a “pink horror” author, and I’m not quite sure. I still know what that entails but after reading this book, I think I have a better understanding.

I know that this book says it is a vampire story, but that is one small minuscule aspect of this book. I like to believe that the vampirism in this book is a metaphor for something more. To be a vampire is to not be scared of living, and to really take life by the horns because really you’re immortal now and what else are you supposed to do? 🧛‍♀️

In this book, we have Sloane who is about to have a birthday and who is a little bit scared of living her life and has necessarily settled for what she has — and then she has a friend named Naomi, who is quite reckless and wild, and to me both of these girls represent the two sides of how a woman is perceived in todays society.

There is the main theme of this book which is to not be afraid of living and that it’s never too late to go after what it is that you want. To not be scared and go for the scary. And then the theme of friendship is very heavy in this book as the friendship between Naomi and Sloane is the major element that drives this book forward. I would like to say that there isn’t much of a plot in this book that I necessarily saw so it is much more vibes, but it definitely works.

I was reading this book as I was experiencing my 34th birthday, and it was a comforting read, and it was answering questions that I was asking myself — what is to come as I’m gaining an extra year, which coincidentally enough is a question that Sloane was asking herself in the book.

If you love books about friendships, having a good time, a very light romantic love interest that just happens to be a vampire… then you will like this book.

Thank you to Rachel Harrison for sending me this book personally, it was clearly the best birthday gift/book I could’ve read during this time. 🖤

I love a good vampire novel. This is an OK vampire novel. Fun story, but I wanted to throttle every single character multiple times. I wish the novel had ended with Sloane deciding she was worth more than all the toxic relationships in her life and going out on her own. The end was fitting, but I honestly thought the whole thing was pretty... meh. Cute, but meh.

I was super excited to be approved through NetGalley to read an early copy of So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison, coming 9/10/24 from Penguin Random House, in exchange for my honest review.

So Thirsty opens on mid-thirties, play-it-safe Sloane dreading her upcoming birthday, and finding out that her husband has arranged a birthday weekend away at a fancy cabin for Sloane and her best friend Naomi. On the night before her birthday, Naomi drags Sloane to a party that changes the course of their lives forever.

Just like with Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth, two of Harrison’s earlier novels, the nature of the horror creature is evident from the start of the book, made clear by the title and cover art alone. I love this for two reasons. One, already knowing “this is a vampire book” means I’m not starting the book out trying to see things coming before they happen, which lets me enjoy the book much more in the moment. Two, it allows Harrison to really play around with foreshadowing and setting the vibes even in the earliest chapters when nothing has gone wrong yet. The way Sloane feels about the sunlight, the way she avoids looking at her mirror, her worries about aging, and the way she personifies her own teeth at the end of chapter two, were all delightful. None of those little nuggets felt forced, they all fit smoothly into the character and the narrative, and they were all perfectly on theme from the start.

That foreknowledge and foreshadowing could have been a dampener on the experience of the moment in the book when things go wrong, but Harrison’s pacing is on point. Combined with that, when the violence finally happens it happens so fast, emphasizing the feeling of the brutality in a way that completely makes up for having known all along that it would happen at some point.

Another thing I enjoyed was the way it becomes clear pretty early that Sloane is unhappy with her life but clings to the familiar easiness of it. It also becomes clear that things aren’t quite they way they seem at first. Sloane hasn’t always been the play-it-safe girl and her husband’s reasons for sending her on this nice trip have nothing to do with a happy and solid marriage. This sense of things not being what they look like carries on through the book, with certain revelations coming fairly quickly (the beautiful stranger at the bar is not as human as he looks) and some unwinding throughout the course of the novel (the party girl best friend might not be as happy as she seems, either). One of the vampires has even changed his name at some point before the events of the story.

The next paragraph will have some minor spoilers.

The thing I loved about that theme of things not being as they seem is that, once the nature of the vampires is revealed, that no longer really applies to them. Ilie and Elisa and Tatiana and Henry are exactly who they are. It may take Henry some time to explain his past, but he was up front with Sloane from the beginning about having what he considers a sad backstory in the first place. When he tells Sloane he will be honest with her, he is. And once Sloane and Naomi get through the initial difficulties of adjusting to a life as vampires, there’s a strong implication that they find within themselves the people they were before life wore them down, Sloane freeing herself from repression and risk-aversion and Naomi no longer compelled to try to outrun banality or mortality or both. The vampires are not perfect, and they’re not necessarily good, but they are true, maybe the only true things in the book, and I love that.

Okay, spoilers done. Continue reading the review spoiler-free from this point.

I really dig Sloane’s character and her voice. She felt real. Her specific backstory and current problems aren’t part of my experience but the way she handles them (or refuses to handle them) feels almost uncomfortably relatable—there’s something of a cautionary tale in Sloane as a character, and one that I think many women can relate to in some form or another. Harrison’s character writing is always strong, and her portrayal of women’s experiences and of the friendships between women always resonates deeply with me.

On a line level, I’m so into Harrison’s writing style. She deftly combines the moodiness of horror with modern vibes and turns of phrase that are often humorous or beautiful or thought-provoking or some combination thereof, and I am here for it.

And finally, the cherry on top of the whole experience of reading So Thirsty (and all of Harrison’s books, honestly) is that there’s this clear sense that she had fun crafting this book. When an author loves the work that they are doing, it shows, and in my opinion it really adds to the fun of reading that book. There’s a sense of real enjoyment and a genuine authenticity wrapped up in Harrison’s horror.

In conclusion! Five out of five stars for So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison.

Loved so much about this book! five our of 5 stars! Loved the dialogue about female friendship and the dark humor in it. Classic Rahcel Harrison.

<b>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishing team Berkley for sending me this ARC! Rachel Harrison is a new author to me and was captivated by this story the whole way through.</b>

Sloane (FMC) is introduced and her husband surprises her with a birthday getaway with her best friend Naomi. Sloane is not really feeling herself or this getaway. Well she has not really been herself in a long time. The story goes on and her and Naomi arrive at their getaway destination and its truly a luxurious place. To spark the trip and Sloane, Naomi tries to make Sloane live a little through spending some fun time out at a strangers place.......
<i>what they do not know is....their lives will be changed forever</i>

A character I found relatable: Sloane I found the be very annoying in the beginning, but also could relate to in so many ways. As a female in her 30s who is an introvert I can see where Sloane can be uptight and "logical" all the time. Sloane leads her life, not by her heart, but through logistics and statistics. She fears the "what ifs" and never really took risks.

Plot points I wished we had more of: I wished the author really showed more of Henry and Sloane's relationship and love interests...but I can see why not....

This story is more so about growths and connecting with one another through rough times. Its about trust, family, love and never giving up on those you love the most.

Themes: Love, Loyalty, Trust, Betrayal, Sexual Content, Gore

Elements: Spicy scenes, Blood Bank Heists, Thelma and Louise Vibes

Spicy Rating: 2/5

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It really is more than just vampire killings and sex. Its about friendship and love. My heart really was touched by Sloane and Naomi's friendship.

Rachel, I do hope there is a sequel. I need to know more about Tatiana's story and Henry and Sloane's love life.

The first thing I did after finishing So Thirsty in one sitting was write down the note, “This feels like the therapy I have been needing for a while.” At first glance, this does not exactly sound like what the book offers up as a funny vampire horror book, but it felt far deeper than that. Harrison has once again blown me away with a story surrounding the importance and complexity of female friendship while also critiquing the societal expectations (ahem, the patriarchy) of women in America. She also does a glorious job of writing Sloane and Naomi in a relatable, albeit sometimes insufferable, way that had me loving (and hating) them.
So Thirsty is the perfect book for folks who enjoy horror that feels so relatable that maybe you had to write down some more notes for yourself to talk about in therapy, but in the best way possible! I thoroughly enjoyed this fun vampire romp and can not wait to reread it soon!