Book Review: So Thirsty

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison is about midlife crises, close friendships, infidelity, and going after what you truly want in life. Oh yeah, and there are vampires. Lots of vampires. There’s bloodsucking galore!

Our protagonist and narrator is Sloan, a woman who is about to turn thirty-six. She’s insecure about her aging appearance and stuck in a lukewarm marriage with Joel, whom she suspects is cheating on her (again). Her husband gives her a surprise early birthday gift – a weekend getaway away with Naomi, her best friend since childhood.

Sloan believes that the trip this is simply an excuse to get her out of the house so that Joel can invite his secret girlfriend over. Clearly, he’s not attracted to his “old” wife anymore. But she hasn’t spent time with Naomi recently, so she accepts the trip.

Sloan is a bored suburban spouse trapped in a dreary life. Naomi is the total opposite. She’s a wild flirtatious free spirit who wants to live life to the fullest, damn the consequences. Sloan was like her once, back in college, but a series of unpleasant experiences transformed her into someone who prizes routine and blandness over risk and excitement.

Naomi flirts with a guy at a bar and the ladies get invited to a private party at the man’s estate. There are red flags everywhere, but Naomi insists on going, and Sloan doesn’t want her friend to go alone. She meets Henry, a suave and mysterious stranger who claims to be over 500 years old. He’s obviously joking…right?

Sloan is alternately repulsed and attracted to Henry. As the night continues, she begins to let her hair down, so to speak, and things start to get wild. The next morning, Sloan and Naomi wake up with an aching thirst for human blood.

it doesn’t suck, but it’s no masterpiece either

Still Thirsty is entertaining, easy to read, and fast paced. This is my first Rachel Harrison book. Her writing style here is blatantly mainstream, and I mean that in a positive way. If the characters were twenty years younger, this could easily pass as a YA novel.

This is not a book that will challenge you with its vocabulary or diction. If you’re looking for a more literary vampire book, skip this one and read The Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones instead.

I generally enjoy books that I can get through quickly, so I had zero problems with the simple writing. It was quite the contrast from the author styles of other novels I’ve read and reviewed recently, like Ring Shout (which I liked) and The Library at Hellebore (which I didn’t).

So Thirsty does fall short in some areas. The vampires are little more than cartoonish caricatures. They’re like characters from campy old Hammer movies.

They’re also too human. They don’t have fangs (WTF?!) and can be exposed to sunlight without being torched to smithereens. The vampire lifestyle is portrayed as exciting and refreshing, but the vamps themselves are neither of those things.

The novel also overdoes it with Sloan constantly pointing out the stark differences between her and Naomi. They are opposites in many ways: abstinence vs. hedonism, caution vs recklessness, fear vs. hope, wariness vs. trust.

These are fun contrasts. I enjoyed the relationship dynamic between the two main characters. But Sloan is constantly pointing them out throughout the book. This becomes tedious and repetitive.

So Thirsty does a nice job delving into its feminist themes. Sloan feels invisible as a woman in her mid-thirties, as if she’s an obsolete car model heading to the junkyard. Men don’t look at her like they did when she was in her twenties.

Her feelings are exacerbated by her relationship with Naomi, who is still beautiful and vivacious despite being the same age. Then Sloan meets Henry, the first man in awhile who expresses interest in her. But can she trust him?

Sloan has strong repressed desires that she’s ashamed of at the beginning of the novel. Harrison uses her to examine society’s views on sexuality, especially female sexual desire and “slut shaming.”

The broader message of So Thirsty is that going after what you truly want can be scary, and sometimes dangerous, but is nevertheless worth it. This is a great theme. It resonated with me, and I’m sure it will resonate with many other readers.