Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review. This one is about a blood-soaked girls’ weekend that spirals into something far darker — and far more permanent.
Has anybody ever told you that vampires suck? Sorry. That was a pun I couldn’t resist.
The truth is that the vampire subgenre kind of passed me by for a long time. I was too young to appreciate Buffy when that was on. Twilight was never designed for me – although an ex did make me watch the first two films, and I can’t remember anything about them. I grew up aware of Dracula and the multiple adaptations of that story. I’d also seen archetypal vampires in Scooby Doo and things like that. I was aware of the blood drinking and the aversion to garlic. But I still wouldn’t say I was as into vampires as I felt other people were.
Despite it being Stephen King’s second ever published novel, I didn’t read Salem’s Lot until 2019, when I borrowed it from my cousin. Maybe that’s when things started to change. It was around that time that I really started taking my own writing seriously and thought I would make a considerable effort into chasing my dream of becoming a published author. And in order to do that, I knew I needed to be reading wider, even if it was only wider within the horror genre. Over the last six years, I’ve been discovering numerous horror authors whom I’d never really heard of before. Some of whom have tried their hand at the vampire novel. Some notable entries within this list include Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Suffer the Children by Craig DiLouie, and The Gathering by C. J. Tudor.
And that brings me to Rachel Harrison. For me, there’s nothing more exciting than discovering a new author who has a back catalogue for me to sink my teeth into it. At the time of writing this review, Harrison has published six novels and one collection of short stories. Plus, Harrison is a young author, so I’m sure that list will only continue to grow with each passing year. At this point, I’ve read Such Sharp Teeth and Bad Dolls (the short story collection). Having loved them both, it only left me excited to read everything Harrison releases, and when I heard she’d released a vampire novel, I had a good feeling about it.
So Thirsty tells the story of Sloane and Naomi. The two best friends have known each other since high school, but don’t get to spend as much time together in adulthood. Sloane lives with her husband, who is always cheating on her, while Naomi is dating the frontman of a rock band and is constantly touring the world with them. But Sloane’s birthday is coming u,p and her husband has arranged a surprise for her. A weekend getaway in a luxurious cottage for Sloane and Naomi.
Sloane looks forward to the getaway for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it gives her time away from her cheating husband. Secondly, she gets to spend time with Naomi, which is something she usually enjoys. Naomi really goes in for all the sex, drugs, and rock n roll thing. She’s the life and soul of the party, but she does have a habit of getting them into trouble. And when Naomi agrees for them to spend Saturday night at a house party with a group of mysterious strangers, this time she might get them into too much trouble. Trouble that Sloane can’t get them out of. Trouble that might cost them their lives.
While I wouldn’t say this is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read – not by a long stretch – it is still a highly enjoyable read. A lot of that is to do with the chemistry between Sloane and Naomi. We spend time with them, and we can believe they’ve been friends for a long time. They clearly care about each other a lot, but they can also easily end up in an argument. I think it would be fair to describe this book as if Thelma & Louise met The Lost Boys. If that sounds like your sort of thing, then this is the book for you. Personally, I know I will be looking forward to whichever Rachel Harrison book I end up reading next.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
