Thirst Review
"Every horror has a moment when it glistens; after that, it's just sad”
We’re turning the page on our July book, Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk (translated by Heather Cleary)
One Sentence Summary:
An 1800s vampire yearning for meaning 🤝 a modern woman yearning for escape
My Thoughts
First - I’m sorry this review is a day late! I’m about to leave Phoenix from a whirlwind of a work trip.
Maybe it’s the Arizona heat, but something about Thirst that left me, well, thirsty.
In theory, this title has a bunch of stuff I like:
A spooky, cemetery setting
Complicated relationships
Gruesome depictions of death and plagues
Sad girl literature vibes
Atmospheric, moody writing with erotic undertones
Absolute disdain for the Catholic Church
A vampire questioning the existence of her species and - metaphorically - her queer identity
It even had an extremely personal tie with heartfelt depictions of what it’s like losing a mother (or in my case, grandmother) to a degenerative condition.
Thirst is a unique gothic depiction of grief, identity, and, most importantly, seducing a priest to “create” sacrilegious blood art.
And yet! Something felt off…
Let’s bite into the writing:
On a line level, there was a lot in Thirst to love! Here are some quotes I highlighted:
On the Church: “I was captivated by his fervor and hated everything he represented —the Church that, in its narrow vision of the world, assumed the right to declare that I and those like me were creatures of the devil, departures from God’s plan, when in fact our existence was proof that the plan of which they spoke was an invention of man — and a fairly uninspired one, at that. On the other hand, it was a religion founded on a murder. How could I not find that appealing?” (Pg 48)
On innovation: “Perfecting the concealment of death might well be this century’s greatest triumph.” (Pg 40)
On headstones: “Only those able to pay for the right to poetry in death are here; for everyone else, common gaves and bare stones signal, definitively, their insignificance in life.” (Pg 8)
On yearning: “…I understood that my compulsion to feed would never end; it would repeat itself forever with no meaning but whichever one I chose to invent for it.” (Pg 23)
On boredom during Buenos Aires’ worst plague: “For the very first time I felt something like degradation: I was turning into a scavenger, feeding on waste. How had I become one with the landscape? There was no shortage of blood, but it was all so tedious.” (Pg 41)
On blaming immigrants for said plague: “Only ten years later, it would be discovered that the real culprit behind the unprecedented massacre was the smallest of insects, entirely unsuspected. A minuscule vampire, in the end, which — through its invisible activity of extracting infected blood from certain bodies and depositing it in others — had brought the city to its knees.” (Pg 57)
On watching a loved one hit a new stage of decline: “…She said two or three more things and I repeated, “I’m so sorry, I don’t understand,” then listened as she burst into tears, both of us fully aware that it was the last time we’d speak on the phone.” (Pg 116)
On Millennial depression: “Death was on the horizon, yes, but so was this adult life of mine that had disappointed me in nearly every possible way. It existed under the sign of disillusionment, the destruction of everything I had believed indestructible, a daily resignation of reality.” (Pg 130)
Here are the three reasons Thirst left me yearning for more…
The length. 165 pages wasn’t enough to lose myself in this story, especially since we split time between both characters.
The structure!!! This was a huge factor. We spent the book's first half with one character in the 1800s and then abruptly switched to present day. That stop-and-start killed the momentum, and I don’t see any reason why the timelines weren’t woven together?? Starting a new POV in the middle of a novel just doesn’t work for me…
The romance. I really loved the dark, animalistic tone of the first half, and I was so bummed not to see the vampire’s perspective when the two characters met. I felt like I was missing the end of her story because I was reading it through someone else’s eyes. As a result, their connection didn’t feel earned or realistic (as realistic as a vampire fling in 2024 can be!)
Rating
I’m giving Thirst 3 stars.
If you love My Year of Rest and Relaxation and horny vampires, maybe this is the title for you!
It was not, sadly, the book for me.
I loved parts of the first half and the writing overall, but I cannot stand for the two-part structure.
It’s tough to shift from a vampire who sees murder as art to a depressed woman struggling with grief. IMO, splitting the book into halves made that transition more difficult than it needed to be.
To borrow a quote directly from the text: "Every horror has a moment when it glistens; after that, it's just sad.” (Pg 133)
Our Next Chapter:
Come and Get It by Kiley Reid has been on my list for a while!
It’s described as “…a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior,” aka all my favourite things.
You can read along with My Side Plot on Fable and Instagram
Also On My Shelf In My Carryon
Work travel is no joke y’all, but I’m super excited to have time to read on the plane! Specifically:
The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo
This is the third book I’ve read by her this year, and — surprise, surprise — I’m loving it!
How Basketball Can Change The World, David Hollander
I was gifted a copy of this book through work and had a chance to chat with the author. He is so genuine about his love of basketball, and I am such a fan already!
Epilogue:
What did you think!?!?
Was there a half you liked better?
Are you following along on Fable??