Thirst is split into two parts - the first half is told from the POV of an unnamed vampiress who flees to the wild frontier of Argentina as it was first being colonized by the Europeans. The second half is set in modern Buenos Aires by a single mother dealing with the recent separation from her ex, raising her son, slowly losing her mother to a degenerative disease, and uncovering the family secret, which ties the lives of the vampiress and the woman together.

Honestly, I liked the second half more than the first part - there was a lot more emotion and character development - intentional, I think, because the vampiress is designed to be a rather static undead character. This is yet another book that I thought was good but could've benefitted from being longer. I wanted to know more after the women [redacted spoilers] but that's also just a sign of a well-written book.

Thirst releases on 03.05.2024.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I’m a big sucker (pun heavily intended) for anything and everything vampires, so obviously I was eager to read Thirst!

What I loved most about this book is just how bestial our vampire is - she is not your run of the mill, sparkly vampire who attempts to blend in with mortals. Instead, Thirst follows a vampire who embraces her predatory nature, taking not only what she needs but what she wants.

The first half of the book begins with our unnamed vampire fleeing her former life of excess in Europe to Buenos Aires to forge a new life in parts unknown. The city is in it’s infancy, the perfect location to hunt without repercussions. We follow her as the city grows around her and eventually battles a horrible plague of yellow fever. The burden of immortality eventually takes its toll, and our vampire secludes herself in a coffin within a mausoleum to sleep the ages away.

The second half of the book didn’t grip me quite as much as the first, as we follow a woman in modern times who’s dying mother gives her keys to an old mausoleum and insists she is not to open it…

All in all, I loved this book - despite not enjoying the second half quite as much as the first, the way the two halves merged at the end was a satisfying conclusion! There were so many themes (womanhood, mortality, religion, melancholy) that were handled with such beautiful prose. I’m crossing my fingers that more of this authors work will be translated!

**SPOILERS**
The only piece of this story I struggled with was our modern MC deciding to leave her son behind to live an immortal life with her vampire lover. It seemed to contradict the protective mother we are introduced to. I found it rash to all of a sudden decide that your son has been “pulling away from you since the day he was born.”

Two women. Two times. Two species. Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk is a romance novel like I haven’t read before. Beautifully translated by Heather Cleary, this is a character study done on a bloody backdrop. Buenos Aires was not prepared for either of them. And I’ll be honest, neither was I. You can sink your teeth in on March 5th when this releases from Dutton.

I want to begin, as the novel does, with our vampire. She is… inhuman. That sounds like a given, I understand. But I was impressed. Yuszczuk truly embraced the otherness of the vampire as character. No, embrace isn’t even the right word. She delighted in it. I had so much fun reading some pretty unhinged scenes. I love when an author goes past my expectations. And this vampire? She went past them. And then kept going.

But, interestingly, she also stops. I debated discussing this detail in this review, but I don’t think it’s really a spoiler. It is advertised as being told “across two different time periods,” after all. But someone asked me about this and I’ve been mulling it over. It is across two times, but they are sequential. Maybe it’s my own bias as a reader, but I expected more of a back-and-forth. Choosing not to do that resulted in, to me, almost a feeling of two novellas tied together.

I don’t mean that in a negative way. I actually think it was kind of brilliant. It means we as the reader fully know both sides of our pairing before their stories connect. It also further highlights the stark differences between our blood-lustful vampire and our grieving human. Personally, I don’t believe that contrast would be as impactful if we’d been skipping between their timelines. It’s like how cold water can feel warm after being in even colder water. The differences become highlighted in comparison.

Which brings us to our human character. Grief horror has become one of my favorite subgenres. And her story is quintessential grief horror. She’s losing her mom. And if you ever wondered how agonizing a slow death can be, this will get you close. But it goes so much deeper than that. She’s divorced and struggling with being a single mother. She’s hitting a wall at work for the first time. This is a woman losing her place. She’s losing her self. And what she really needs is something to hold on to. Some thread to follow back to steady ground.

That thread of course leads to a certain vampire. Again, this is not a plot spoiler. It would actually be quite difficult for me to spoil this book. The magic happens in the reading. It’s in the journey. I went in not knowing much at all, as I am wont to do, but I can’t see how knowing something in the official synopsis would harm this experience. That’s one of my favorite things about the whole “no plot, just vibes” descriptor some books get. It can’t be diminished by a little information.

I think this is a must-read for any vampire fan. But I also think even non-horror readers could find something in these pages. Yes, there is a lot of blood. And there are quite a few explicit scenes. But I never felt fear. And while I do believe fear is a secondary emotion in the best horror novels, I understand some people don’t like to be scared. This one is described as genre-blurring for a reason. It has the cadence of literary fiction. Just you know, with more sacrilegious violence.

I wanted more and was left underwhelmed. Too much telling vs. showing, not the romance that I thought I was going to get.

Beautifully written, but I was bored a lot of the time.

The first half was intriguing and I enjoyed following our vampire and how unpredictable her bloodlust seemed. Also enjoyed the historical aspect.

I didn't connect with the 2nd half as much, but I can see where others would like it.

Thanks to the translator. I'm glad English language readers are able to enjoy this.

Sapphic vampires are always an intriguing subject matter for me because it allows for some very interesting subversion of gender power dynamics. I also loved the visually striking cover art design (it definitely drew me into the book). Both halves of the book had interesting reflections on what it means to live and die, and what gives meaning to our lives and deaths. The writing throughout was beautiful and engaging. The story of Alma’s ailing mother was an interesting juxtaposition to the vampire storyline. I liked that the book tapped into the inhuman nature of vampires rather than making them humans with a different diet. The vampires are dangerous and unpredictable, which feels both more realistic and more unsettling. I do wish we could have delved deeper in the unnamed vampire’s desires and motivations, because I came away feeling like I didn’t truly understand her. I did enjoy the part where a man asked her why she hadn’t killed him and she basically said nothing she does makes sense, but her seemingly random choices are all she has left of a life that was taken from her against her will.
I appreciate that we got to see deeper into Alma’s thoughts and conflicted feelings, but the ending felt a little disjointed and rushed for me. I had a hard time understanding Alma’s choice, and without having insight into her motivations her choice didn’t feel believable to me.

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk was such an entertaining read. This book is great if you're into vampires and I enjoyed every minute while reading it. I thought the first half of the book was splendid and entertaining. It kind of slowed down and felt a little disconnected when it jumps to the present time but it was still worth reading. I liked the character development and the reflections of life and grief were well rounded. Overall, this book was an overall intriguing read.

Thank you Dutton for my free ARC of Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk — available Mar 5 in the US!

Read this if you:
🧛‍♀️ are a strong, independent vampire — I mean, woman — who gets hangry sometimes
🪦 have ever wandered a graveyard at dusk
🩸 love a slow-burn combo of litfic, historical, and horror

Translated from Spanish by Heather Cleary 🇪🇸

A young European girl is transformed into a monster, and eventually forced to flee her homeland when her sisters are murdered in front of her. She arrives in Buenos Aires in the 1800s and struggles, alone, to hide her true nature from the people around her. In the present day, a mother is struggling with her own mother's terminal diagnosis, while trying to juggle the litany of daily responsibilities she must attend to. The day she unlocks a casket in a historic cemetery will be the day that her life is irrevocably changed, as she'll have to decide which path her life will take.

Ooooh this was a pretty delicious read. I was fully absorbed in the historical story of our lady vampire in the first half of the novel, so the abrupt switch to present-day sort of took me by surprise. I found that part of the book to be much slower, until we got to the unlocking of the crypt, where I perched myself on the edge of my seat again. I think the lull was worthwhile in the end, because the collision of the two women and their worlds was extraordinary.

There are a lot of messages contained in this little book, including but not limited to topics of grief, companionship, desire, self-possession, and choice. I think both female narrators in this book were compelling in different ways, and I loved the merging of their stories into one at the end. I want more!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The stunning cover and queer vampiric elements really intrigued me about Thirst, but I wasn’t hooked to the story or characters. I found myself mostly bored throughout Part 1 and the history of the vampire. Though this is clearly a character-driven story, the characters lacked complexity and uniqueness to them. The vampire’s background was slow moving, and though I did find the plague to be an interesting way for the vampire to move about the story, I wanted to know more about the character than I did - her thoughts and feelings and reasoning for making the choices that she did. More internal monologue would’ve been great instead of flat narration. I did connect more with Part 2 since the fmc divulged more information about her own thoughts and feelings. Despite beautiful writing and imagery, the characters did not feel interesting to me and I didn’t connect to the novel.

***Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for providing an advanced reader’s copy****

I enjoyed the book overall, finding entertainment in its engaging historical setting and the unique perspective of a vampire in Buenos Aires. Although the vampire story contained clichés, the unpredictable and animalistic nature of the main character kept me intrigued during the first half.

However, I was less enthralled with the second half. When the story jumps to the present time the link between the two characters seemed loose to me, making it seem ordinary.

The book does raise some interesting reflections on life and death, prompting readers to ponder tough questions on the contrast between a woman in the middle of your youth who can live forever and that of another sick woman who only wants to end her life

While the descriptions of the cemetery and the author’s pleasant writing style earned extra points, the first and second parts felt like two different books, leaving me wanting more from both segments.

Thank you for giving me access to this arc. I really wanted to like it, especially because it was written well but it had fallen flat for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This story follows two women one who is a vampire, and the other a modern day woman whose mom is dying. Unlike most dual POV of time periods where they switch back and forth, this is one story and then half way through it is the next story and the point where they intertwine.
I think this is a very fascinating look at queerness, loneliness and blood as a metaphor for both of those things.
I only gave it four stars though because I didn’t as connected to the characters. While their histories are incredibly well plotted out, the characters them selves are shallow ghosts of their surroundings (which actually maybe is the point?)

Recommend if you love WLW and vampires, but do not recommend if you are looking for a ROMANCE. This is not a romance.

Another interesting read! Dark, queer, vampire literary. I was enthralled by the writing of this book, it was beautifully written and definitely hooked you in right away.


The book was split into two parts. I definitely enjoyed part one more than I enjoyed part two.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC! I quite liked this book. Though it is very introspective and if that's not your type of narrative, I wouldn't pick it up. I am not as well-versed in Shelley and Jackson, but I found this to be very enticing. I do wonder how different it is in Spanish and how the language influences how the story is told.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to her other works.

This book surprised me in that it was not quite what I thought it would be. The ambiance was killer. Think rainy days, old cemeteries, death and vampires. It’s separated into two large sections: the first half details the life of the vampire in the past and the second half is when we meet our current day heroine. I’m a sentimental and really wanted more of a romantic connection between the two characters. That said, they definitely connected but I could have heard much more about it and what that connection was special! The connection in the story to the mother was also quite poignant and again circled that ever-present death theme. I would definitely read more from this author!

Thirst follows the story of 2 different women set in 2 different time periods; each with their own battles to endure/experience regarding life, mortality, and one's own morals. Laid out in 2 parts with the vampire's experience from 19th century through a pandemic and then the 2nd part is of a modern day young mother dealing with her own mother's terminal illness; the 2 become intertwined and I found myself enraptured in the experience.

The theme of life and death is portrayed all throughout the story and I found myself questioning my own mortality and comfortability with death and all it entails. The theme of sensuality is also heavily shared in this work but I found it profound in which it also had my questioning my own female desires and what it means to lust versus desire and what acting on impulse can unravel.

Perhaps this was intentional from the author but I would've liked to hear or more so feel more emotion from the vampire's experience. To understand from the perspective of the living dead especially when the 2 main character's stories progress.

Thanks to NetGalley for the experience to read this story

Split into past and present time periods, THIRST follows a vampire arriving in 19th century Argentina juxtaposed with a modern woman grieving her mother’s impending death.

Although I appreciated the premise and was intrigued by the concepts of grief and mortality explored through a gothic feminist lens, I found this book to be misrepresented. Compared to writers like Shirley Jackson, Carmen Maria Machado, and Mary Shelley, I was expecting it to really hit the subtle terror of these iconic literary gothic writers. Instead, I found the prose very exposition-focused — i.e. series of listed events and actions, rather than really immersing the reader in the story and characters interiority. I think this was fueled by the time period split, as this kept me on the surface of the characters. I found the book to not fit into literary fiction in the traditional sense — it seemed written more like a YA or new adult genre with the more simplistic writing. Perhaps this was partially the translation, as well.

All to say, this book wasn’t for me — I could see it being for fans of more new adult fiction, but felt it was mis-marketed. Not a bad thing, just found through the process it was not for me and did not at all fit what I expected the book to be in conversation with, unfortunately.

this novel was written well, but it just didn’t hit for me. i wanted to enjoy it so badly but i felt as if i was forcing myself to sit through and finish reading it.

Thirst touches on several fascinating topics - origin stories, desire, female autonomy over time, and responding to change. It, however, never stays on any of those topics long enough to slacken the thirst.

This novel follows two POV characters. The first is a centuries-old vampire whose true name we never know. After being sold as a human girl by her mother, she is Turned and initially lives in a commune where sacrifices are fairly easy to come by. However, the religious revolution brings a huge change - instead of respecting vampires as a type of deity, the human population now bands together to kill and oust them. Our narrator is the only vampire to survive, and she eventually makes her way on a boat to Buenos Aires for a fresh start. There, she finds a city in the middle of its modern birth that seems to offer her the opportunity to build a life there.

The second narrator is a modern women with a young son and a dying mother. She grapples with the question of how to be a good mom, daughter, friend, and colleague all at the same time and wonders how to best support her mother's wishes in a time when communication between them is becoming increasingly difficult. She is also being haunted by a familiar face.

The set up for each of these characters is complex, nuanced, and rich for exploration. For example, I was fascinated by how the vampire narrator decides who to feed on and who to let live afterwards in the context of having never been raised around humans and therefore likely having a different moral compass than we would. The writing is unflinching - presenting scenes explicitly but without glorifying the violence.

However, we stay too surface-level. We rarely get the chance to explore the vampire's internality to understand why she makes the choices she makes (beyond survival / thirst) and how she feels about those choices afterwards. It's particularly surprising that we never revisit The Big Choice she makes at the end of part one. In addition, our narrators do not meet until almost 90% of the way through the book. This is the best and most fascinating part by far, but it happens too late and ends too quickly.

I was very excited about the potential for a feminist, lesbian vampire story, but did not feel like this ultimately had a strong enough perspective or emotional punch to fully realize that potential.

Many thanks to Net Galley for the advance reading copy of this stunning eBook.

I would recommend this book to people with an interest in fresh takes on the vampire novel or anyone with an interest in the Death Positivity movement. It has a lot of interesting perspectives on life, death, and the choice to live or die, and if someone isn’t squeamish to those discussions, I definitely think this is a book worth picking up. The strongest aspect at play is the author’s stellar use of themes and imagery. The weakest is, in my opinion, the abruptness of the ending. I think it ended at the perfect point in the story, but the scene itself could have used some added exposition for the sake of clarity. All that being said, I’m very curious to read more of the author’s work when translated in the future.

This book is incredibly thematically rich. Themes of grief, motherhood, the dynamic of parenting vs being parented, and the complexities of choice are strong in this novel, effortlessly woven into the narrative. The overarching plot is meticulously crafted. It’s very tight and, for the most part, tied up neatly with a bow at the end. The secondary narrative, wherein the Part II narrator is grappling with her mother’s terminal illness and the complex emotions alongside it, is well-incorporated into the story. The family dynamics in the second half of the novel were striking, and I did shed tears multiple times over the complicated “grieving a loved one while they’re still alive” aspect of the inverted mother-daughter dynamic where the parent, in illness and old age, has become the parented.

The writing style is candid and compelling, overall very reasonable and appropriate for the story being told. Grammar and syntax were tidy and unencumbered, while word choice was direct and potent. Pacing was incredibly linear and straightforward, making it a quick and easy read. The use of description was skillfully executed: sparse in some parts and lush in others, almost always elegant. Imagery and metaphor were rich and gothic, peppered effectively throughout the prose. Overall, the prose is clean and elegant, occasionally grotesque and blunt in what it shows you but beautiful in its morbidity.

The structure at hand is interesting; instead of alternating point of view chapter-by-chapter, the point of view character changes only in the second half of the novel. Part II does away with chapters entirely, instead having a linear day-to-day structure. I think this choice was fresh and suitable for the novel. Beyond the two protagonists, the cast isn’t delved deeply into (though the mother of the Part II narrator and her son, Santiago, are very richly characterized) beyond what is necessary for the narrators to tell their story. I think this is a good example of a book where the extended cast is not the main focus and where not delving too deeply into them is a more effective choice. I think getting into the weeds of developing minor characters in this particular work would have bogged the story down and felt tedious.