A review by aya_neela
Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston

3.0

Story: 3

Writing: 4
Characters: 1.5
Overall: 3

This has been on my TBR for a while. First the name attracted me then the cove art itself. 

I did not read the blurb in the back of the book so when I started this and realized it was a book about a young woman dealing with the grief of her dying father I was initially pleasantly surprised. 

Initially.

But the interest I felt very quickly faded away. 

I am not one to DNF books but the end of chapter 12 nearly made me do this. 

Everything about this book was great. The premise was solid and intriguing. The setting was cool. As a fan of vampires I appreciated the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Even Nicolas (the sexy vampire) and Henry (the sexy human) were neat characters, though I questioned on more than one occasion if Henry’s brain was functioning right…

Cause Victoria was the reason this book inevitably sucked (no pun intended). 

Which is terrible because she was the main character. 

On many occasions I found myself in Henry’s shoes, trying to justify her behavior. 
She is clearly in a lot of pain and is not the sort of character that thinks before they do anything. 

I kept reminding myself that this was an 18-19 year old girl and that she just didn’t understand regulating her emotions or fully processing the consequences of her actions.  

But then we get to the end of chapter 12 and that was the moment I said, “Nope it’s not that she doesn’t know any better…she just doesn’t care.” 

And it was disgusting. 

I’ve come across my share of unlikeable and villainous characters but there was always something fun or “justifiable” in their actions. 

I tried to find that in Victoria and it did not exist. 

Sure, one could argue that her wanting to save her father’s life was selfless.

But it would be a lie.

Her moral event horizon came when she was willing to sacrifice Henry for a piece of paper. Now nothing happened to him, and I do blame his character for questionable decisions in casting his lot with Victoria, but the sheer lack of self-awareness or rather the blatant disregard of it, made it very,  VERY, difficult to be empathetic to her. 

I simply could not stomach anything she did from that moment onwards. 

At. All. 

Tonally, it was also difficult to connect with the character’s emotions. 

“I’m the hero of this story.”

Spare me.

One thing I cannot deny is how BEAUTIFULLY this was written. Honestly for how much I loathed Victoria I understood and could at the bear minimum relate to those muddy feelings she had. 

And the ending was bittersweet perfection. 


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