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A review by solspringsreads
Esteemed Vampire Cat by Tyrolin Puxty
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book was only 153 pages long and I feared that it would never end. So much of the humor of this book relied on unfunny “jokes” that were really popular in the early-to-mid-2010s—jokes that were often just bodyshaming, disregarding consent, and being outright rude and hateful people played off as “being edgy.” Sure, I expected a judgmental, moody, and rude narrator/protagonist; he’s an “esteemed vampire cat,” so obviously a protagonist who’d hold himself in a much higher regard than anyone else. But when one of the first descriptions we get of a character that Colt clearly doesn’t like was that he had “sausage fingers,” I knew this book probably wasn’t for me.
I resent that so many books that try to lean into absurdist humor or themes are ones that use this kind of deeply unoriginal “humor” for shock value. Absurdism isn’t being as gross or rude/offensive as possible. We can have characters that thrive on chaos and behave in strange ways without being actively fatphobic every 10 pages.
Besides all of that, this book was endlessly repetitive. For such a quick read, the author manage to reuse some key phrases several times every few chapters—as if you, the reader, can’t be trusted to remember the (very little) that happened. Plot points are revealed with little rhyme or reason (I guess to be “absurd”?) and Colt himself rarely has to do much work for anything to happen. Characters reveal their intentions and goals at the drop of a hat, and their motivations seem to change just as quickly. One of the only genuinely interesting plot points is that Sean, the man who’s body Colt is possessing, is fighting back against Colt—however, this only seems to resurface when it’s inconvenient for Colt (and convenient for the plot). It’s wrapped up in a way that felt pretty satisfying for me, though, so I’m glad about that.
I don’t believe I’ll be reading anything else from this author any time soon.
I resent that so many books that try to lean into absurdist humor or themes are ones that use this kind of deeply unoriginal “humor” for shock value. Absurdism isn’t being as gross or rude/offensive as possible. We can have characters that thrive on chaos and behave in strange ways without being actively fatphobic every 10 pages.
Besides all of that, this book was endlessly repetitive. For such a quick read, the author manage to reuse some key phrases several times every few chapters—as if you, the reader, can’t be trusted to remember the (very little) that happened. Plot points are revealed with little rhyme or reason (I guess to be “absurd”?) and Colt himself rarely has to do much work for anything to happen. Characters reveal their intentions and goals at the drop of a hat, and their motivations seem to change just as quickly. One of the only genuinely interesting plot points is that Sean, the man who’s body Colt is possessing, is fighting back against Colt—however, this only seems to resurface when it’s inconvenient for Colt (and convenient for the plot). It’s wrapped up in a way that felt pretty satisfying for me, though, so I’m glad about that.
I don’t believe I’ll be reading anything else from this author any time soon.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Violence, and Stalking