A review by tanyapickles
Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite by Natalie C. Parker, Zoraida Córdova

3.0

Firstly, thank you to Hear Our Voice Book Tour for one existing and two for selecting me for this book tour. As one of my most anticipated reads for the year, I was too happy to get a hold of this book.

There are a total of 11 short stories in this book and let me tell you. . The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton ruined my life in a good way. This short story was a whole ass first two chapters to at least a 40 chapter book. It was so freaking amazing. The character detail was unexpected because it was a short story. As a reader, I was able to become invested in her characters in a fairly short amount of time. The world building was not only descriptive but it was unique, creative and dripping in history. *happy sigh* I loved that story and really hope Clayton extends it into a full novel.

The Boys From Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse was my next favorite read of this collection. Everything about it gave you a promise that you was about to fall in love with the wrong one, love it, hate it, try to change it and then remember why you love it. Although this one felt like a short story, it has the power to become something bigger and as this is the first thing I have read from Roanhorse, I immediately looked up her other books to read. Just like Clayton’s book, it is dripping in history. It plays upon the small town , which you know has a whole lot of secrets. I liked that this book was able to pull me in with song and with dreamy eyes.

In Kind by Kayla Whaley was the most unexpected read out of this entire series. The main character is disabled and something fierce. What happened to her is what took me back. TW by the way. I wasn’t expecting a story to be so real and real in the sense that the only thing making it fantasy is the main character happens to become a vampire. I was feeling all types of feelings with this read. These three stories were my top three (clearly I was completely in love with the first one but yeah).

The remaining stories were good but they didn’t hold my attention was much as I would have wanted nor did they have the depth that these other stories were able to demonstrate. When I think of vampires, even teenage vampires, I think of history, a mix of a good time and internal angst, and trouble. I wanted more darkness out of some of these stories. And all three of my favorites delivered on that.

Overall, I am happy I read this book as it introduced me to a lot of authors I have never read before.

3 Pickles