I’ve been struggling with book review motivation lately, so I thought I’d try something a little bit different today and review two recent reads in one post. These will be super short, snapshot reviews (I say now, but knowing me, they’ll wind up longer than I think). 

(Full disclosure: This post uses Bookshop.org affiliate links)

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Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen

Format Read: Paperback

Rating: 3 stars

Vampire Weekend follows Louise, a musician turned vampire. She wants to disprove your exisiting notions about vampires — namely, that they have cool powers. Louise mostly spends her days trying to acquire blood in a humane way and searching for a new band, all while trying to conceal the fact that she’s a bit on the undead side. When a long lost relative shows up on her doorstep, things get shaken up.

I loved the idea of vampires, but make it mundane, and really enjoyed that aspect of this book. It was fun to see Louise living her daily life, snuggling with her corgi, and trying to pursue her passions. Vampirism was just sort of an inconvenient thing that had happened to her and which dictated elements of her life. 

The plot lost me a bit when it took a surprising turn and got very eventful, very quickly. I kind of preferred the quiet suspense to the big spectacle, but all in all, this was a very fun read and a unique take on vampires that I appreciated. 

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Weyward by Emilia Hart

Format Read: Hardcover (BOTM Edition)

Rating: 5 stars

I’ve learned by now that I love a multigenerational story, and Weyward delivers. It follows three women from the same family, living in different times but struggling with what it means to be a little bit unusual and quite possibly magical. We see the ways their lives connect and echo one another, and how being a wild woman creates its own challenges in different periods of history. 

I adored this book and seeing each woman grapple with her nature, her gifts, and what she should do with them. The stories were woven together well, and the magic was used in interesting ways. At its heart, Weyward is about women finding and claiming their power, even as the world fights to snuff it out. 

There’s some really heavy stuff that happens on page, so I’d recommend readers check out trigger warnings before embarking on this journey. But if you can, read this book. It’ll be with me for a long time. 

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And there we have it, two bite-sized (ish) reviews for my recent reads. They don’t have a ton in common except that they both have some supernatural, magical elements and that I read them recently. Have you read either of these? Or are they on your TBR?