Staff Review: Thirst

Title/Author: Thirst - Marina Yuszczuk (Translate by Heather Cleary)

Genre(s): Horror, Literary Fiction, LGBTQ+, Historical

This was fantastic. I confess, I wasn't sure what to expect going in. Based on page count, it seemed like it should have felt shorter than it did, but this is a full, rich story of two characters, where their lives existed apart, and there they intersected.

This is probably the most 'literary fiction' title I've read in quite some time. It's ostensibly a genre book, given the vampire, but it's language, it's flow, the contrast between the rather straightforward part one (the vampire's tale in the past) and the sort of purposeful meandering of part two (Alma's tale in the present)...I don't know how properly to explain my thinking on this.

I wanted more of the two of them together. I'm sure it was never going to happen, that's not the type of story the author was writing, but that's fine. This was just great.

Reviewed by: Alex

Staff Review: Suture

Title/Author: Suture - Nic Brewer

Genre(s): Horror, Literary Fiction, LGBTQ+

Local author Nic Brewer creates the unsettling world of Suture, a place where art is dangerous and involves substantial self-mutilation and self-sabotage. Underneath the blatant metaphor that all art is essentially a piece of ourselves we have cut out and shared with the world is Brewer's graphic look at the excruciating pain that comes from revealing your own pain and trauma and sharing it with others. Through the themes of self-sacrifice in romantic, familial, and self love, Suture itself is a work of art that challenges just how comfortable we are with creating.

Reviewed by: Shelby