Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life. Her husband surprises her with a birthday-weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi. Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity.  

But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever. The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it’s never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.

In her newest novel So Thirsty, Rachel Harrison tackles aging and female friendship in a bloody, visceral and terrifying way. From the very beginning, we as readers are drawn into Sloane’s life, realizing just how stale and bland it is and how much she dreads aging. The horror elements start with a creepiness that quickly turns bloody and violent as a wild night out changes everything for Sloane and Naomi.

What I love the most is that the narrative centers itself on the friendship between Sloane and Naomi despite the romantic elements along the edges of the story. Their friendship is the heart of the story and how each tackles the challenges in their lives. As they find, no matter how they live, life is messy and full of consequences. I love that their new thirst is compares with shame and how women must embrace themselves fully in order to rid themselves of the shame society would like them to have. The novel is brilliant as it compares vampirism with aging and desire. 

If you’ve enjoyed Rachel Harrison’s other novels or you like a unique twist on vampires, you’ll want to pick up So Thirsty. The brilliant story is layered with messiness and consequences as Sloane and Naomi learn to embrace their new identities and find a way to navigate the new truths in their friendship. The story is visceral and terrifying, full of blood and gore. I enjoyed the creepy vampire elements but most of all, I love the female friendship. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 cups