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Vampires of Portlandia
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When Marcella Leones relocates her family of aswang vampires from the Philippines to Portland, Oregon, she raises her grandchildren under strict rules so humans will not expose them. Her only wish is to give them a peaceful life, far away from the hunters and the Filipino government that attempted to exterminate them.
Before she dies, she passes on the power to her eldest ...more
Before she dies, she passes on the power to her eldest ...more
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Paperback, 436 pages
Published
September 29th 2020
by Parliament House Press
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Start your review of Vampires of Portlandia

Aug 04, 2020
Melanie
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
vampires,
blog-tour,
lgbtqiap,
arc,
shifters,
read-in-2020,
maëlys,
quarantine-reads,
filipino,
witches

ARC Provided by the Author & Caffeine Book Tours (#AswanginPortlandTour)
Vampires of Portlandia is an ownvoices Filipino story about a young adult named Percival who is soon going to be in charge of taking care of his family, while also becoming the leader of what is left of the Filipino vampires! Right now, it is only him, his lola, his younger brother Roger, and their even younger twin siblings and they all fled the Philippines to hopefully have a safer life where they can live in hiding withou ...more

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Vampires of Portlandia by Jason Tanamor was one of my highly anticipated releases of September. It's not often you get to see the aswang of Filipino mythology in fiction of any kind so I jumped at the chance when I saw it on NetGalley. For the most part, I liked Tanamor's story and getting to know the characters and urban fantasy world he's created here. There's so much potential for this to great, but it never quite manages to hi ...more
Vampires of Portlandia by Jason Tanamor was one of my highly anticipated releases of September. It's not often you get to see the aswang of Filipino mythology in fiction of any kind so I jumped at the chance when I saw it on NetGalley. For the most part, I liked Tanamor's story and getting to know the characters and urban fantasy world he's created here. There's so much potential for this to great, but it never quite manages to hi ...more

Aug 08, 2020
rain
added it
i.... really wanted to like this book. i really did. but i ended up disliking it so much that i almost did not finish it 🙃
i was really looking forward to this, especially because it's inspired from filipino mythology. it has aswangs and manananggals which are figures that i know so well from horror stories i grew up with. however, im sad to say that this book didn't give these figures enough justice. they were too...americanized for my taste and i think they also lacked depth.
in fact, this book ...more
i was really looking forward to this, especially because it's inspired from filipino mythology. it has aswangs and manananggals which are figures that i know so well from horror stories i grew up with. however, im sad to say that this book didn't give these figures enough justice. they were too...americanized for my taste and i think they also lacked depth.
in fact, this book ...more

Oct 04, 2020
Vicky Again
added it
DNF @ 65.4%
I really was so excited for Vampires of Portlandia. It sounded amazing--Filipino mythology and vampires, magic, Pacific North West vibes. And I do think that the things I was excited for were still exciting, but I hit some road blocks while reading that made me ultimately DNF this book.
I almost never DNF ARCs. It's not an action I do lightly, but as my time is more and more precious in college and because it's become increasingly important for me to find joy in fiction and not drag m ...more
I really was so excited for Vampires of Portlandia. It sounded amazing--Filipino mythology and vampires, magic, Pacific North West vibes. And I do think that the things I was excited for were still exciting, but I hit some road blocks while reading that made me ultimately DNF this book.
I almost never DNF ARCs. It's not an action I do lightly, but as my time is more and more precious in college and because it's become increasingly important for me to find joy in fiction and not drag m ...more

DNF 12%
Vampires of Portlandia lost another reader.
My goodness, I do not like this book. The characters are flat, the story is uninteresting, the dialogue is cliché and cringey. But what really pushed me over the line of "NOPE" was a scene where a woman agrees to go to an empty bar with a man she exchanged literally maybe 20 words with because it was pouring rain and she couldn't open her umbrella. Did any women proof read this book? WHO WOULD DO THIS? No woman would go to an unknown location wit ...more
Vampires of Portlandia lost another reader.
My goodness, I do not like this book. The characters are flat, the story is uninteresting, the dialogue is cliché and cringey. But what really pushed me over the line of "NOPE" was a scene where a woman agrees to go to an empty bar with a man she exchanged literally maybe 20 words with because it was pouring rain and she couldn't open her umbrella. Did any women proof read this book? WHO WOULD DO THIS? No woman would go to an unknown location wit ...more

was a 4 star... then the ending happened.
i perhaps enjoyed this a lot more than others, but that doesn't mean i didn't make it through scot free. while i don't echo a lot of other reviews' gripes about too much content, i did struggle with the writing and voice throughout the book, and oh my god do i hate that ending more than anything.
HOWEVER, much of the storytelling was reminiscent of steinbeck's cannery row, but much more plot centric and relevant with the flashback vignettes. i liked how we ...more
i perhaps enjoyed this a lot more than others, but that doesn't mean i didn't make it through scot free. while i don't echo a lot of other reviews' gripes about too much content, i did struggle with the writing and voice throughout the book, and oh my god do i hate that ending more than anything.
HOWEVER, much of the storytelling was reminiscent of steinbeck's cannery row, but much more plot centric and relevant with the flashback vignettes. i liked how we ...more

I was given an ARC by Parliament House Press for an honest review. In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.
Aswangs in the US struck me as a very interesting concept. It's an intriguing way of tackling how the Filipino mythos could play in a backdrop so modern and foreign.
That said, it did not play well.
Tanamor uprooted these creatures from its motherland, threw it overseas, and left it there to die. He stripped the lore to mere warring tribes with little to no characterization at all ...more
Aswangs in the US struck me as a very interesting concept. It's an intriguing way of tackling how the Filipino mythos could play in a backdrop so modern and foreign.
That said, it did not play well.
Tanamor uprooted these creatures from its motherland, threw it overseas, and left it there to die. He stripped the lore to mere warring tribes with little to no characterization at all ...more

Thank you to Caffeine Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. You can find my article introducing aswang and Philippine mythology HERE!
Thank you also to the author, Jason Tanamor, for providing me with a free e-copy of this ARC.
So, now that the blog tour is long over, I'm finally posting my review. Trust me, nobody is more disappointed than I am. This was a highly anticipated read (aswang!!! urban fantasy!! Filipino author!!) but unfortunately it fell flat.
I think this novel needed a ...more
Thank you also to the author, Jason Tanamor, for providing me with a free e-copy of this ARC.
So, now that the blog tour is long over, I'm finally posting my review. Trust me, nobody is more disappointed than I am. This was a highly anticipated read (aswang!!! urban fantasy!! Filipino author!!) but unfortunately it fell flat.
I think this novel needed a ...more

Aug 18, 2020
Paula M
marked it as to-read

“To being here. Something we can't always find time to do.”
📚 Series? No.
📚 Genre? Fantasy.
⚠ Book Tags: Filipino culture. Vampires.
Could Have Been So Beautiful..
As a Filipino, I always want to champion works of my fellowmen, especially because I know how hard it is to get your name out there and that Filipinos need to be represented more in media. However, when we're talking about representation, you would want to get things right before doing anything.
Reading The Vampires of Por ...more

The book started slow. For me, the book's grip started when the book went back in time. The setting changes from Portland into Philippines and the background story it gave was so good. My heart was full then, as the book talked about things that are truly Filipino. I even learned new things from it. Then my heart became even fuller as I read further.
These bits of history does not only provide a great background to the present story, but it could also work as a good stand-alone story. There were ...more
These bits of history does not only provide a great background to the present story, but it could also work as a good stand-alone story. There were ...more

3.5 stars--VAMPIRES OF PORTLANDIA by Jason Tanamor is a paranormal/ urban fantasy story line based in the Filipino folklore focusing on the aswang-an all encompassing term for shape-shifting vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and werebeasts (dogs and crows).
Told from several third person perspectives bouncing between several time lines and perspectives, VAMPIRES OF PORTLANDIA follows the Filipino-born Leones family of vampires to Portland, Oregon where they learned to blend into the hum ...more
Told from several third person perspectives bouncing between several time lines and perspectives, VAMPIRES OF PORTLANDIA follows the Filipino-born Leones family of vampires to Portland, Oregon where they learned to blend into the hum ...more

Thank you Netgalley and The Parliament House for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to like this book so badly. It’s a book by a Filipino author featuring Filipino lore so I was really excited about this. Sadly, the execution fell flat.
It was obvious that the author really wanted to highlight the Filipino culture and I appreciated that. I’m glad that a lot of Filipino authors have been expanding into an international audience. I do appreciate what the author was try ...more
I wanted to like this book so badly. It’s a book by a Filipino author featuring Filipino lore so I was really excited about this. Sadly, the execution fell flat.
It was obvious that the author really wanted to highlight the Filipino culture and I appreciated that. I’m glad that a lot of Filipino authors have been expanding into an international audience. I do appreciate what the author was try ...more

Aug 31, 2020
Brandy {The Review Booth}
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
2020-goodreads-challenge,
the-parliament-house
Vampires of Portlandia appealed to me because of it's supernatural elements but also because I lived near Portland for several years and worked in NW Portland/Slabtown. I never had the chance to visit The Nerd Out but it sounds similar to Portland's gaming bar that I have been to in Old Town Chinatown- Ground Kontrol. If you're a fan of video games - specifically pinball or arcade games I highly recommend visiting if you're in Portland. It was nice to see Hobo's & the Shanghai tunnels make an ap
...more

I really wanted to like this book about aswangs and Filipino folklore set around a family of adopted vampires in Portland. Everything about the idea spoke to me! But the execution just fell flat. I couldn't find any depth to the story or characters, and at almost halfway into the book, I'm still not sure what the plot actually is. Sadly, this one wasn't for me.
...more

Jul 30, 2020
Solace_In_Reading
marked it as to-read
7.30.2020
I am excited for this!!
I am excited for this!!

Find me elsewhere:
🔮 Blog | Instagram | Twitter 🔮
Read my review on the blog here.
There was a time when I didn’t feel Filipino at all, when I didn’t connect with either of the countries I belonged to. I didn’t know much about the Philippines even though my family would visit once a year. But if there was one thing I knew well, it was our mythology and folklore. I’ve always been obsessed with the different superstitions, stories, ghost hauntings told by my family, especially my lola (grandmother). ...more
🔮 Blog | Instagram | Twitter 🔮
Read my review on the blog here.
There was a time when I didn’t feel Filipino at all, when I didn’t connect with either of the countries I belonged to. I didn’t know much about the Philippines even though my family would visit once a year. But if there was one thing I knew well, it was our mythology and folklore. I’ve always been obsessed with the different superstitions, stories, ghost hauntings told by my family, especially my lola (grandmother). ...more

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book wasn't for me. The full review can be found here.
Flat characters with stilted dialogue with the whole plot hanging on the plot device of Marcella not preparing Percival for his role as a leader. I loved the lore and better execution would've probably helped with liking the book, but I can't recommend it as it is, in need of proofreading and editing. ...more
Flat characters with stilted dialogue with the whole plot hanging on the plot device of Marcella not preparing Percival for his role as a leader. I loved the lore and better execution would've probably helped with liking the book, but I can't recommend it as it is, in need of proofreading and editing. ...more

According to the lore, the legend involved two brothers, both gods. One brother Gugurang, was pure, and the other, Asuang, was flawed.
Growing up in the Philippines, I remember being more frightened than usual nearing November 1st and 2nd. These are the days when we mostly visit our dead relatives. I’ve always felt as if the pull of the supernatural is weirdly strong during these two days — I am also 150% scaredy-cat so, what do I know? Haha! I also remember news segments dedicated to ghosts, whi ...more

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a digital ARC of this novel.
Actual rate: 2.50 stars
Well, this is probably one of the most challenging books i have had to review so far. Truly, I don't know how to explain how this novel felt to me without wanting to start aggresively ranting just then to feel guilty.
On one side, this book had a very interesting premise (and a very sick cover). The fact that it's strictly connected to Filipino mythology and showed a realistic reason for why a ...more
Actual rate: 2.50 stars
Well, this is probably one of the most challenging books i have had to review so far. Truly, I don't know how to explain how this novel felt to me without wanting to start aggresively ranting just then to feel guilty.
On one side, this book had a very interesting premise (and a very sick cover). The fact that it's strictly connected to Filipino mythology and showed a realistic reason for why a ...more

Loved this book for a lot of reasons but most notably for an entirely different take on vampires. These are aswangs from Filipino lore and I really enjoyed the origination story, as well as their arrival in Portland, Oregon—truly a sanctuary city welcoming “all kinds.” Tanamor paints a vivid picture of everything Portland, from landmarks to its pride of weirdness to the ubiquitous population of crows.

I really thought I'd love this one. Unfortunately, it didn't match my expectations.
The book was very repetitive, if I didn't remember something the first time it was said then no worries, it would be mentioned again and again and again...
I didn't much care for the "past" chapters, I kept wishing for them to end quicker so I could get back to the real action.
In the "present" chapters what I liked was the family bond, I felt it. Percival is a good big brother who would even sacrifice himself to ...more
The book was very repetitive, if I didn't remember something the first time it was said then no worries, it would be mentioned again and again and again...
I didn't much care for the "past" chapters, I kept wishing for them to end quicker so I could get back to the real action.
In the "present" chapters what I liked was the family bond, I felt it. Percival is a good big brother who would even sacrifice himself to ...more

Sep 12, 2020
Dionne (HeyoitsDeej)
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
one-time-read-books,
books-with-asian-roots
This will be a mess of a review. Entirely, a huge question mark just pops on top of my head as I finished the entire book. Vampires of Portlandia is the story about a small aswang family of Percival with his adopted younger siblings and "maternal figure" grandmother Leones. The family migrated to Portland from the Philippines, due to the increasing number of murders the Philippine Government placed on their kind. Years later, Percival must step up and take his place as the head of the family, an
...more

Oct 01, 2020
Patricia Lim
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
fantasy,
filipiniana,
horror,
paranormal,
own-voices,
urban-fantasy,
new-adult
Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher and Caffeine Book Tours as part of my participation in the tour.
This is part of the review I posted on my blog: Review: Vampires of Portlandia
Who knew that the aswang, like any modern Filipino, can be uprooted and live somewhere in the world? Vampires of Portlandia is an ownvoices novel about a family of aswang in The narrative is centered on the family of Percival, a young adult vampire who is destined to b ...more
This is part of the review I posted on my blog: Review: Vampires of Portlandia
Who knew that the aswang, like any modern Filipino, can be uprooted and live somewhere in the world? Vampires of Portlandia is an ownvoices novel about a family of aswang in The narrative is centered on the family of Percival, a young adult vampire who is destined to b ...more

Read my full review here: https://lifesanovelty.blogspot.com/20...
Opinions: Vampires of Portlandia is the epitome of YA vampire tales - diverse, electrifying, and atmospheric by all means. Even the protagonists' names support the eerie setting of Portland, Oregon! To start, the book's introduction does exactly that: introduce readers to the aswang culture and how Leones' coven plays into that. In what some readers describe as information dumps but I describe as strategic character introductions, ...more
Opinions: Vampires of Portlandia is the epitome of YA vampire tales - diverse, electrifying, and atmospheric by all means. Even the protagonists' names support the eerie setting of Portland, Oregon! To start, the book's introduction does exactly that: introduce readers to the aswang culture and how Leones' coven plays into that. In what some readers describe as information dumps but I describe as strategic character introductions, ...more

“Do not make excuses. Take responsibility for your actions.”
The Good
-story switched from past to present so it was really nice to read about the older characters’ backstories.
-how the aswangs’ history was connected to the Philippines’ history (+ its government)
-the different kind of aswangs and how they differ from one another, not just how they look physically but also, the way they live
-shows a glimpse of how Filipino families are
-that little gibe about the Philippine government when the a ...more

I read this book twice. The first time I didn't really get into it. It read like a movie, so it went by quickly. The second time was more enjoyable.
The story is about a matriarch vampire (Marcella Leones) who relocates her family from the Philippines to Portland, Oregon for a better life. Her vampire breed (a breed of aswangs) has a tumultuous history of violence, so Leones hides that fact from her oldest grandson, Percival, who ultimately inherits the power when she dies. Percival then becomes ...more
The story is about a matriarch vampire (Marcella Leones) who relocates her family from the Philippines to Portland, Oregon for a better life. Her vampire breed (a breed of aswangs) has a tumultuous history of violence, so Leones hides that fact from her oldest grandson, Percival, who ultimately inherits the power when she dies. Percival then becomes ...more
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"...a promising writer with lots of potential..." - Publishers Weekly
Jason Tanamor has 10 plus years of experience as an entertainment writer and interviewer for Yahoo!, the Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus, Cinema Blend, Celebrity Cafe, Strip Las Vegas Magazine, Pulse Magazine, and Zoiks! Online.
Tanamor has interviewed the likes of author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club); comedians Demetri Martin, ...more
Jason Tanamor has 10 plus years of experience as an entertainment writer and interviewer for Yahoo!, the Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus, Cinema Blend, Celebrity Cafe, Strip Las Vegas Magazine, Pulse Magazine, and Zoiks! Online.
Tanamor has interviewed the likes of author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club); comedians Demetri Martin, ...more
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