Status Updates From Vampires Never Get Old: Tal...

MIRRORS, WINDOWS, AND SELFIES by Mark Oshiro: 3/5 stars

I really liked the idea and the structure of this story, though the blog posts were more of a gimmick than a real plot point. The story was great and Cisco as a character was well-drawn, but the lore and plot of this left me a little bereft.

BESTIARY by Laura Ruby: 2.5/5 stars.

I feel SO conflicted about this one. I love the idea of vampirism and connection to animals, and the little hint of a reveal at the end was fantastic. But the world building was confusing, and it was hard for me to tell what was actually happening sometimes. The actual plot just didn't do enough.

“A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire” by Samira Ahmed - 4.2

VAMPIRES NEVER SAY DIE by Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker: 4/5 stars

The concept? Great. Execution? Almost perfect. I needed a little bit more from the ending, and there were a couple of things I was just a little confused about, but overall this was a fun take.

IN KIND by Kayla Whaley: 5/5 stars

This was stunning. Like, completely wonderful. It managed to give little bits of lore, enough to understand without overwhelming the story. It also had a fantastic representation of disability, and I love its take on vampirism as "cure." Honestly, I loved this one so much.

A GUIDEBOOK FOR THE NEWLY SIRED DESI VAMPIRE by Samira Ahmed: 2.5/5 stars.

This was fine. It wasn't actually a short story, so no characters and no plot. Other than the setting being India, it was pretty standard fare for vampire lore. I liked the idea of the Vampersand app to help new baby vamps, but otherwise it was pretty generic advice.

THE BOY AND THE BELL by Heidi Heilig: 2/5 stars

I immediately saw the "twist" to the story, which I really appreciated, but the story itself was underwhelming. It was too short and too predictable to be all that interesting.

"The Boy and the Bell" by Heidi Heilig - 3.7

SENIOR YEAR SUCKS! by Julie Murphy: 3/5 stars

I hate that I'm rating this on the lower because I am a huge Julie Murphy fangirl. But this just wasn't quite fleshed out enough for my taste. It felt like the setup for a full-length novel (which I would love, btw). The ending felt rushed and the characters not quite...enough to feel like I was totally sucked in.

THE BOYS FROM BLOOD RIVER by Rebecca Roanhorse: 5/5 stars

This gave me serious Lost Boys vibes and I was totally into it. I gasped out loud at a certain reveal, and the end was perfect for a short story. I loved this one.

Story 11. 3.5 stars. Would love a full length of this story too. Was rooting for Cal.

SEVEN NIGHTS FOR DYING by Tessa Gratton: 4.5/5 stars

I didn't love the beginning, but the rest of the story had me hooked and I loved this take on vampires. Esmael can suck it though.

Story 10. 4 stars. I would love to read a full length story on this! The setting is so rich and the different immortals are so intriguing! I still have so many questions.

Story 9.3.5 stars. I loved the format being blog posts, but just felt the story was missing something overall. I did like how it ended

Story 8. 3.5 stars. The story seemed really interesting and I would have loved to know more about her talking with animals and what happened to her and what would happen next. Dystopians stress me out too much though and the setting being dystopian Chicago really made me anxious.

Story 7: 3 stars. Theo was annoying. I liked Brittany. I would have liked this more as a horror. It had a lot of potential to take the story into an interesting direction bc I did like the setting.

Story 6: 3 stars. This brought up an interesting idea of how much healing does vampirism actually achieve and what mercy can look like.

"Senior Year Sucks" by Julie Murphy - 3.75

Kind of wish we got more of this story but this might be better haha