Title: Odd Blood
Author: Azalea Crowley
Series: Odd Blood #1
Pages: 316
Josephine Pajimula feels stuck. She is on the verge of losing her housing because her roommate got engaged and their relationship is changing. So she goes to a Halloween party to try and ignore all her issues. Instead she meets a man in a vampire costume who is really getting into character and who has been drugged. Against her better judgment, she helps him get home safely and finds that it hasn’t been an act.
This was an amusing and cozy horror story. Josephine’s life is kind of falling apart but Eadwulf offers her a way out. Come work for him and take care of his vampire ward, and you will get housing and better pay. Josephine was a great character and I really loved seeing her deal with all these world changing revelations. While she is dealing with this, she also is coming to the realization that even though she is on the asexual spectrum and always thought she wasn’t interested in sex and relationships, she is coming to the realization that she is actually demisexual and it just took the right person. I enjoyed seeing her come to terms with her new feelings and that she isn’t rushing anything. Also while she does admit her attraction, no romance happens in this book.
Eadwulf, Norma, and Ana were all fascinating vampires and were all hilarious and quirky. Eadwulf was a goofy himbo vampire who was hundreds of years old. I really adored him and his quirkiness. I really liked how awkward he was at the end when it came to admitting his feelings for Josephine as well. Ana was a bad-mouthed lesbian vampire who embroiders vaginas and loves to meet the ladies. I loved how over the top she was with her cursing. While she was easy to anger and was a bit abrupt at times, she also was a good friend to Eadwulf and eventually Josephine. Norma has brain haze, which seems to be a bit like dementia or Alzheimer’s, so she has good days and bad days, which is why she needs a caretaker. She was a funny old vamp and I liked how she was both sweet and terrifying.
Overall this was a very interesting take on vampires in a modern world. I enjoyed Josephine’s story and all the vampires. I will be reading the next one to see what happens next now that they have admitted their feelings for each other.
TW: blood, violence, death; racism in the workplace mentioned;
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