|
|
Title | Evelyn's Journal
| |
Author | M.J. Gardner
| |
Cover Art | ---
| |
Publisher | 2014
| |
First Printing | 2014
|
|
|
|
Title | Joe Vampire
| |
Author | M.J. Gardner
| |
Cover Art | ---
| |
Publisher | Palely Loitering Press - 2017
| |
First Printing | Palely Loitering Press - 2017
|
| |
|
Category | Fantasy
| |
Warnings | None
| |
Main Characters | Evelyn, Simms, Joe, Tamara, Ritchie, Claude, Asha, Frog
| |
Main Elements | Vampires
| |
Website | ---
|
|
 Evelyn's Journal
It's cold and dark and Evelyn is in the morgue. In a drawer. She doesn't know how she got there, and Tammi, the morgue attendant who hustles her out into the night, doesn't have time to answer questions.
Evelyn has been robbed of the gift of immortality her absent lover promised her, and plunged instead, alone, into the night-time world of the vampire. In her search for love and belonging Evelyn must contend with a series of lovers who have their own ideas about what being a vampire means, and who she should be.
Joe Vampire
Joe is trying to build a life with Evelyn, his immortal and bloodthirsty lover. Living with her seems safer, and saner, than his troubled drug-addicted teenage years. But can Joe cope with the strongest addiction of all?
I was on a mailing list, back when those were an actual thing, where the author first posted these stories, so this was a nostalgic blast from the past. I didn't remember how the story really went but I remembered the characters. The insane Simms, the cold practicaly Evelyn, the sweet but drug-addicted Joe (honestly, becoming a pharmacist was probably the dumbest thing he did in the whole story).
The first book focuses on Evelyn, a student at an all girl's school is bored so decides to see if she can get her piano teacher to have an affair with her. But he doesn't want sex, well, at least that's not all he wants. Then he abruptly needs to leave, so offers her his own blood which he promises her will give her immortality without her becoming a vampire herself. Not quite sure what do to, she accepts. And then within months is hit by a bus and she wakes up undead. All alone she needs to figure out how to live as a vampire, dead by day, having to avoid other territorial vampires, and finding enough victims without rousing her neighbours' suspicions. And for those looking for diversity in their characters, Evelyn is a vampire of colour, the daughter of a rich white mother and a black servant father. Let's just say her grandparents didn't like her much and hence how she ended up at said all girl's boarding school.
The second book focuses on Joe, Evelyn's mortal lover. Poor guy has a lot of baggage, having grown up in an abusive household and addicted to drugs since he was a kid. Now he's got to figure out how to deal with having a vampire for a lover. And get clean. And not get eaten by the other vampires. And graduate college. And make the biggest decision of his life, does he want to become a vampire too?
Since I'd been exposed to these characters before I'll admit I was a bit biased but I enjoyed these stories and wouldn't have minded reading even more in this world, even if we explored the histories of some of the other characters we encountered, I mean, Ritchie must have some interesting tales to tell and would really love to know more about Tamara.
|
