Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Published February 2, 2021 by Entangled Teen
Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy; 320 pages
Book 1 in the Afterlife Trilogy
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❝I felt like it was a secret I should be shouting at the top of my lungs. Vampires exist! Run! Those good-looking guys with fangs? In reality, they’re vicious predators who kill for something to do on a slow Saturday night.❞
-The Afterlife of the Party by Marlene Perez
The Afterlife of the Party is a tongue-in-cheek and delightfully campy entry into the YA vampire canon (think Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Crave) that also comes with a side of commentary about consent and the dangers of stan culture. It follows 17-year-old Tansy Mariotti and details what happens after the fateful day that she allows her longtime best friend Skyler to drag her to a party to meet her new crush, Travis. He is the lead singer of an up-and-coming band, The Drainers, who are more than just musicians: they’re vampires, and they feed off of their obnoxious groupies (in a note at the end of the book, the author warns to not “google your favorite band’s name and groupies, so I imagine that it was such a search that inspired this story). Skyler takes off to follow the band, and to make matters worse, Travis bit Tansy (without her consent)!
A major focus in the book is on Tansy and Skyler’s friendship which I thought was done well. They clearly have a lot of history which Tansy frequently references, and I loved how much she cared about Skyler. So much so, in fact, that Tansy and her best guy friend who she has been crushing on for years, Vaughn, go on a wild goose chase to find her. I thought that the romance between Vaughn and Tansy was very cute, and even though it indulged in nearly every popular romance trope (friends to lovers, one bed, fake dating), the timing of them is so perfect that I didn’t mind. The Afterlife of the Party is campy and doesn’t apologize for it.
Though The Afterlife of the Party has some fantasy elements, it’s on the lower end of the fantasy spectrum so even people who do not usually read the genre can probably enjoy it. The Drainers and their groupies give way to some darker stuff such as kidnapping and murder, but the overall vibe of the book is not too heavy, and I definitely giggled at times.
My rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Synopsis:
The bestselling author of the Dead Is… series is back with a snarky, hilarious take on the vampire romance novel.
When my best friend Skyler told me about this party in the Hollywood Hills, I was less than enthused. As it turned out, my feelings were more than justified. That party ruined my life.
Tansy didn’t even want to go to the party. It’s hard enough living in one of your best friend’s shadows and secretly in love with your other best friend.
And now she’s leaving it a vampire.
Now her best friend Skyler is stuck on the road trip from hell, on tour as a groupie with a literal band of vamps. Tansy sets out with Vaughn, her other BFF turned maybe more, to save Skylar’s life and take down the band. But when they find themselves in the middle of a vampire war, will Tansy be able to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her friends? (from goodreads)
Potential Trigger/Content Warnings:
- Sexual assault
- Kidnapping
- Murder
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