August 1, 2022
In the New York Times best-selling Chen's follow-up to Light Years from Home, vampires don't go around bloodsucking people to death (an idea they find abhorrent) but wrangle blood bags and work night jobs. For Louise Chao, it's a lonely life, relieved by her passion for punk rock. Then a teenage relative she barely knows arrives at her door, and for once she connects--but in the end there's big-time trouble. With a 30,000-copy paperback and a 10,000-copy hardcover first printing.
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Starred review from October 3, 2022
A love letter to the power of music, this thoughtful, humorous exploration of what constitutes living versus mere survival sees Chen (Light Years from Home) at the top of his game. Chinese-American Louise Chao, a musician in life, has spent decades living like an outcast even among her fellow vampires. She ekes out an existence by working nights as a hospital janitor (which provides easy access to blood) while ignoring the overtures of Eric, the leader of the local vampire community. Then 13-year-old Ian, a distant (mortal) cousin whose father is dead and mother is dying, shows up at her door. Louise sees an opportunity of help Ian cope by introducing him to the greats of the punk era and puts aside her apprehension and secrecy to form an unlikely bond. Their connection revitalizes her love of music, leaving her eager to join a band once more and get back to the joy, power, and rhythm she’d felt in the music scene of 1980s San Francisco. Of course, nothing is easy, and as Louise struggles to keep her undead state a secret, Ian inches ever closer to the truth. Chen fully immerses readers in Louise’s mindset, delivering both laugh-out-loud snark and moments of aching loveliness as she navigates the thorny experience of being other, all underscored by a soundtrack that defined a generation. This is a hit. Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary.
January 1, 2023
Punk is undead in this vampire drama that is light on gore and heavy on sentimentality. Louise Chao left her unhappy home to join a punk band in the 1970s and never looked back, even after she became a vampire. After the loss of the two most important people in her life, she's content to be a loner. But when her now-elderly brother comes knocking, believing her to be a distant relative, she is reluctantly roped into helping care for his teenaged grandson, Ian, a moody aspiring musician whose mother is hospitalized with cancer. Louise struggles to keep her vampirism secret while dealing with a local blood shortage and a pushy vampire leader who wants Louise to be more involved in the vampire community. When her two lives collide, things get messy. Though the plotline surrounding the vampire community often feels like an afterthought, a strong emotional core carries Chen's (Light Years from Home, 2022) latest, which is ultimately about healing from old wounds and learning how to embrace life again after loss--even if you're dead.
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October 1, 2022
Louise Chao lives a solitary life as a vampire. Then people show up on her doorstep--her despised brother Stephen, now an aging grandfather, and his grandson Ian, whose mother is dying of cancer. Keeping their family ties under wraps, Louise is ready to move them along until she discovers that Ian holds the same passion for music as she does. As their relationship grows through guitar lessons and concerts, a blood shortage forces her to connect with the vampire community through their organizer's new app. When Ian realizes Louise is a vampire, they are both drawn into situations that will change their lives, and Louise realizes that she has a chance to rediscover her family connection. The novel's intriguing twists on vampire mythology, in relation to 21st-century existence, punk rock, and family dynamics, are weighed down by some slow exposition and superficial reveals, but Louise's dynamic with Ian is a strong, central thread. VERDICT Chen's latest (after Light Years from Home) is an ode to a love for vampires, music, and family, where darker memories can be revealed in the light of the present day.--Kristi Chadwick
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.