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Summer Cannibals
In the scorching summer of 1977, Memphis pulses with a sinister energy. Elvis is dead, but the city is alive with the power of darkness. Sin prowls the streets, and at the heart of it all is a harem of vampires, led by the enigmatic and seductive Raven Wilkes. Ethan Black, once a fearsome Knight of The Order, has strayed from his sacred calling. After centuries of hunting the undead, he now finds himself ensnared in a treacherous web of addiction and inner turmoil. Raven Wilkes, the daughter of the King of New Orleans and a shrewd entrepreneur in her own right, desires power and has her own selfish interests at stake. As the lines between loyalty and betrayal blur, Ethan is torn between his allegiance to Raven and the risky promise of returning to The Order. The choice he makes may plunge him deeper into the abyss or offer a glimmer of salvation
117 pages, Paperback
Published October 4, 2023
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41 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 29, 2024
1.5 rounded up to a 2.
I really, really wanted to like Summer Cannibals - I mean, c'mon, Southern LGBTQ+ vampires in 1977? That kind of thing is right up my alley. And for what it's worth, it's that exact sort of vibe that Rose maintained throughout this book that kept it from being a 1-star read. Summer Cannibals is, if nothing else, very vivid, and has a very distinct feel throughout it all. Setting-wise, it's great. It's the rest that's the problem.
First off, this book is plagued with editing errors. I try to cut indie authors some slack with this, because obviously they don't have editors to go through their work, but this reads like Rose published their first draft without reading through it first. Rose doesn't know the difference between the words 'to' and 'too', and several instances of dialogue don't have closing quotation marks. These are little things that might not seem like a big deal, but when you see them repeated over and over again, it just takes you out of the world of the book.
With the actual story of Summer Cannibals-- well, I couldn't even tell you what the story was. Somehow, this book drags out a massive narrative that doesn't make sense and is too complex for a 100-page novella at the best of times, and yet simultaneously skips over massive scenes of action. Nothing happens, and then everything happens, and then the book is over. The pacing was really poor, and it just seemed like Rose had an entire fantasy world with rich lore created for Summer Cannibals, and when they couldn't find places to organically fit that lore, they shoehorned it in anyways. There's too much going on here, and the plot is both needlessly complicated and boring.
Aside from that, I have some massive issues with how queerness and POC characters are portrayed in this book. I think Rose was trying to make it seem like the bad guys were racist, and that our POC female lead is combating that, but there's way too much mention of 'native tribes,' slaves, and some fairly tasteless descriptions of Raven's mixed heritage. With the queerness, Summer Cannibals is quite literally marketed as an LGBTQ+ vampire story - and it's not one. Raven has sex with a harem of men, but also a woman once one time, so she's the epitome of a bi queen? Yeah, no. You also get throwaway lines of 'I'm not gay but this guy sucked my dick in a bathroom once,' and then it's never mentioned again. Queerness is so ridiculously sexualized and reduced in Summer Cannibals, and calling it an LGBTQ+ vampire novel is practically queerbaiting.
By the time I hit about 89% of this book, I would up just skipping pages and reading the last few pages, because I couldn't give Summer Cannibals any more attention than I already had. I think this might be a fun book for some people, but between the writing, the story, and the content, I really just didn't like this one.
I really, really wanted to like Summer Cannibals - I mean, c'mon, Southern LGBTQ+ vampires in 1977? That kind of thing is right up my alley. And for what it's worth, it's that exact sort of vibe that Rose maintained throughout this book that kept it from being a 1-star read. Summer Cannibals is, if nothing else, very vivid, and has a very distinct feel throughout it all. Setting-wise, it's great. It's the rest that's the problem.
First off, this book is plagued with editing errors. I try to cut indie authors some slack with this, because obviously they don't have editors to go through their work, but this reads like Rose published their first draft without reading through it first. Rose doesn't know the difference between the words 'to' and 'too', and several instances of dialogue don't have closing quotation marks. These are little things that might not seem like a big deal, but when you see them repeated over and over again, it just takes you out of the world of the book.
With the actual story of Summer Cannibals-- well, I couldn't even tell you what the story was. Somehow, this book drags out a massive narrative that doesn't make sense and is too complex for a 100-page novella at the best of times, and yet simultaneously skips over massive scenes of action. Nothing happens, and then everything happens, and then the book is over. The pacing was really poor, and it just seemed like Rose had an entire fantasy world with rich lore created for Summer Cannibals, and when they couldn't find places to organically fit that lore, they shoehorned it in anyways. There's too much going on here, and the plot is both needlessly complicated and boring.
Aside from that, I have some massive issues with how queerness and POC characters are portrayed in this book. I think Rose was trying to make it seem like the bad guys were racist, and that our POC female lead is combating that, but there's way too much mention of 'native tribes,' slaves, and some fairly tasteless descriptions of Raven's mixed heritage. With the queerness, Summer Cannibals is quite literally marketed as an LGBTQ+ vampire story - and it's not one. Raven has sex with a harem of men, but also a woman once one time, so she's the epitome of a bi queen? Yeah, no. You also get throwaway lines of 'I'm not gay but this guy sucked my dick in a bathroom once,' and then it's never mentioned again. Queerness is so ridiculously sexualized and reduced in Summer Cannibals, and calling it an LGBTQ+ vampire novel is practically queerbaiting.
By the time I hit about 89% of this book, I would up just skipping pages and reading the last few pages, because I couldn't give Summer Cannibals any more attention than I already had. I think this might be a fun book for some people, but between the writing, the story, and the content, I really just didn't like this one.
January 23, 2024
Loved this short vampire story. It follows a vampire named Ethan as he struggles with who he was and who he has become. He was once a part of the Knight of The Order but now finds himself in a life of addiction and crime and following a ruthless vampire Raven. Fighting with his loyalty and alliance he must determine who he can trust.
I think this might be the start of a series and I cannot wait to read more.
I think this might be the start of a series and I cannot wait to read more.
January 3, 2025
I'm usually very particular on vampire fiction. Summer Cannibals by Finley Rose, a pen name of Jessie Rose, is an enjoyable, fast paced novella. It takes an interesting angle on vampires. There's an empire of vampire criminals, and an order that tries to take them down. The order isn't perfect either.
Rose builds up a world naturally without bogging down the readers with heavy handed lore and history, like many vampire stories do. I really enjoyed Ethan Black, our main character. He deals with gulit, addiction, and a toxic relationship with Raven. He is very much a grey anti-hero who must complete his mission.
Raven is a villain who I felt sorry for, but her evil nature reminded who she is a brutal being and a ruthless drug lord. I hope to follow Ethan Black's adventures again. He's complicated and kept me on my toes throughout this novella.
Rose builds up a world naturally without bogging down the readers with heavy handed lore and history, like many vampire stories do. I really enjoyed Ethan Black, our main character. He deals with gulit, addiction, and a toxic relationship with Raven. He is very much a grey anti-hero who must complete his mission.
Raven is a villain who I felt sorry for, but her evil nature reminded who she is a brutal being and a ruthless drug lord. I hope to follow Ethan Black's adventures again. He's complicated and kept me on my toes throughout this novella.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews