Vampires Never Get Old

Ah, anthologies. My favorite. Vampires Never Get Old is obviously about vampires. YA style. 

"Seven Nights for Dying" by Tessa Gratton: This one was just okay. A girl deciding over the course of seven nights whether she wants to be a vamp or not. 

"The Boys from Blood River" by Rebecca Roanhorse: Decent. A little Lost Boys nod. 

"Senior Year Sucks" by Julie Murphy: Cheerleader vampire hunter meets female vamp for flirty times. Decent. 

"The Boy and the Bell" by Heidi Heilig: Gravedigging, wannabe doctor trans boy meets rich vampire boy. I liked this. 

"A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire" by Samira Ahmed: LOVED this. The title explains it all. 

"In Kind" by Kayla Whaley: Disabled girl mercy-killed by father and saved by teen vamp girl. Now it's revenge time. I liked this one because for once, vampirism did not heal all the human body's frailties. 

"Vampires Never Say Die" by the editors, Zoraida Cordova and Natalie Parker: Vamp influencer meets teen girl who gets her. Eh, just okay. 

"Bestiary" by Laura Ruby: Dystopia water shortage weirdness. The main character is a vamp who communicates with animals, so that was the only element of this story that made it enjoyable. 

"Mirrors, Windows & Selfies" by Mark Oshiro: Written in Tumblr-style blog format from the POV of a 17-year-old boy who thinks he's the only vamp ever born to two adult vamps. (They're not supposed to be able to reproduce that way.) Turns out, he's wrong. One of the best in the book. 

"The House of Black Sapphires" by Dhonielle Clayton: This story was so good that I looked up the author and added a bunch of her books to my Amazon cart. I want a series of this world. Black female vampires called Eternals live in a "coffin" that's a travelling apothecary. There are a lot of other supernaturals mentioned, including Shadow Barons, who are the only people capable of killing Eternals. Loved all of this. Want more.

"First Kill" by V.E. Schwab: Lesbian vampire has a crush on the new girl in school who turns out to be a hunter. An old idea but done decently. This is also a Netflix series that really spun off from this short story, considering there's not nearly 8 episodes worth of material in this short story. 

If you love vampires, check this out. "The House of Black Sapphires" alone is worth the cost of the book, and "Mirrors, Windows & Selfies" and "The Guidebook" only add to its worth.