Representation and Subtext in Guides for Dating Vampires Series
Earlier this year, someone asked me what type of books I liked reading. Sheepishly, I told them I was reading a vampire romance novel called “How to Sell Your Blood & Fall in Love”. They responded with, “Oh I know the exact section of Barnes & Noble that you shop at.” They really got me there. I suppose I am a pretty predictable person lol.
Guides for Dating Vampires Series
Continuing on the blog’s pride month posts, I thought I’d write about a queer vampire romance book series I’ve recently gotten into. I just finished the 2nd book “How to Sell Your Blood & Fall in Love” after reading the first book “How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager.” The author D.N. Bryn seems to have a thing for rhyming titles.
So far there are 4 books in the main series with each of them focusing on a different human/vampire couple. The first book focuses on desperately broke vampire Vincent and the charming Wesley who’s hoping to use Vincent to get into the Vitalis-Barron pharmaceutical vampire research labs. Wesley believes using Vincent may be the key to finding clues on his mother’s disappearance, which seems to be connected to Vitalis-Barron.
The second book is about Vitalis-Barron Pharmaceuticals researcher Clementine who recently turned into a vampire. After a chance encounter, Clementine meets the inner-city neighborhood vampire protector Justin. They agree to an arrangement where Clementine is allowed to feed off of Justin’s blood. In exchange, Justin receives cash that he uses to support the vampires in his inner-city neighborhood.
Representation
The Guide for Dating Vampires Series does an excellent job of representing different groups of people. There are characters of various ethnicities, sexualities, disability status, income levels, and gender identities.
One of my favorite parts was when the Filipino protagonist (Justin Yu) cursed in Tagalog saying, “Putang ina mo.” The author also did a wonderful job at portraying Clementine as a character who was on both the autistic and asexuality spectrums.
Subtext
Admittedly, I read these books because I wanted fun little vampire romance novels to read, and while it does provide that, there’s a deeper side to this series. As mentioned above, it does well at representing many groups, but it also explores deeper societal issues that the characters face.
An interesting detail in the series was that Vincent, the vampire from the first book, was struggling to find work due to his vampirism. He mentioned how many companies would hold their interviews in direct sunlight to weed out candidates that were vampires. In this world, vampires were a marginalized group that faced blatant discrimination.
In addition to their lack of employment protections, they were also subject to medical discrimination. Vitalis-Barron is the pharmaceutical company that serves as the main antagonistic entity in the series. In the first book, they hired hunters to kidnap vampires for research. While in the second book, the main character Clementine is a researcher for them who often criticized the company for using vampire research for profit and not for actually helping vampires.
So while these are primarily romance novels, they provide an interesting subtext that is critical of social discrimination and the pharmaceutical industry.
Reaction
Overall I enjoyed my time reading the first two books in this series, and I plan on eventually reading the next two. There’s even some short stories that take place in between or before some of the books.
D.N. Bryn did a wonderful job of creating heartwarming queer romances in a supernatural setting. While I did pick these books up for the romance aspect, they created such a compelling world where vampires are treated as second-class citizens. The treatment of vampires in this series coincides with other aspects of their identities, challenging readers to examine the societal barriers that the characters face. I was not expecting to be as immersed as I was when I picked this series up, but I’m sure glad I did.
I listened to this series in audiobook form through Libby thanks to the free Queer Liberation Library. I recommend checking it out if these topics interest you. Happy Pride Month!