Name: Oil and Water
ISBN: 9781735073019

Lara Ann Dominick

Elsie is a human. Opal is a vampire. They've never met, but their fates are intertwined and careening toward greatness... or madness...

Oil and Water

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

Be still my vampire loving heart! People who know me will tell you that your girl Chiara is a victim of YA vampire fiction. My teens were characterized by a deep love of Edward Cullen before Damon Salvatore came and stole the show. Well, Oil and Water reminded me of the atmosphere of The Vampire Diaries, except there was an added adult element that made the vampire narrative all the more enticing!

Oil and Water is narrated through a dual perspective. On the one hand, we have Elsie, a human woman who lives with her parents, works in a day care and is obsessed with vampire fiction; on the other, we have Opal, a vampire woman with a great lust for blood and sex who has no recollection of her human life.

Elsie’s chapters were in a way the ones with the least action, but the “contemporary” feeling was compensated with great character development. Elsie was very easy to relate to. Her struggle with her ordinary life, her desire for independence, her craving for a love that is more than just “settling down” was one that rang true and familiar. I loved her strong personality, her inner dialogue, her maturity when facing her mistakes. She was an incredible character, and could rely on the support of a great cast of secondary characters, starting from her friendships to her love interest, Cy. The romance could have used a bit more fleshing out, but I enjoyed the interactions between Elsie and Cy. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a gentleman bad boy! 

Opal’s chapters were definitely my favorites. I loved her sass and her absolutely unapologetic behavior. Opal is a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it, and doesn’t let anything stand in her way. I found her to be a very empowering character, and I loved learning more about the vampire society through her eyes. In fact, I really loved the world-building in this book! As I mentioned before, these vampires reminded me in a way of the ones in The Vampire Diaries, but the familiarity was mixed with a completely original lore and some traits that we don’t commonly find in vampire fiction. Like Elsie, Opal’s chapters also counted some very interesting supporting characters. I especially enjoyed the complex relationship with Zilpher and her friendship with Amber.

Oil and Water was filled with incredible twists and turns. Though Opal and Elsie couldn’t be more different, their stories intertwine in a way I did not see coming, and I absolutely loved it! This book was so much more than just a paranormal romance. There were many empowering messages, especially for women, and it showed delicate aspects of our society such as alcohol, drug abuse and sexual abuse.

In short, I really enjoyed this book, and though I definitely think it’s better suited for a mature audience (sorry my youngsters!), I think it’s a perfect read for lovers of the paranormal!

Maria Elena Vitale Zelaia

My thirst for vampires has been sated. 

Paranormal is not a genre I pick up often, but it’s one that has elements that I adore. Vampires? Yes please! But despite my love for these creatures of the night, the vampire books on my shelves are few. Since I am currently in the process of writing a vampire novel with my sister, I also promised myself to find more vampires in the books I read. 

Then Oil and Water came. 

I was intrigued by the premises of this book immediately, especially when a fellow bookstagrammer couldn’t shut up about how epic this book was. Starting a book with high expectations can go either way, but Oil and Water surprised me with its twists. And what a twist indeed! My jaw is still on the floor. 

The story follows two women, Elsie, the human, and Opal, the vampire. Elsie could be me or you, conducting a normal life, still living with her parents, dealing with relationship drama and obsessed with vampire novels. Opal, on the other hand, is a badass vampire boss woman who often kills the men she seduces. Elsie and Opal couldn’t be more different, yet they’re both the epitome of women empowerment. They know what they want and they’re confident about their desires. They don’t need anyone holding their hand and showing them the way in life. For a portion of the book, you don’t understand how their stories are connected until you do, and it was mind blowing. I truly didn’t see it coming. 

I enjoyed Opal’s POV a little more than Elsie’s for the simple fact that we got to see how the vampire society works in her chapters. The worldbuilding was very well done and at the same time easy to grasp. Elsie’s chapters weren’t helped by the fact that I wasn’t entirely sold on her romance with Cy, even though he was very smexy. I’m a girl of simple tastes and I appreciate a hawt male character. Among the characters I especially found Amber to be very interesting and surprising.

This book was intense and I loved every minute of it. I highly recommend people who are craving a good vampire novel to pick up this insanely underrated read because it deserves all of the attention. The author writes with a gripping edge and at a certain point I didn’t want to put the book down. I’m definitely going to look out for more of her works in the future!

Oil and Water

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