A vampire with a difference in this genre mash-up debut

YA
Black River
Ruby Jean Cottle
Atria Books, $29.99

Vampires have been seducing writers for centuries, and just like sucking blood from an open vein, we readers have greedily consumed their stories. Our appetite for the ageless, doomed and desirable remains insatiable, and while most of us wouldn’t willingly invite one into our homes, we’re more than happy to invite them into our hearts and minds.

There’s another reason the idea of the vampire perseveres – they are the perfect canvas on which creators can project countless variations. From cool to camp, and folkloric to psychotic, literary OGs include John Polidori’s The Vampyre, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, to the more recent, such as Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda, Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire series, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, and The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran.

When there’s this much literary history to draw on, a reader can’t help but compare, yet in Black River, Sydney-based writer Ruby Jean Cottle has created a uniquely reluctant, book-loving vampire. Seventeen-year-old Dusty (named after Dusty Springfield) cuts her own hair, hates social media and lives on White Mountain with her conservation officer dad, and eternally upbeat younger sister Opi (Ophelia), who gives off major Edith from Wednesday vibes. Mum Sarah “left” when Dusty was 12, and her absence continues to cast a shadow over the family.

Surrounded by the unsettling Appalachian wilderness, their house is the oldest on the mountain, and something of an emotional museum. Dusty’s grandparents, both hugely influential figures in her life, lived there until their deaths, and her grandfather’s study remains untouched.

When Dusty’s sister, Opi, suggests a quick before-school forage for their favourite mushrooms (that can only be found in early June), Dusty reluctantly agrees. Both girls are at home in the forest, but while clambering around, they become separated, and Dusty senses a menacing presence before experiencing a life-altering transformation.

Ruby Jean Cottle is bringing vampires back.Credit: Gary Heery

Cottle shows a lot of restraint here; it’s a bloodless, low-key moment, and it’s only until things begin to escalate – coma-length naps, waking up covered in dirt, and an insatiable craving too horrifying to name – that Dusty realises things are far from normal. It’s also a signal to readers that this isn’t your traditional vampire novel.

Black River is a peculiar hybrid: part romance, with fantasy elements and a hint of science fiction, there’s also faint echoes of Twilight, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month. Cottle’s heroine, however, has an appealing depth of character and feels more fully realised. If anything, she shares more emotional DNA with legendary small-screen slayer Buffy Summers.

It’s the constant tension between who Dusty was versus what she’s becoming that is as compelling as the high drama that unfolds in the latter pages. One of the most significant events – no spoilers – happens well into the book and severs Dusty from her old life. From that point on, every relationship she cares about – sibling, romantic, friendships – changes. Dusty wrestles with the “friends are not food” dilemma and must also accept that she’s no longer protector, but predator.

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While other teens are grappling with raging hormones and high school, Dusty’s desperately trying to keep her transformation from bookish girl-next-door to bloodsucker under wraps, but the weight of the lie takes a toll, physically, psychically and emotionally. Not even feelings for Will, a sensitive, bee-loving potential love interest, can help.

It’s also around about here that readers will begin to suspect that Black River is just the beginning of a much bigger, possibly richer story. Cottle skilfully lays what feels like clues to what might come next. Were Dusty’s mother and grandparents hiding something? Secrets abound but readers will have to wait.

Sometimes the term “slow burn” is code for boring, but not in this case. You won’t find any coffins in the basement, wooden stakes or bats. Instead, Black River delivers a more subtle kind of experience centred around a girl who’s forced to confront the darkest parts of herself.

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