Rubedo

❓️How much of your roots and your very self are you willing to carve away to fit into the empire?

@authorleonacaelestis and @storygramtours

#storygramtours

For fans of: CERTAIN DARK THINGS + SEVERANCE + BABEL. A visceral, post-colonial deconstruction of the vampire myth that uses blood-drinking undead to expose parasitic institutions.

1. Vampirism as Capitalism: It has the gothic aesthetics, suspense and all the other elements you seek in this genre, but use them to create a horror story where the boogeyman is not a singular entity or a monstrous collective, but an ideology of nihilistic greed (A progressive/left-wing political POV).

2. A Deconstruction of "Dark Romance": This is not a "love story". It is a psychological study of grooming, abuse, and the terrifying illusion of the "benevolent master", a rebuttal of the "sacrificing everything to redeem a bad boy" trope. It displays female rage/agency not just in the sense of revenge or reacting to male/social violence, but how she seeks to become herself against doctrine and alienation (A feminist POV)

3. The Immigrant Body Horror: Explores the violence of assimilation through Rebecca's physical deformity, the so-called "cure" for it, and the tyranny of mainstream beauty standards—how much of your roots and your very self are you willing to carve away to fit into the empire? (A racism/colonialism POV)

4. Complex and unique Lore: A vampire society rooted in historical occultism (alchemy, Roman mystery cults) and modern exploitation (a vampire silicon valley built by the discriminated "ugly" vampire underclass, vampire lobbysts corrupting governments and controlling corporations), perfect for fans of dense, structural world-building (fantasy-genre POV)

Thank you to @authorleonacaelestis for sending me a copy of the book.

Rebecca—a Thai-British analyst climbing London's corporate ladder—believes she's found a future in her enigmatic mentor, Frederick. Instead, she's violently remade into a deformed Tumulari vampire, and thrust into a hidden world ruled by the ironclad Pax Sanguinis.

Promised restoration through the alchemical elixir Azoth's Kiss, she enters a dazzling but toxic covenant, the Children of Luke—only to learn her "salvation" is another form of captivity.

As she flees and uncovers a scheme that culls mortals and immortals alike through one unassuming supplement, her struggle shifts from survival to rebellion. But every act of defiance is shadowed by Frederick's obsession, and the weight of futility grows with each sacrifice.

Rebecca must choose: accept salvation on her abuser's terms—or step into the storm and become a force no one can control.