Rating: 3 stars
In this feral feminist vampire novel, cats—and cat ladies—are out for blood.
It’s 2005, and Vera Valcourt is an aimless goth waitress in New York City, desperate for something to sink her teeth into. Caged by her Catholic upbringing, her dead-end job, and her deadbeat boyfriend, Vera’s only solace is her rescue cat, Sammy. But when Sammy disappears, Vera is forced to claw her way out of the domestic life she’s been trapped inside.
The frantic search for her missing cat drives Vera into the dark underbelly of cat lore. Following a blood-soaked trail blazed by a medieval abbess and a roaring twenties witch, Vera is cast into a world of ancient myths and ancestral magic, ruthless cults and cutthroat cat ladies. If she and her beloved Sammy are to survive, Vera must uncover the secrets of a deadly feline species with more than nine lives.
A suspenseful mix of occult horror and urban fantasy drenched in dark humor, Nightcats explores the unbreakable bonds between women and their cats, and what we sacrifice to keep our teeth sharp in a world that wants us defanged.
I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.
Nightcats was an intriguing read that followed the life of cat lady Vera and her journey to find her missing cat Sammy. And the world she discovers of nightcats, vampire cats who need a specific treatment in order not to pose a threat to the outside world, and the organization that’s sworn to keep their existence a secret from those who aren’t amongst their ranks.
While I enjoyed learning about the existence of these vampire cats and learning all of their history and lore, the way it’s executed in this isn’t particularly well done. Nightcats is a story with chapters that go back and forth between past and present frequently. As a reader, while I found the aspects of learning about the nightcats fascinating, it was also confusing at times too because I felt like the chapters from the past could’ve very easily just been where the author could’ve had Vera just read about the nightcats in the book she had instead and pulled some of them in as references when they were actually needed.
What Nightcats does do well, though, is give you interesting characters. Because while I found the way the story is told could’ve been done better, I did enjoy seeing this story through Vera and Candy’s eyes. I especially enjoyed seeing this book from Candy’s perspective because I wanted to learn how she became an actress and how nightcats came into her life. I also enjoyed reading Vera’s perspective because I was interested in seeing how things would go with her finding her cat, Sammy. I was annoyed with her at times, though, because of her questioning everything that was happening around her once she got her cat back. While I understood this was due to her fighting against how she was raised, it was like she saw everything that could be described as religious as bad and something she didn’t want to look at or believe in. Even when there was evidence of it right in front of her face.
I would also say I enjoyed the ending of it too. Because it leaves a lot open for you as a reader to figure out what you think has happened. Normally, I don’t like open endings in books all that often because I find myself picturing the worst things going on with the characters in a story. But in this case, with the direction the story goes, I feel like it ended pretty well for Vera.
So for me, while I enjoyed reading Nightcats because I found the idea of vampire cats interesting, I felt like there were a lot of aspects to this story that could’ve been executed better. What made it an enjoyable read for me overall were the characters, Vera and Candy, and how the author chooses to end this intriguing book. I feel like this would be a good read for someone who doesn’t mind books with heavy lore that goes back and forth between past and present, especially lore that’s focused around cats. Nightcats was published on October 26, 2026, for anyone interested in giving this book a read.
