Read for the RIP V Reading Challenge.
Shori awakens in a cave, terribly injured, and knowing nothing of her past. Working through a haze of pain, she finds herself near a compound of buildings that was recently burned to the ground, and knows that she’s been there before. What Shori doesn’t remember is that she’s Ina, a race that has exists alongside humans for at least ten thousand years. They’re a symbiotic race that requires human blood to survive, and cannot move about by day – surely the source for humanity’s stories of vampires.
Shori is found by a human man, who becomes her first symbiont, and shortly thereafter, is found by her father. The Ina must live segregated by sex, but their mated families always live nearby. Shori’s father has been trying to find out what has happened to the women of his family. This is when Shori learns that she is special. Her grandmothers have used genetic engineering to give her human genes that allow her to walk on sunlight. As Shori learns more about this gift, it’s increasingly clear that it may be the reason that her family was killed.
This was a really interesting book. It’s a fascinating take on the vampire mythos, and ends up being a really interesting study of race, as well as the meaning of family. I can’t recommend it enough.