[Blog Tour] Vampires of Portlandia by Jason Tanamor | A review, my favourite quotes, and a playlist

Hello and welcome to my stop for the #AswangInPortlandTour!

Disclaimer: I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book from Jason Tanamor and Shealea of Caffeine Book Tours as part of my participation in the tour.

Title: Vampires of Portlandia

Author: Jason Tanamor

Publisher: Parliament House Press

Publication date: 29 September 2020

Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Folklore

Synopsis:

When Marcella Leones relocates her family of aswang vampires from the Philippines to Portland, Oregon, she raises her grandchildren under strict rules so humans will not expose them. Her only wish is to give them a peaceful life, far away from the hunters and the Filipino government that attempted to exterminate them.

Before she dies, she passes on the power to her eldest grandchild, Percival. He vows to uphold the rules set forth by Leones, allowing his family to roam freely without notice. After all, they are aswangs.

However, when the aswang covenant is broken, the murder rate in Portland rises drastically. Who is behind the murders? And who is behind the broken covenant? Along with sensie Penelope Jane, Percival must find the truth.

It’s then they discover that there are other breeds of aswangs—werebeasts, witches, ghouls, and viscera—who have been residing in Portland for years.

Based on Filipino folklore (aswang), “Vampires of Portlandia” is a fantastical tale of different monsters coexisting in the weirdest city in America.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review:

There was a time when I didn’t feel Filipino at all, when I didn’t connect with either of the countries I belonged to. I didn’t know much about the Philippines even though my family would visit once a year. But if there was one thing I knew well, it was our mythology and folklore. I’ve always been obsessed with the different superstitions, stories, ghost hauntings told by my family, especially my lola (grandmother). Even today, I ask my lola to tell me stories of Kapres, Tiyanaks, Duwendes, and Aswangs. These were my favourite stories as a child, and my love for our myths has only grown stronger.

So when I heard about Vampires of Portlandia, a book about a family of Aswangs in Portland, I added the book instantly to my Wishlist. I was so pleased when I got the opportunity to be a blog tour host (my first ever!)

This book is a great introduction to Philippine mythology for those who haven’t even heard of our various myths and folklore. It barely scratches the surface of the myths, but it teaches about the more well-known creatures. It was also a good idea calling them ‘Werebeasts’ and ‘Vampires’ to help those who are more familiar with the usual Western stories get acquainted with the creatures. I really hope that this is just the first book of many talking about the different Philippine myths and legends (and we have lots….) to help get them the attention they deserve.

My favourite thing about the book was the strong themes of family. Like Percival, there was a time when I was also raised by my Lola. This is common in the Philippines when so many parents are OFWs (overseas Filipino workers.) I love the whole modern Aswang take. Reading about Percival’s family is a glimpse into the life of a normal Filipino family – well, except for their diet, powers, and additional body parts! We usually think of them as monsters, though in some stories we are taught that they look, sound, and act human when they’re not feeding. To read of them being good Aswangs, with rules to not hurt anyone, was something new and appreciated.

Despite everything, despite leaving the Philippines, they did not leave their culture and traditions behind. From the food they cook and eat, to the respect they give their lola, the responsibilities Percival takes on as a kuya, and the importance given to family, they are a Filipino family through and through.

I think the whole government plot against the Aswangs and the second god Asuang was very creative and a great way to talk about why the Aswangs would have left the Philippines. It’s unique and there’s definitely a lot of potential there for more books. I feel like though it was an awesome idea, it was underused in the book. There was definitely more potential there and I wanted more of that and would have exchanged the romantic scenes for it instead.

I would have loved to read more from the perspective of Marcella as the scenes set in the past were sometimes even more interesting than the present. Basically, I wanted more of Marcella kicking ass and defeating the government! I’d read a book about that.

When it came to connecting with the characters, I didn’t really connect with any one in particular, but with the Leones family as a whole. I also came to feel more for Roger than anyone else. There were also way too many side characters that at times I had to stop reading and try to remember if and where I’d met a character before.

The story had great comedic scenes, and well-written angsty and dark ones. However I never felt that the book was too dark. In fact, I think this book would also do well with younger readers as it wasn’t too gory or scary.

I have to say, I could have done without the romance. I felt it was too rushed, too empty. There wasn’t much chemistry between the characters in the main romance (I felt more from the second pairing!) and I didn’t like the direction it took in the end as well.

The story had a slow start and was a bit draggy at times but the last quarter of the book was quite fast-paced, and a bit rushed. I feel like I waited the whole book for the climax only to have gotten on a roller coaster that ended faster than expected, leaving you feeling unsatisfied in a well. Overall, the ending was not what I expected either. I feel like I went from 180 to 0 real quick.

It was a good book and I really enjoyed reading about all my favourite creatures in a modern setting. I really think this will appeal to Filipinos living abroad and non-Filipinos who want to learn more about our myths.

Favourite Quotes:

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Playlist:

About the author:

Jason Tanamor is the critically acclaimed author of the novels “Anonymous” and “Drama Dolls.” His new novel “Vampires of Portlandia” is a NA urban fantasy about Filipino folklore – aswang. His writings have appeared in more than 250 publications. He’s interviewed personalities such as Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Pete Rose, and Dane Cook, and has covered U.S. President Barack Obama. Tanamor currently lives and works in the Portland, Oregon area.

Find the author:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

Don’t forget to visit all the Caffeine Book Tours’ #AswangInPortlandTour stops. You can check out schedule here.

If you would like to read more about Aswangs and other myths and folklore from the Philippines, I do recommend buying books by Maximo D. Ramos – they’re all on Amazon – or visiting The Aswang Project.