This is such a great idea for an anthology - one that's focused on vampires of the African Diaspora. As soon as I heard about it I made a mental note of "I want to read that" and now I have. There are some fantastic stories in here, but the anthology as a whole is also rather uneven, I think, as those fantastic stories shared space with a handful of other stories that were unfortunately not up to the same standard. But given I'd prefer to talk about things I love rather than things I don't, let's have some praise for the stand-outs here.

"A Clink of Crystal Glasses Heard" by L.H. Moore is a story about three 12 year old girls growing into their vampiric inheritance and being distinctly unimpressed with it; it's a bit reminiscent of Ginger Snaps in that vampirism is treated as a metaphor for feminism and adolescence. It also reads a bit like the first chapter in a novel, and I'd read that novel. If "Frostbite" by Delizhia D. Jenkins was expanded similarly I'd read that too. Best worldbuilding goes to the excellent "Di Conjuring Nectar of Di Blood" by Kai Leakes, in an alternate history that I'd love to read more of, and best protagonist is the tired, powerful old woman of John Linwood Grant's "Snake Hill Blues." I've never read about a vampire elephant before, so all credit to Miranda J. Riley for coming up with "Rampage," the most original story in the anthology. Another animal focused story was the leopard-centred "No God But Hunger" by Steve Van Samson, which was honestly outstanding and my second favourite here. Top spot, though, goes to the opening story "Desiccant" by Craig Laurance Gidney, which combines environmental racism with microscopic bugs in an awesomely creepy story that I plan on reading again and again.