Pretty When She Dies is a Gothic Punk Urban Fantasy vampire series written by Rhiannon Frater. Originally self-published, it has since been picked up and re-released by Permuted Press. It is known for its dark and intense storytelling as well as treating vampires as strongly violent as well as sexual creatures.
Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry... ... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way... Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature. All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what's worse is that he's a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding. Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind. But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation... or her death?
- Pretty When She Dies
- Pretty When She Kills
- Pretty When they Collide (Novella)
- Pretty When She Destroys
This book series contains the following tropes:
- Ambiguously Bi: Strong hints are dropped in the first volume Amaliya is attracted to women as well as men.
- Abusive Parents: Amaliya's father is never physically abusive but verbally so, controlling, a bigot, and a lech.
- Antihero: Amaliya gradually becomes one as events keep pushing her to embrace her vampire nature.
- Asshole Victim: The majority of people Amaliya feeds on.
- Big Bad: Professor Summer is Amaliya's creator and a terror to every other vampire in the world.
- Crapsack World: Implied to be this. Regular people are petty, evil, and cruel with rare exceptions. Or maybe Amaliya has really-really crappy luck with meeting people.
- Dysfunction Junction: Amaliya's father married her teenage cousin after having an affair with her as his wife was dying of cancer. This is before all of the vampirism problems.
- Fan Disservice: A college orgy (an actual orgy) turns into a massacre. Later, in the first volume, a sex scene turns into a nightmarish feeding.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: The ruler of Houston, Cian, wants to be one of these. Amaliya encourages him not to be.
- Friendly Enemy: The vampire hunters make pacts with the less reprehensible vampires in this setting.
- Goth: Amaliya claims not to be one, just likes to hang with them.
- Gothic Punk: One of the most Gothic Punk series out there.
- I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Played with as Amaliya doesn't know her creator for most of the first book, but he is a complete asshole.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Samantha.
- Morality Pet: Samantha is this to Cian. It doesn't work out.
- Necromancer: Amaliya is one of the rare vampires with the power to animate the dead.
- Noble Demon: Cian is trying not to be one of these so he can become a full Friendly Neighborhood Vampire. It doesn't take.
- Amaliya, herself, is pretty damn ruthless when push comes to shove.
- Our Vampires Are Different: They can occasionally manifest powerful Necromantic abilities. Otherwise, they display the abilities and weaknesses of Classical Movie Vampire. They act like regular people, though.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Pete wants to marry Amaliya. Amaliya is now a vampire.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Played with as only a couple of vampires play this role. Most are quite reprehensible.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Amaliya's grandmother initially thinks her grandchild is a ghost.
