At least this book is halfway self-aware of how stupid it is.

Considering how maligned Reylos have been since the very beginning, I don't expect that the novelty of Reylo fanfic being commercially published - and successful - will ever wear off for me; I will buy all of the Reylo fics, forever, out of principle, but that doesn't mean I can't regard all of them as peak cringe, in a grudgingly affectionate sort of way.
 

This novel has all the typical hallmarks which have come to define published Reylo fic in only 2 short years:

- the super idealised gay best friends;
- the heroine's distant relationship with her parents (this time they are 'disappointed' rather than outright abusive);
- the love interest's fractious relationship with his mother (who is a shallow, underdeveloped villain);
- the author's obsession with Adam Driver's physical size, which would be fine if it was actually used for some symbolic or thematic purpose in the story beyond 'being sexy' (but it never is);
- one mandatory but unnecessary sex scene which is forgettable at best and disturbing at worst, far more focused on the physical lust than the emotional love;
- unfunny jokes, many of which reference contemporary terminally-online culture and will date the book terribly (the climax hinges on the recurring joke that no one over 30 understands TikTok);
- the love interest's one friend and ally, who is the single side character who is developed just enough to be slightly interesting, so there can be a sequel about another pairing.

Cassie's One Personality Trait is that she is an artist - not like the other artists - who incorporates garbage into her multimedia art to criticise wasteful capitalist consumer culture - an interest which is never depicted as relevant to any other aspect of her life and behaviour. Presumably the genesis of this character trait was Rey's occupation as a 'scavenger' who collects and repairs broken, discarded relics of the galaxy's past and the Skywalker family (Anakin's lightsaber, the Millenium Falcon, the sacred Jedi texts, and metaphorically the fractured bonds of the Skywalker family and ultimately Ben himself). Bizarrely, in her own interpretation of the characters Levine fails to join the dots in any meaningful way, never relating Cassie's artstyle and conservationist philosophy to her task of 'recycling' an old vampire into a new man by rehabilitating FJF into the modern world.

The biggest disappointment for me was that the distinguishing gimmick of this one is supposed to be that he's a vampire, but...there is no vampire worldbuilding whatsoever. The backstory about how he became a vampire is delivered in a single line! We are told that all vampires get one special power (seemingly at random, it's not reflective of their natural gifts like it was in Twilight), which apparently can include the power to create things out of nothing, the dizzying implications of which are never explored. 

Volcel romances are the best, and I am mad about the 'virgin' being removed from the commercially published version of this story - and for what? FJF tells us that prior to his 100 years of hibernation, he led a violent, hedonistic lifestyle - reminiscent of 'the Ripper' Stefan Salvatore in the TV version of TVD (though TVD is the only pop-culture vampire phenomenon of the past 30 years that is never eye-rollingly name-checked in the novel) - but his sordid past (which should entirely redefine him as a character) seems to have been added quite literally as an afterthought from the author, because it never affects anything in the story. He never struggles with guilt over the people he seduced and killed; he isn't dogged by bloodlust. For whatever reason, published Reylofic so far has been allergic to the idea of virgin love interests (and heroines), so erasing what was (in the original short story) the love interest's defining character trait makes him, and this book, less unique and interesting.