Wow, what a fun and slightly surprising read. I went in blind with just the idea of it being about pirates but the mystical and magical creators added such a happy surprise

Feels like a long intro to a good book that doesn’t exist yet. The presence of vampires (right at the end) was spoiled by the trilogy title and this might have been more enjoyable if I hadn’t known that her mum was going to turn out to be a vampire.

Pros:
It’s short so the plot is fast paced (when it’s not just endless exposition).
The last 10% (the bit with vampires) was actually fun.

Cons:
Foreshadowing was often clunky and felt like bad writing.
If everyone is speaking French shouldn’t the ship be called ‘la vengeance’.
Romance sub plot goes from ‘zero feelings’ to ‘I love you’ in a few pages.
Everyone lies in their first exposition dump, so then we need more exposition to explain why we needed all the lies.

I reviewed this novel on F(r)iction Log! Here is the link to my full review: https://frictionlit.org/a-review-of-the-vengeance-by-emma-newman/

I was delighted to read a new Emma Newman book! She's one of my favourite authors, and this was yet another great read. It toches on themes as classism, feminism, gender, and colonialism!

Am planning on making aproper review on my own platform closer to publishing date.

Thank you Netgalley and Emma Newman for the arc.

I honestly thought this was a unique book. Pirates and Vampires? I mean come on. No brainer there. I do think it could be polished a bit more. The ending is a lot of chaos and would loved more Vampire aspect sooner. The Pirate parts were awesome but the Vampires needed to come in earlier to balance the book out better with it's plotlines.

All in all very enjoyable read. Will read book 2 for sure. If only to find out more of the Vampire lore.

DNF 5% - the author's style simply doesn't agree with me. Characters actions feel floaty, not quite grounded, and lacking cause and effect.

Thankyou to Rebellion Publishing for this gift.

Suitable for YA and adults alike, what started as an intriguing historical fantasy, ended as a plot twist filled supernatural action novel...and I was pleasantly surprised!

Morgan was born into being a pirate, having no knowledge of life outside this. But after a wicked scheme to bring her captain and mother, Anna Marie, into the clutches of death is uncovered too late, Morgan is on a mission to bring her justice along with the chance to search for her family.
After docking on land, Morgan is immediately in danger with no way of knowing who to actually trust.

As I read alot of books, I felt this was a lovely short palate cleanser. There wasn't really any lead up into a sequel which unfortunately made the novel seem too short for the storyline, but it was well executed and I found myself hanging on every word.

3 stars.

Interesting premise but the prose style doesn’t work for me- too much exposition and repetition.. I keep wanting to skip ahead because I already know what’s coming.

I was so excited for this to be fully about pirates and vampires, so I felt quite disappointed when it wasn’t. I think because of those feelings I didn’t enjoy this as much as I could have.

I also had some issues with the pacing and found myself getting quite frustrated in the middle.

I do think the world-building was very effective though, and I’d like to read more of Emma Newman’s work.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

I received an advance reader copy of this book through Netgalley, and I'm grateful to the author for the opportunity. As a huge fan of pirate stories with a paranormal twist, I was excited by the premise of a female pirate searching for her family in a world plagued by vampires and conspiracies.

Unfortunately, while the beginning and end were fast-paced and action-packed, the middle dragged considerably. Despite the promise of a paranormal world, the first werewolf doesn't appear until 65% of the book!

Many of the events that occurred felt either inconsequential or confusing. The romance felt rushed and underdeveloped, especially considering it was a female-female relationship. I wanted to see more depth and exploration of that aspect.

Morgan, our protagonist, felt somewhat underdeveloped. Given her life on a pirate ship surrounded by cunning individuals, I expected her to be more wary and less easily manipulated.

Overall, while the book had potential, the slow pacing and lack of focus on the key elements ultimately hindered my enjoyment.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to an e-arc of this title for review.
Two of my favourite things in books are vampires and witches... check and check! However, don't expect the vampires to appear until late in the book. This was an intriguing but slow start but is a good solid read once it gets into the flow. There's several twists that are sometimes a little confusing to keep track of but overall this was a great time. There was a lot of "what is justice" and " what makes gender" that was really well done. I am looking forward to the next book to find out what happens next. The writing is good, but could do with a good audiobook to accompany and maybe even another round of editing to iron out the couple of little inconsistencies.

Loved the world-building and characters at the start, however I did struggle a little with the pace of the book. The beginning was great, really had me intrigued however I did feel it fell off a little after that and started to become a bit uneven. I also think from going off the cover you think this is a pirate book but (without giving away too many spoilers) it wasn’t really…..Either way I do think this is a book that many will enjoy and should give a read!

I actually hoped It had a focus on pirate but I was wrong. The story Is not so bad, simple but I've ready It with pleasure. Altough the party with vampire for me It Is a non sense, they appear only in the last part. If that Is a book about vampires, why they aren't characters for all the book?
Lynette maybe Is the only character well constructed.
The waiting style Is not bad, thank tò that I finish ed the book.

** I received an ARC copy in return for an honest review **
This is exactly what you would think it is. It has pirates, vengeance, a hunt for family, and a spattering of LGBT rep. However, if you are going into this expecting vampires, you will be disappointed to find that they are only vaguely mentioned near the end. After all, it is inspired by the writer Alexandre Dumas' worlds incorporating vampires into France, not a book about vampires. I do feel that clarification is needed even if it is setting up for a series with vampires.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I particularly enjoyed the world-building and relationships built in the first part of the book.

It has taken me a while to find the words to articulate why I would only give this book 3-stars.

For me, the pacing of the story as a whole seemed inconsistent. The first 20% of the book felt really well paced. It wasn't all high action, but it was well constructed and gripping!

The middle section of the book (from approx 20%, to approx 80%) felt as though it was trying to do too much (world-building, introducing characters, relationship-building, raising the stakes of the story, travelling, plotting, etc). What was there had some really nice moments, but I felt like there were moments that could have benefitted from having a bit more focus. For example, the sapphic relationship and that development had some really nice moments, but I didn't feel as though it had the development in the story to justify where the relationship ended up.

The mystery elements of the story dotted through the book were nice (though I personally would have loved to see more of the vampires, and that dynamic playing out within the world and society that was built!)

Overall, I did enjoy the story, and I grew fond of some of the characters.

1.5 🌟 🔅
First a thank you for Netgalley and the author for providing the ARC of this book for my honest opinion

I am now in search of every Pirate/siren/mermaid book whether historical, paranormal, retelling, or fantasy.
So I was very intrigued about a female pirate trying to find her biological family in a world haunted by vampires and conspiracies.

But sadly, it was a no for me

as much as I enjoyed the first and last 15% of the book, these were quick-paced and full of adventure and action, the 70% in between were dull and very slow.
For a book promising vampires and paranormal, we meet our first werewolf at 65%??!!!!
Things kept happening to Morgan that were either irrelevant or not understandable.

The romance felt rushed
I wanted more for a FF relationship
and the parts that should have been the focus were not given enough space

Morgan herself was lacking as a character.
I understand that she lived her life on board a ship
but she was surrounded by pirates and scoundrels
she knows about thieving and lies
so how come she was easily manipulated?

every person she meets tells her that they are there for her and she should come with them and she goes without a question!
someone says "I am your father" and you immediately believe them???

there were points where I was saying "How stupid can she be?" and lo and behold, she is and she says it herself.

I hope this would be resolved because the book has much potential.

The Vengeance is a interesting adventure with a touch of fantastical, creepy supernatural, pirates, vampires, and a woman's quest to uncover the truth of her lineage.
Morgane was such an entertaining narrator and an easy character to relate to!

I loved the pirate aspect of the story and I really think it was one of the best parts, it was clearly well researched and felt truly authentic. On the other hand I would have loved to see more about the vampires in the story and I really hope we will get to have more in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Solaris Books and the author for providing me the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
I'm a little disappointed the Vampires showed up too late and too little on the book but I understand the author had to set all the background storyline plus this is a series but it was still a slow pace for a first book. I loved the main character and the worldbuilding so overall I enjoyed it and will definitely read book number 2.
3 Stars

This book promises pirates and vampires, and while we did get both, there was a lot more pirating than vampirism. This is no inherently bad, but as I set out reading this book hopi for more vampires than this book has I was a little disappointed. That's not to say that the book is bad, on he contrary it was really good! I does take a little while for the plot to really get going, but once it has it flows nicely.

This book has a LOT of potential. I took time to finish and think about how I wanted to write this review as an ARC with the knowledge that there are elements that could change before publication.

The main character is strong-willed and I can see her personality shine through so vividly, that it felt like the other characters got lost in the background. The story was compelling, but also confusing. Normally you would see more foreshadowing (or any) about some of the larger twists with the book, but the only context I had that there would be vampires in the book is in the listing as the first in a series with vampires in the name. The fantasy elements felt forced in at the end, almost like it was a found family adventure that just happened to run into vampires because something felt like it needed 'more.' Love the representation of a strong, queer female lead, but overall it just fell flat for me.

2.5/5