I enjoyed the writing style. Things were described very well, I was able to picture quite a few scenes. The main character was a lot at times. Also, why are we fighting over a mediocre man? I liked the take on vampires and shapeshifters. I don't normally see emotion vampires. Plus a shapeshifter that takes on others abilities was a nice change of pace. The story just kinda ended.

I love that the plot of this book was basically just a married immortal couple goes on a queer cruise to have fun. There was banter, there was so much queer representation I lost count after a while, and I love that within the main couple there was a play on the grumpy sunshine trope without it being disingenuous to the characters. The only thing that stopped me from giving a full five stars even though I loved the book was that it was a little slow to start and I found myself wanting more pages at the end.

💥💥💥 Book Review. 💥💥💥

Vampires at Sea
By Lindsay Merbaum
⭐⭐ Stars

This book was just blah…
There were times that I was enjoying it but I feel that the ending was rushed. I just was not satisfied with the ending. There are also plot holes that don't get answered like her past lives that she doesn't remember. That is repeatedly brought up but goes nowhere. Also, there are questions about the war and what is going on, on the ship…. Just so many questions that don't get answered which is sad.

I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

A fun, dynamic take on vampires and otherworldly beings, set in a single confined setting. The author does a great job of delivering a quirky and modern tale ripe with sexy vamps and sirens.

Vampires at Seas caught my attention immediately with its premise. The idea of queer vampires at sea seemed promising and I went into this book hopeful and curious as to where the story would lead.

Unfortunately, despite the book;s concept, the story didn't quite resonate with me. I found it difficult to connect with the characters and struggled to stay engaged with the plot because of this. I enjoyed the writing style and found the book to be funny at times but, at times I found the narrative to be unclear at times.

I wished Hugh was more fleshed out as a character. For him to be a somewhat pivotal character to the story, I just didn't feel like we got the opportunity to learn who he was as the story progressed more.

With all that being said, I recognize that every one has their own taste and expectations for a book, and I can see how Vampires at Sea would appeal to others. Even though this book wasn't for me, I appreciate the author's take on vampire fiction.

A fun, dark, smutty and enchanting novella about two centuries-old lovers drawn to another powerful, magnetic being they meet on an all-inclusive queer cruise. I thoroughly enjoyed the main narrative, the ending was perfect, and the surrounding details about the world outside the ship and the protagonist's previous life were the intriguing and delightful cherries on top.

This was definitely fun in places and the premise was really solid, however for me personally this was not the book for me.

Left me wanting more depth and a bit of a thicker plot!

Lindsay Merbaum’s Vampires at Sea is a wild, witty ride that mixes dark humor, queer romance, and emotional vampire lore aboard a Black Sea cruise. Rebekah and Hugh, immortal partners from San Francisco, are looking for a little rest, maybe a shipboard orgy or two—until Hugh falls under the spell of a magnetic, possibly magical influencer named Heaven. From there, everything begins to unravel.

I really enjoyed the sharp writing and Rebekah’s biting commentary (she had me laughing out loud more than once). The book is short but packed with personality—think What We Do in the Shadows but with more relationship drama and existential dread. I loved the twist on vampires feeding on emotion rather than blood, and the variety of feeding styles added depth to the world.

That said, the story does drift at times. There are threads—Rebekah’s past, the war, even what’s happening with the ship itself—that don’t fully resolve. The ending came a bit fast and left me wishing for a little more closure. Still, it was a fun, smart, totally offbeat read, and I’d absolutely pick up a sequel.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

What a unique, quirky little novella! This story is not for everyone, but I can see it being the favorite of a niche audience. While the story itself isn't entirely compelling, the character-driven nature of 'Vampires at Sea' makes it all the more intriguing. What a delightful little tale for fantasy and horror fans!

Vampires At Sea had all the ingredients for something fun—two vampires, Rebekah and Hugh, decide to treat themselves to a sea cruise packed with deliciously queer humans. Enter Heaven, a non-binary influencer with a flair for disruption, and suddenly it's less about bloodlust and more about love triangles, jealousy, and endless drama on the high seas.

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t hit for me. The premise had potential, but the execution felt pretty flat. Most of the plot revolves around sex, insecurity, and interpersonal tension rather than diving into anything deeper—literally or figuratively. I was hoping for more lore, more violence, more bite. Instead, it read like a Gen Z soap opera with fangs, where the horror takes a back seat to steamy hookups.

The ending didn’t help either. So many threads were left dangling—the war, the ship's true purpose, any real payoff for the tension that built up. If you’re into horny vampires and reality-show-style drama, this might be your thing. But if you're craving gothic vibes, dark worldbuilding, or actual stakes (pun intended), you might leave this cruise feeling a little seasick.

This entire book is so languidly sexual. I honestly didn’t really understand the point. These rich old depressing polyamorous vampires go on a gay cruise where everyone is fucking 24/7. The wife gets jealous when the husband leaves her for a nonbinary shapeshifter that they both are fucking. This is the semblance of plot behind pages and pages of explicit sex. Unless you want to read that, don’t read this book.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for the opportunity to have read an advanced copy this book for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for this arc!
There’s a part mid way through the book where the narrator says that a boring orgy is a painful affair. That’s probably the most apt description of Vampires at Sea. Nothing happens!! The constant sex scenes are so boring!! Why is the cruise 2 weeks long!! Each chapter is 1 day of the cruise but literally nothing happens, even when we get to the central conflict. I’m a huge fan of novellas but the pacing here also struggled. For 150 pages, it drags hard.
3 stars! Maybe just not for me, but it’s an interesting concept for sure

Had to DNF this book about half way, the book started as if it was in the middle and unfortunately read like a fanfic

This, pardon my french, cunty little vampire novel is so brat-coded its as if Charli XCX wrote it herself. Rebekah and Hugh are energy vampires and eternal soulmates on vacation on an, and I quote "discount queer Black Sea cruise full of polyamorous influencers". They're here to fuck, feed, and, well- thats pretty much it. They're the hottest people on this (I'm assuming) Carnival Cruise and they know it. That is, until they meet Heaven. Heaven is a non-binary influencer and arguably the hottest person Rebekah and Hugh have ever seen. They are drawn to Heaven in a way that *could* be supernatural and as Hugh and Heaven begin to favor spending time together sans Rebekah, we see Rebekah go full scorpio as she stalks, plots revenge, hypnotizes, hunts and fucks her way to solving the mystery of Heaven and learning to find peace with being alone. #goodforher.

I don't know what to say about "Vampires at Sea" other than it was so fun and I devoured it in less than 12 hours. A perfect new read for spooky season- coming out on October 7th.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Vampires at Sea is a book that has a lot of concepts going for it. It's three characters who vary along a spectrum of unlikability, with rules and mythical traits that seem unclear and strange. It's overall a fascinating read, but was not my favorite. I do think this will do well in the literary fiction realm, though I can't imagine it being for fans of traditional fantasy, or anticipating romantasy. It's not a romantasy, by any means. It's a meditation on ownership, love, and what we all mean to one another. And I think if you go in anticipating that, you'll have a great time.

I had no idea what to expect which this books. It was a short read which was nice. I wanted to give it a try but I don’t think I am the target audience for this book. I am not a fan of vampires (never have been I don’t know why just can’t get into them even though I want to!!) with that said I do think it’s a good read and will recommended it to other who I know would like the characters.

Unhinged, dark, queer and campy. The What We Do In the Shadows vibes really did come through and I enjoyed that element a lot. Vampires at Sea was a quick and weird read for me and it feels like that was exactly what the author was going for.

I had no idea what to expect from this book - as it is so short I went in without reading the synopsis. The cover gives surrealism meets historical fiction but this is definitely not that - it's more of a contemporary horror comedy with a slice of dystopian.
Hugh and Rebekah are ancient vampires (of sorts) and have been married for hundreds of years. They embark upon a queer pleasure cruise to enjoy themselves and feed but are not prepared to encounter a person who entrances both of them and for once they are out of their depths.
The humour is very nudge nudge wink wink "I'm doing satire" which made me roll my eyes sometimes but in an affectionate way. I enjoyed myself a lot! I would recommend reading in one sitting :)
4 stars

1.5 stars out of 5, rounded up.

I do not know what I was expecting when I started Vampires at Sea but not this, for sure.

As you embark on a cruise, following vampire couple Rebekah and Hugh, things quickly go sour when non-binary influencer Heaven, which was meant to be a fun threesome partner, starts ostracizing Hugh from her wife, making her jealous.
What was marketed as a queer cruise quickly becomes the theater to a very heteronormative story, despite its pitch, which was very disappointing. Sure, Heather is non-binary, is described as someone very "fem" while having a beard but that was almost all in the queer aspect of it. And sure, sometimes the story mentions that Hugh had a male partner, sure sometimes we have they/them pronouns, and sure Rebekah seemed to also be bisexual, but... The main plot point being her wanting to keep her husband and wanting revenge on the one that's taking him away from her kinda nullified the queerness of it all, for me.
Moreover, the "war backdrop" felt very unnecessary for such a short story. It adds absolutely nothing to the plot, except a very convenient justification for the fact that no one was in the street they publicly fucked in at one point. When Rebekah asks "lore questions" throughout the narration, she rarely answers them, making up possible answers and such. I get that it's to show that she does not know, but I don't get what it adds to anything if we just perpetually can't have any answers each time a question is brought up. It made the story drag unecessarily and hard to get through, which is a shame to witness in such a short book. This feeling wasn't quelled by the writing, which was a very simple "Subject - verb - object" sentence pattern. This type of writing does not go well with information dumping, turning what's supposed to be a snappy action-packed narration into quicksand you can't get out of.

Adding to all of that, some things said in this book felt very questionable to me. "Some of us really do orgasm pretty easily. Maybe we just have giant clits and no shame, who knows?", for example, is one of them. Brushing over the essentialist aspect of it (a queer book associating female pleasure to clits..., sure?) reading that was puzzling to me. Even though Rebekah is written as this unhinged bitch that's supposed to be somewhat unlikable, I don't think it excuses saying that people who have trouble having an orgasm stems from "shame" or anything. A few lines before that, "They finger me while whole families look on in fully aroused horror.", like... what ? I frankly do not care that the purpose of your book is to be horny, messy, gory, horror-y, that's just weird. Whole families imply children and I just don't think that's appropriate in any context.

Maybe I'm not the target audience and I guess that's okay. I'm sorry to say I had to leave this one a negative review, I just can't get behind what was going on.

Thank you nonetheless to Creature Publishing, Lindsay Merbaum and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. This review is entirely my own and honest opinion.

What did I just read?!? No idea but I read it in one day and loved it. Vampires so old they can’t remember how they met end up on a queer cruise where they meet a mysterious person who enchants them both. And then everything starts to go wrong. People disappear, someone gives a lecture, and the crew suddenly refuse to dock the ship. What is even happening here? Vampires at sea gave exactly what was advertised and left me wanting more. What happens next? I’m going to get everyone to read this so they can enjoy/suffer from the chaos and mystery with me.