Happy pride babes! What better time to talk about this queer little novella 🤭

I sat with this one for a little while after finishing it. I liked it, but I couldn't put my finger on why.

I like the concept of energy or emotion vampires (looking at you Colin Robinson) and think in general its a niche of vampire fiction that could use some beefing up. I also enjoyed that the story is seemingly just a slice of life. We are dumped into the story sort of haphazardly and follow our MC through her brief but tumultuous time on a sexy cruise.

There is sex, there is jealousy, there is intrigue.

I would actually love it if we got another novella in the same universe, perhaps following a different vampire experiencing life away from the cruise that we are on in this book. I would love more regardless, so please take that as a hint Lindsay 😅

I was honestly really enjoying this book. The characters are fun and incredibly well-defined in who they are and why. The writing style is really nicely paced. And the story overall is interesting in a fun, naughty way that is both not too complex and not shallow.

Overall, I DNFed this book for personal reasons related to its content. Hence, I have given a neutral star rating. Had these reasons not existed, I potentially would have enjoyed it and given it a higher rating.

vampires at sea was such a strange reading experience but which fully lived up to my expectations: emotional vampires on a gay cruise fucking and sucking 💅🏼

the story is pretty simple, but then not really? there’s this underlying eeriness of them travelling across europe (?) on a gay cruise, ignoring the horrors of the outside world, but then not really being able to escape the ongoing and constant wars that are growing bigger and becoming inescapable. the way those unnamed wars were talked about felt like dread and anxiety creeping in and it felt sort of like a fever dream reading about gays being gays and then bam, hellfire.

i also enjoyed how it’s essentially about rebekah and hugh on this gay cruise finding a third — heaven, who’s not reallyyyy human — but there being sown discontent in their marriage after centuries (?) of being together. rebekah’s sureness turning into anxiety for the future but also about her finding herself again was anxiety inducing but exciting to read. oh, and the intermittent memories of the past flooding in also really helped with the whole ~ atmosphere of the story. i also honestly love the idea of emotional vampires even if i DID expect real blood sucking vampires. but honestly? this would’ve been a very different story if it had been blood and not emotions!

in general, i really enjoyed vampires at sea but i find it super hard to rate because it’s so strange in a way? a lot of things happen in just under 170 pages but then again it feels like nothing happened in a way.

i think if you want:
- surreal escapism and strange prose
- vampires that FUCK
- queer and nonbinary rep
- existential dread
- self discovery and acceptance

that this might be the book for you (especially, and i cannot emphasise this enough, if you want vampires that fuck).

/// thank you to the author, creature publishing and netgalley for the arc.

Love a queer read, especially with vampires. Unfortunately, this didn’t do it for me though. I couldn’t connect to the story or the characters.

This was a blast. If you're looking for a bloodthirsty gore-fest, you're in the wrong place. Queer, campy, and a little absurd? Let's go, baby! An engaging, entertaining piece of horror-comedy with a dash of smut.

The premise is intriguing, but sadly it's badly executed. It was a torture to read so I decided to dnf it :( seriously, does the author really love the word "fuck"??? The prose is boring and the character named Rebekah? I cannot help but keep associating her with The Originals. This is just not for me ;(

I loved that this book didn't take itself too seriously. It was a great palate cleanser after finishing a longer, heavier novel. This was a fun, mysterious, sexy, wild, queer, romp on a cruise ship. As a fan of WWDITS, I appreciated the energy vampire theme, though I'm glad there wasn't a sexy Colin Robinson character.

A great deal of the story was left vague, but I think (hope) that was intentional. There is no information or detail about whatever war is taking place around the Black Sea/Balkans, we don't know what year or time period it is, we have extremely limited background information about our protagonists - Hugo and Rebekah - other than the most basic information. We also never find out who sent them the coupon for this cruise or what their motivation was (maybe just bc Hugo is an artist, or something more sinister?). There is also no background information about the mysterious and irresistable character, Heaven (I assume the shapeshifting intentionally applied to a non-binary/trans character?). In some cases, I thought more explanation or clarify would've been helpful. In any case - this all leads me to believe we are meant to take this book at face value and just enjoy the ride of the story.

I loved the absurdist situation of the plot - energy vampires on a queer art cruise. I didn't find the comedy in this book laugh out loud funny by any means, but it had moments of levity. I was invested in the storyline even though I'm still not 100% sure what happened in the end, or what officially came of Heaven or Hugo.

I had fun reading this, though, and it left me feeling giggly in a "what the heck did I just read?" type of way.

Thank you, NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the eARC!! <3

3 ⭐

The premise had me hooked, but the execution was pretty disappointing. Erotic fiction about queer vampires on a two week cruise surrounded by other queer influencers and individuals? Gimme.

I was hoping dowry of blood level scenes, at least something with similar vibes. Gore, unapologetic smut and violence based on the tags.

Rebekah and Hugh are soulmates, in an open marriage and okay with polyamorous relationships. Upon meeting Heaven- a non binary lifestyle influencer who has the same appreciation for art and poetry as Hugh, Rebekah ends up getting phased out instead. They had so much potential for a throuple but it became a weird and unnecessary love triangle.

We somehow end up going on a wild ride, from reading about Vampire orgies to a minor whodunit subplot with unexplained plotlines to female empowerment? <spoiler>(I respected Rebekah for leaving Hugh, but I have a feeling that 200 hundred or years from now she will probably end up with him again)</spoiler>

With that being said, I LIVED for the mystery subplot where Rebekah was trying to figure out just who or what Heaven is, and that short fight scene.


Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for an early proof in exchange for an honest review.

Humorous in a campy, eccentic way; definitely an acquired taste but a fun read overall. More sex than I anticipated, which is funny in hindsight, like what was I expecting from a novella where two married vampires in an open relationship join a cruise with an orgy? Though the sex is more for plot and character-building rather than outright erotica, and actual kinks are sparse, so it's not /really/ a sex read. The characters are purposefully nasty and over-the-top, including the peanut gallery, very seriously unserious. Rebekah, the narrator, is very off the cuff and seriously horny, like I said I'd sleep when there's not a single horny thought on the page, and I managed to finish in 2 days anyway (yes, I know it's short as is). Heaven, Rebekah's archnemesis and international homewrecker, is a caricature of Influencer Evil that makes everything else appear tolerably tame in comparison. The setting and context of the story is more conjecture than anything else, there's not much in the way of world-building or explanation as it feels more like a casual summer read, whether that means beside a pool or locked up in a room. It's quite versatile in terms of mood. You get the comedy of a catfight, the melodrama of a failmarriage, the mystery of whatever the hell they got themselves into, and so on. Like, I even found myself rooting for said failmarriage, but we all have our weaknesses 😔. A fun, self-contained supernatural romp on the high seas, perfect for those looking to have a love-hate relationship with the narrator.

Thank you to Creature Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Given to me by Netgalley to read and review honestly

I had requested this book because the title caught my attention, and then the summary reminded me of something a close friend of mine would love to read and then tell me about later so I figured why not go ahead and try it out and that way I can tell them about it and it would be a win win because we’d have another book to share.

I was excited to read about vampire’s on a cruise for a multitude of reasons;
I’ve been on cruises and I’ve loved all of them and I never read books set in them so this would be fantastic for me
Queer vampire’s on a queer vacation,let’s go
On a cruise there’s little ways to escape so pulling off a vampire’s feeding spree on a ship was going to be difficult and I wanted to see how this played out.

I was unfortunately let down by most of this because our couple, Rebekah and Hugo aren’t the blood sucking kind of vampire’s but the emotional kind and so there was no blood bath or multiple murders to cover up and it was messy, emotionally, but not in the way that can be seen to the naked eye. Rebekah feeds off the attention and pleasure of her victims while Hugo feeds off their misery. They’re on vacation because it’s an opportunity to find new victims, and Rebekah is always down for a good orgie and Hugo likes to make Rebekah happy.

Rebekah was fun to read the pov of; she very openly loved herself and was unapologetic about enjoying sex and believing that she’s beautiful and being worthy of the wants of others. She’s proudly in love with Hugo and their life together; it's stable, it's something she knows will be there when they come back. She struggles with remembering parts of her life; where she’s from, what her family and life were life before Hugo. We get the sense that she’s dissociated through life and is pretty okay with it.

The conflict lies when Hugo and Rebekah meet Heaven, a nonbinary shapeshifter influencer, who Hugo becomes infatuated with and eventually leaves Rebekah for. There was a brief moment when they had the chance to be a promising throuple; Hugo seemed to have met someone as interested in art and history as he was and Rebekah and Heaven had promise of being menaces together, living off the attention that their joint beauty and wit would have brought them. In all ways they would have been a great group; except for the fact that the whole time Heaven was trying to get Hugo to join their cult and bring more people in for them to feast on. It surprised me at the end when Rebekah left Hugo for real and just decided to live her life. Ambiguous if she'd be taking Hugo back if he came crawling back in about two hundred years or so but I'm proud of anyone who takes a stand and does something for themselves that would help them improve in life.

I’d say that the only horror element was when Rebekah and Heaven fight to the death and even that was short lived and could be counted as more thriller than horror as it’s the most interesting thing that happened in the book. It was a good read, not fantastic and I’d still recommend it but I think that there’s a lot of work to do still. Flesh out the characters more, make the war that hangs over them a bit more of the plot, and not something that’s just in the background. It’s a short read, so it’s great to read on a flight like I did.

I particularly enjoyed the premise, but after a while it became repetitive and difficult to read. The characters were quite bland and didn’t seem to have any development.

this isn’t your typical vampire book, and i appreciate that so much. there is so much packed into this 200 page novella without it being congested and info-dumpy. i also loved the FMC, rebekah. she was hilarious, confident and snarky.

vampires at sea reminded me a lot of what we do in the shadows; in some alternate universe where nadja and colin robinson were married and went on a cruise and then met and fell in love with a mysterious non-binary influencer who may or may not be a unicorn shapeshifter. 👀

A solid 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story a lot and found the characters compelling. The idea of vampires on a cruise tickled me, and the way the author played with the setting was very interesting. There was obviously some further world building context that was hinted at (some kind of war) but never fully explored. It might be a hard sell as a novella and I wish it was either in a collection or part of full-length novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve been gravitating to a lot of books and media that explore the themes of immortality, what it means to be human, and the consequences of what it means to live forever through vampire-like characters (Sinners got me obsessed).

I tried to like this book, I really did. But the vulgar, over-used sexual imagery every other sentence, the humor never landing, and the unlikable characters made me really struggle. The premise was very interesting but the execution was disappointing.

Honestly, the cover is very appealing, but didn’t match the themes or the plot of the book at all.

Two immortal lovers, Rebekah and Hugh, go on a queer cruise. While they're on it they meet a nonbinary social media influencer named Heaven, who might be a magical creature. When things change for the couple and their relationship over the course of the cruise, Rebekah has to remember, or discover, who she is.
This is a quick read with a lot of sex and commentary on changing relationships and who we are in those relationships. It's kind of a queer horror black comedy.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars

Rebekah and Hugh, vampires (in a non-traditional sense), embark on a queer Black Sea cruise where they meet Heaven. Heaven interrupts their lives in a way that they've never experienced before.

There were certain aspects about the writing that were really well done, however, it often felt like maybe the author was trying too hard. This book is humorous, but the humor didn't land for me. It likely could work for others; humor in books is tough to appeal to everyone. I liked the idea of these vampires and appreciated that it was a different take on a vampire story. The novella was a little overly sexual for my taste - constant mention of sex, sexual content, orgies, general horndog behavior etc. Again, maybe could work for someone else, but not for me.

Throughout the novella, there is mention of "the war" in passing most of the time. In a way, this part felt more thrown in there without it being more developed. However, I can see that maybe this was meant to be a critique of people living life in luxury, while there is suffering occurring outside of their little bubble. I don't know if this idea was explored enough to indicate that that was intentional. There's also moments where Rebekah has kind of unclear memories and does not know her own history. I wish that this was more explored or at least tied up in the end.

Generally, I found the characters to be incredibly annoying. A lot of the dialogue was a little cringy for me and I couldn't get past my dislike for these characters. Everything feels like a caricature. Maybe this is intentional, but I couldn't tell.

Overall, I think this novella was just a little too silly for me. I do not really enjoy smutty books, so that definitely played a part in my enjoyment level. I would not categorize this as horror, maybe more thriller? general weird fic? I'm not sure.

Thank NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the eARC!

I did not vibe with this book at all. While I did go in expecting a very NSFW work, I was taken out of any semblance of immersion as the language, even in the first few pages, was oppressively sexual. Before I could even realize the world, I was bombarded by ‘cocks’ and language that felt more appropriate for a smut fanfiction written by an oppressed teenager rather than a published story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy of "Vampires at Sea". This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

Vampire couple Rebekah and Hugh are on a much needed vacation. With a backdrop of war, plagues and chaos, they embark a queer Black Sea Cruise, eager to relax, join an orgy, and feast upon their fellow passengers’ desires and sorrows. When Hugh becomes enchanted by an alluring, and most possibly as magical as them, social media influencer named Heaven, Rebekah’s reality capsizes and her true nature is unleashed onto everybody on her path.

So, let me preface by saying that, the moment I decided not to take this book too seriously and just recreate in the comical touch of it all, was the moment I could actually enjoy this. Not too much, though, there were still some things that made this book leaning to average for me instead of standing out from the other books I've read this year, but it was still mostly good. So, onto it we go.

I say that "Vampires at Sea" was average for me because it didn't do anything out of the ordinary in any of its aspect, not the vampires not the world not even the characters. It all lacked depth for my liking, the three main characters weren't that well developed for me to like them or care enough about them, and the world was as vaguely describe as the abstract concept of an afterlife, which the vampires won't reach. But yeah, the shortness of this novella might have killed its potential to take things a bit further and give us more than cramps.

But, as I'm complaining about lack of depth from this book, I will go at length about what I liked and didn't like.

The world is our world, except that plague with disease and war, a big war. Apparently, I'd say, because it is never describe or given enough proper context to grab the concept entirely. It is just war that reaches the characters some times when they go to land at some of the cruise's stops, and they flee it. But, like, that's all we know: there's a war. And I understand that that's just the context for the novella to happen, but, just as the characters are trying to not think about it while on the cruise, I would have liked it, as a reader, if we had been given more context on what was actually going on at the world. I think it would have given it even an additional depth and better background for the characters: since the vampires feed on emotions and sorrow, a better defined background would have given way to those emotions for them to feed on, in my opinion.
But alas, is not like Rebekah and Hugh were shown much feeding for us to know about the process in detail, so...

In fact, let's talk about the vampires now. Not sure if I should give a Spoiler Warning for this section, it is quite vague, but if y'all want to find out how the vampires in this novella work for yourself, then feel free to skip this paragraph. It's true that the vampires in this novella are not the conventional one, meaning, they don't feed of human's blood, but their emotions, something we know from the official blurb, even. But then again, it wasn't describe in earnest, we were just told that they feed from people's emotion. They go "hunting", things happen, but we are not shown how the feeding actually goes. If it were blood, they would sink their fangs and such, but in here, it is either like that and we just have to assume or is something else entirely and the author didn't feel like describing it. At least once, no need to go at it every time they feed 'cause, with just one time, we would know and imagine it every time Rebekah says she feeds on people. And they can stand under the sun with protection, can pass as humans... The only good detail is the fact that, since Rebekah and Hugh are quite old, they do not remember it all, which I think was an interested and realistic detail to give to immortal characters; I'm of the opinion that, unless they have some gifted memory, someone with hundreds of years on them would not remember it all. So, that detail was something well done in my opinion.

So, yeah, the vampires could have been done better, too. They also felt too human, just changing the fact that they feed on other people instead of regular food. I was a bit disappointed with them.

And, in terms of the characters, the only one I could claim to know some better is Rebekah, since she's the narrator of the story and we are privy to her thoughts. But then again, she wasn't that good developed, nor were her relationships with other characters, mainly Hugh, who is supposed to be her husband. So, when events started unraveling, and even when I reached the end of the book and the tension and emotional punch give way, I didn't feel that bad for the characters. I mean, I like Hugh character, and I was kind of sympathetic, but I could not feel bad for him nor understand the decisions made by him because I didn't knew him that well to have it clear if it was something he would actually do or a byproduct of what had transfixed at the cruise with Heaven or if he just went where the author wanted him.

It was the same with the rest of the characters. By the end of the book I didn't feel connected to any of them, not even Rebekah. They were two dimensional, following the plot, reacting some to the events happening and never showing more than what was needed to the plot.

Still, I had some fun with this book, that, I'll admit. It was describe as comical, queer and horrific. It only manage two of those, because I was never scare, not by the context of the world, nor by the vampires or anything else happening. But, I had some good laughs and there was definitely lots of queer characters and a semblance of theme there. And the mystery surrounding Heaven kept me glue to the pages from time to time.

Now, overall, I guess I can recommend this book, it was fun, it was short and it can be an entertaining read for fans of vampires and comedy, but, as I stated at the start, don't expect a revolutionary tale, just a novella to pass the time with supernatural elements, some mystery and unconventional vampires

This is one of those novellas where the cover is the most interesting part.

Now… hear me out, I love a good queer, vampire, ridiculous read, but this one just made me annoyed??

We follow Rebekah and Hugh who are vampires going on a cruise. They essentially want to f*ck lots of individuals, drink blood, and have a good time. Sounds fun right? Well then they meet Heaven who is a nonbinary social media creator. They essentially bring in the mess, jealousy, etc.

My biggest issues are… how is this considered horror?? Wasn’t horrific to me at all…. I expected alot more blood and feel like I barely got a drop.

There was a war going on?? But I’m still not sure what that had to do with the story? It was mentioned several times, but no clue on who it was between or how it related to the story.

And I loooove me some smutty moments, but it was never satisfying. Which I’m also very sad about.

I could go on, but sadly this did not work for me at all.

Thank you NetGalley and creature publishing for the ARC!

I haven’t a clue what the hell I just read but I didn’t enjoy it. Admittedly I requested this one again to try something different but this was not the one for me! Goodreads suggested it was horror but it definitely wasn’t.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.