Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley. 

There’s vampires on the cruise ship, what could go wrong? A vampire couple, feeding on strong (and different) emotions decide to try something new and they join a queer cruise. On the ship they fuck and explore new and intriguing forms of hedonism, when they encounter a nonbinary social media influencer named Heaven. It becomes clear they aren’t human either. Soon Hugh has fallen under their spell and Rebekah struggles to come to terms with the duality of jealously and desire battling within her. 

If you like your vampire stories bloody, this is not the story for you. If you like them sexy… Meh, also not really (for a book that claims to dive into hedonism, most of the actual sex is deeply unsatisfying). But if you like emotional vampires with issues, selfish, horrible queer people and someone breaking out (or being broken out of) their everyday trot then you will find this here. We follow Rebekah, a vampire who has grown compliant living with her artist husband, feeding just enough to stay sated. When Heaven unsettles the balance, they have built together, Rebekah has to confront her hunger and her past. She is an incredibly interesting character, jealous and bitchy and selfish and to me intriguing (sometimes you just enjoy a horrible, problematic woman, who revels in her own pity even though everybody knows she suuuucks). I also really liked Heaven, nonbinary shapeshifter, homewrecker extraordinaire, selfish and horrible and oh so sexy. And I was deeply intrigued by the hate-interest-jealousy thing Heaven and Rebekah had going on (although I wish that had been explored in more depth! They were the most interesting characters after all and should have been the main focus tbh.) I wish Hugh had been fleshed out a bit more and I did not see the appeal Rebekah (or Heaven) saw in him because he just didn’t get enough depth. 

I also did not get a real horror vibe from this, it is more queer vampire satire than anything even remotely scary and I would have liked to learn more about Rebekah’s past, but if you like what we do in the shadows and criticism of stan culture you might be more interested by this than I was. Just don’t go into it expecting any actual horror or erotica. 

All in all, an interesting beach read if you like messy women, who feed of your emotions, satisfying for the short snack that it is, but not leaving me sated either. 

TW: alcohol, slight issues of consent due to vampiric powers (already existing lust gets enhanced), death, gore, jealousy, violence