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amelianotthepilot 's review for:

Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum
4.0

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for gifting me a ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I chose the book blindly on NetGalley because I thought the cover and title were fun and boy was I in for a ride. This novella follows Rebekah and Hugo, immortal vampires who are on a 'queer Black Sea Cruise'. If you love What We Do In The Shadows vampires and White Lotus's vacation drama, this is for you! It was truly so fun and silly with heavy What We Do In the Shadows vibes without being an exact copy. It made me laugh out loud at times but also kept me entranced with these unapologetic queer characters.  I loved how temperamental and nonchalant these immortals were but also how they weren't just 'normal' vampires. The author's take on vampires was interesting, unique, and exciting without being too different from a standard blood sucker. That being said, I enjoyed most of the plot but found the ending a bit lackluster and wrapped up too easily. My only other negative for the book was that Hugh was not fleshed out enough and was really more of a background character than a love interest. All in all though, I loved the concept, and it was definitely a wild and entertaining ride.

This story does include spice (and an orgy), cheating, toxic relationships, drugs and alcohol, and language so it's definitely for an adult audience but I wouldn't classify it as 'horror', it's more fantasy mystery comedy.