Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was expecting a little bit more from this book. Since it’s a short novel, I didn't expect much worldbuilding, however, some was needed. In the beginning of the story, I was just confused. I didn’t know who any of the characters were since the writing was quite chaotic (in a good way, I think I would've loved it in a longer book, it just didn’t work in this short novel), and a lot of characters felt flat, especially Hugh. The protagonist herself was interesting and well developed, but she did get on my nerves sometimes.

There were too many unnecessary spice scenes. I feel like if we understood more about the new take the author had on vampires, the book would've been much more enjoyable and a lot less chaotic. The immortals themselves were interesting, which is why I was quite sad that we didn't delve deeper into their world.

In the second half of the story, I got really invested and I started enjoying the book a lot more. However, the ending was anticlimactic. The final fight itself gave us nothing—it was way too fast and easy (although I did enjoy the suspense).

This book was certainly not like anything I've ever read. Rebekah and Hugh are energy vampires invited to vacation on a queer black cruise. Rebekah feasts on desire and Hugh on sadness, and they're here to avoid problems - both their personal problems and the problems of the world at large. Then they meet Heaven, another inhuman creature who enters their poly relationship and throws a wrench in the whole thing.

Every character is incredibly hate-able. Some personas are characters are completely over the top personas, while other fall flat. I found this quite hard to get into, as the writing style is a little erratic with its random and unnecessary switches to second person, and it's certainly not your trendy current romantasy. I wanted to love this. I love What We Do in The Shadows and Interview with the Vampire and Twilight, but somehow it just wasn't for me. There is actually an interesting psychological horror element going on in the background in a couple different ways, but the narrator's obsessions and self-centeredness get in the way of anything interesting actually going on. The story also pokes at questions of human condition (What does it mean to be human? What is human enough to not be a monster?) we don't really get to explore enough to be interesting or meaningful.

It was, of course, delightfully queer and and a quick read which I enjoyed. I loved the idea of this but it just wasn't quite for me.

I kept waiting for there to be more actual vampire but that was my own preconceived notions of what that would look like- they were draining emotions and feeding off that.

The premise of a married vampire couple going on a queer, poly cruise to get up to some debauchery, with a horror tag on it? Should have been right up my alley.

Honestly, I liked the structure and the story kept picking up but the ending felt rushed. Hugh felt like such a flat character and I instantly hated Heaven but I really wanted to lean into the jealous/reactive feelings that Rebekah kept having. Her need to be a spectacle and seen by those around her while being ignored by the one she wanted most was the most relatable part about her.

Ultimately, I don't think this felt much like a "horror" novella, I felt like I was constantly waiting for something to happen and it didn't

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC, this is scheduled to be released Oct 7, 2025.

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.

Immortal lovers Rebekah and Hugh take a risqué, pleasure filled cruise to satiate their deepest sexual (and vampiric) desires. A captivating, spirited, enchantress named Heaven comes along and fills their world with temptation and lust.

Things I like:

1. The sultry, dark romance & seductive tone of this story is really enticing.
2. IMMORTAL lovers??? Yes please!
3. Confined to a floating vessel with nothing to do but feed your darkest cravings? 1000% yes.

Things that could be better:

1. The characters all could have been flushed out a tad bit more. Specifically Hugh & Heaven, they’re a bit 1 dimensional.
2. I wanted more TENSION. The slow simmer, deep aching, longing…. More of that please!


Thank you SO much for this ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this story!

I was very excited for this book but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I was expecting vampires and horror on a cruise ship but it didn’t deliver for me and the horror never showed up.

Thank you for the ARC and apologies I couldn’t rate it higher.

This seemed like it would be quite fun, but it unfortunately was a miss for me. I found the narrator’s voice to be painfully grating, on top of just wondering what was the point the whole way through.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

Vampires at Sea promised a lot of things that were completely missed for me. I was expecting a hilarious horror, complete with glittery debauchery on this cruise ship that Hugh & Rebekah were embarking on after a rocky time in their marriage. At no point did the horror show up and while the description very plainly states they are emotional Vampires, I didn’t anticipate that being so literal. I thought I’d get blood sucking Vamps and felt bored, like something was missing, while reading of them only consuming desires and sorrows. One thing is for sure - it promises unbridled narcissism and delivers so hard, that even for immortal standards not a single taste of true empathy by the main characters was shown and left me disconnected from all of them. The writing style is what kept me going to the end. I did enjoy the vivid descriptions and the pictures Lindsay Merbaum was able to create while reading of these insufferable creatures. I think this book will 100% find its niche audience.


Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the eARC of this novella in exchange for my honest review.

This was a trial. The prose was fine, I suppose. Technically the first person protagonist's voice was a strong one. Unfortunately the character convincingly portrayed by that voice was a vapid narcissist. At least she wasn't alone. I hated every character in this book equally. Merbaum seemed to be shooting for a satire but the end result was neither funny nor thematically resonant in any way. The potentially interesting questions of 'what's going on with Rebekah's missing memories' or 'what's going on with the war' were ditched like unwanted prom dates, ever to remain unresolved. Just to be clear, this isn't ambiguity. This is irritatingly dropped plot threads.

I've been sitting here for half a minute, trying to figure out whether I've got anything else to add to my review. But I don't.

At least it was short. And now I'm done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

This was a fun read! I did find it hard to connect with the characters and was a bit confused with the ending, but overall it was a nice queer short story!

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!

This book is a fever dream in the best possible way. Imagine queer vampires on a boat with biting (pun intended) political commentary, dripping in atmosphere and tension. The writing is rich and dripping with intention, and at times deeply surreal—but always in service to the emotional undercurrent. Your brain is going to itch at times and if you don't utter wtf did i just read, I am not sure we read the same book.

I will say if you are going into this book looking for a traditional vampire book... this one isn't for you. The feeding isn't bloody or grotesque in the normal sense. But deeply personal and at times can leave your brain a little drained.

The pacing wobbles a bit in the middle, and there were moments I wished for just a little more grounding. But the payoff? So worth it. Merbaum isn't afraid to get weird, to get bold, and to get bloody.

If you want something sapphic, gender non-conforming, gothic, and, lets be honest, completely unhinged (in the best way), climb aboard. Just don’t expect to get off unchanged. 🖤🩸⚓

This sounded right up my street from the description, I love vampires, I love a baddie FMC, I love queer books, I love weird books! It should’ve been such a hit for me but it was sadly a miss. I didn’t like the writing style at all, it felt like an amalgamation of other writers voices that felt off putting and made it hard to connect with the characters & the story. It felt like ‘trying to be weird’ rather than just being weird, if that makes sense? I don’t think this is a bad book, I just really wasn’t for me.

3,75/5 stars.

Bunny meets Triangle of Sadness with a heavy sprinkling of True Blood. Rebekah and Hugh are emotional vampires in quite the literal sense. And it just so happens to be they get to attend an all-you-can-feed buffet when they get invited to a queer cruise. The result is as messy as you might expect, but also very entertaining.

The Good:
- The main character is unapologetically not a good person. And I love that for her. Slay, literally.
- The descriptions are ample and chaotic and over the top, and really heighten the vibes of this fever dream of a story.
- It's just weird as hell.

The Could Be Better:
- There's a lot of telling why Hugh is an interesting person, and I can kind of imagine the type, but there's not a lot of showing why he's interesting. And really, people like him definitely exist. It's not a farfetched persona, but he doesn't really do anything? Rebekah is the narrator so the reader is seeing him through her eyes. And they've been together for centuries, so it's only natural you don't get a real time fresh perspective on him.
- While the novella is only 168 pages I still think it could've been more tight in the storytelling. There's just a bit more style over substance. Or the book could've been longer but with flashbacks to their previous adventures to balance it out.

The Bad:
- Nothing's really bad, I liked it in all its red meat flavored cotton candy glory.

Like some other reviewers said there's a very specific audience for this, but it definitely exists! The "I support women's rights AND women's wrongs" crowd.

Thanks NetGalley and Creature Publishing for providing me with this ARC! All opinions are my own.

DNF. I didn’t vibe with the writing style, and wasn’t interested enough in the plot or the characters to keep reading. I might not be its target audience, though, since it feels a bit niche.

Vampires at Sea is a poignant, yet humorous, tale about a sophisticated vampire couple, Rebekah and Hugh, who embark on a queer cruise across the Black Sea as they struggle with themselves and their relationship with the mysterious Heaven. Told in narrative style, readers explore Rebekah's internal dialectic as she wrestles with her feelings toward Hugh, being a vampire, and herself. Fans of Henry Miller and Anne Rice will find this story delicious and intriguing. Filled with profound reflections on life, love, sex, war, and being human, Vampires at Sea is a short novel perfect for beach reading. Though this is a typical book for me to read, it was enjoyable and expanded my outlook on the world.

Story was light and easy to read , not too many characters to keep track of , was highly confused about Heaven , they wore a skirt with a split up to their thigh then they have a beard , not my kind of thing .
But thank you for sharing

I really appreciate this book for what it is, a short horror story that leaves you a bit confused.
At the beginning, I felt a bit disconnected from the story and the characters. After about thirty percent, that improved and I started to really enjoy it.
I liked that the focus was just on three characters, but at the same time, I wish Hugh had been a more fleshed-out character.

What a fun and entertaining story! I was engaged the whole time reading this and wanted so much more. The ending felt a little lackluster for me but that didn't deter my five star rating. I loved this book and I loved Rebekah so much and I wish for only the best in her eternity.

This book was honestly so fun! I loved the concept of queer vampires on a cruise, and the way it was written made me fly by it! My only complaint is lack of character and plot development. However, if you're looking for just an intriguing little fluff piece, this is perfect!

What We do in the Titanic

To me vampire media is about desensitization of human concerns, this book did just that and even added a new layer with main characters being emotional vampires. It was also funny enough, I laughed at times, Rebekah is a very silly girl.

However, what bothered me were some concepts that were not fully realized and made me confused instead of adding something to the story, while the war vaguely made sense (even if only vaguely), I couldn’t say the same about Misha (literally why were they there).