I was immediately drawn to the setting, and I loved Morgane so much. This was a fun and exciting adventure! The magical elements don’t come in until late in this story but they’re so worth it, Came for pirates and vampires, stayed for Morgane and Lisette.

Emma Newman’s “The Vengeance” is a thrilling adventure that combines elements of piracy, fantasy, and historical fiction. The book follows Morgane, a young woman raised as a pirate, who discovers a shocking secret about her true parentage. Morgane’s journey takes her from the high seas to the decadent halls of French nobility, where she uncovers a world of corruption and danger.

The story has exciting action sequences, intriguing characters, and supernatural elements that keep the reader engaged. One of the book’s strengths is its well-developed characters. Morgane is a strong and independent heroine who is both capable and compassionate. The supporting characters, including the mysterious Captain de Valois and the enigmatic vampire Isabeau, are well-rounded and contribute to the story’s richness.

I will say that I feel the book is almost falsely advertised as a vampire book as the book takes quite some time for the vampires to appear. I feel if that expectation was not set in the beginning, it would not have felt so strange with how long it took the vampires to arrive in the book.

While the novel’s pacing can be uneven, with some sections feeling slower than others, the overall plot is engaging and satisfying. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel, and I eagerly await the next instalment in the series. “The Vengeance” is a thrilling and entertaining read that will appeal to fans of fantasy, historical fiction, and adventure. It’s a captivating story that blends elements of the supernatural with a strong female protagonist and a richly imagined world.

As a lover of all things piratical I enjoyed he setting of this book and Morgane's life on The Vegeance. The main story arch is a journey whereby you follow Morgane as she leaves the Caribbean to search for her birth mother in France. There are perils and love on the way and I liked the clash between Morgane and polite French society, which gave both a humerous edge as well as an interesting social commentary. The book is described as a historical fantasy, however in my view it is more historical than fantasy. I was excited when I first read this book to hear there was both pirates and vampires but was disappointed in the level of supernatural beings within it and that the vampire element came in so briefly as the end. The blurb definitely suggests there would be more vampires within the book, instead of it being a 'twist' at the end. It perhaps 'oversells' what the book is giving. I did like the book and would recommend it, however I can't help but be left feeling like the book didn't deliver all I was expecting.

I DNF
Slow, its title says vampire I made it 50% no vampire. The pirate life is cool and fun. The lesbian twist lacked real intimacy.

The Vengaence is a pirates x vampire fantasy novel. When I requested the arc on NetGalley I had high hopes, the book sounded very good. I am a sucker for vampires!

However, I DNF’d the book about 50% in with no real introduction to the vampires when the series is called “the Vampires of Dumas”. I struggled with the book at first as well because the pace was slow but there were moments I started to feel more positive; however, it just didn’t grip me in the long run.

I think the story could have had potential, the premise of a good fantasy novel is there. I appreciate being given the opportunity to read and review this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

Pirates, werewolves and vampires! So much action and new things popping up. It definitely kept me on my toes. Throw a love story in there and what more could you want. Really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it and read anything else by this author!

A great big, piratey, charactery, vampirey romp!

Morgane is a pirate's daughter. And a woman pirate at that. Unfortunately, Morgane's mother has an enemy, and fairly early in the book Morgane both loses her mother and finds out something *very important* about her family.

This sends her on a quest through France - chased by enemies, learning how to not be a pirate, making a great friend, experiencing many weird things and finally resolving the very important family issue (this is hard without spoilering anything).

Everything is great about this book. Morgane's character is really solid, and her character development is great. The pace and action are fast, with just enough downtime so you get a breather. There's just enough historical reference to situate it in a believable time period and understand the context.

I'm glad that I knew there was some vampire connection as it gave me just enough information about the kind of book I was reading (I dislike when I think I'm reading historical fiction then all of a sudden there is something supernatural).

If there is a sequel, I will be very excited to read it.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the ARC. This book was fun! I enjoyed reading it it was out of the normal for me but I enjoyed the fun tale including pirates, vampires and other fun things in this fictional book.

I enjoyed this story for what it gave but I wish there was a little bit more. The premise really intrigued me so I was excited to pick it up but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I wish it would have given a bit more, but it was still an enjoyable read.

3.5 rounded up to 4
A historical fantasy about a pirate who makes her way through the royal courts of France to find her mother.

I would note - this leans more historical than fantasy in my opinion, I did have to double check the title around half way through the book as there wasn't a lot of vampire action yet!

Regardless, I did enjoy the story! Some of it was a bit predictable, but still worth a read in my opinion - especially if a sapphic pirate book sounds like something you'd like to read!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc.

I felt that the way the story was told was not comparable with an uneducated, illiterate young woman. She also seemed so young in the way she was written. The tension very seemed to hold. It was so back and forth without being sure about something. She was on a ship for that whole time but then so naive.

This just didn’t add up to me. It ended okay, I didn’t love and won’t recommend

Pirates, werewolves, and vampires? Sign me up. Morgane, knowing only a pirate’s life, embarks on a quest for truth and vengeance. Nonstop action with a sprinkle of love made this a fun, devour in one sitting book. Definitely recommend.

An enjoyable pirate/hero quest story with a rough around the edges but endearing FMC and sweet romance element.

I fell in love the moment I read the blurb to apply for the ARC! Thank you NetGalley for this!!

This is my first Emma Newman book and I was NOT disappointed!! This was so much fun and kinda creepy sometimes. Morgane is sassy and tuff and I love that there are vampires!! I can’t not wait for this series!!

Emma Newman’s “The Vengeance” is a thrilling adventure that combines elements of piracy, fantasy, and historical fiction. The novel follows Morgane, a young woman raised as a pirate, who discovers a shocking secret about her true parentage. Morgane’s journey takes her from the high seas to the decadent halls of French nobility, where she uncovers a world of corruption and danger.

The story has exciting action sequences, intriguing characters, and supernatural elements that keep the reader engaged. One of the book’s strengths is its well-developed characters. Morgane is a strong and independent heroine who is both capable and compassionate. The supporting characters, including the mysterious Captain de Valois and the enigmatic vampire Isabeau, are well-rounded and contribute to the story’s richness.

While the novel’s pacing can be uneven, with some sections feeling slower than others, the overall plot is engaging and satisfying. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel, and I eagerly await the next instalment in the series. “The Vengeance” is a thrilling and entertaining read that will appeal to fans of fantasy, historical fiction, and adventure. It’s a captivating story that blends elements of the supernatural with a strong female protagonist and a richly imagined world.

Queer pirates plus vampires? Sounds right up my alley!
Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. Given the premise, I was excited to read The Vengeance, but despite a promising start I quickly lost interest. Much of the plot felt predictable, in spite of the twists and turns of Morgane's various kidnappers and identity reveals. Morgane's stubborn refusal to listen to the many characters who warned her against pursuing meeting her mother was frustrating for me. And the reveal of her mother as a vampiric villain was anticlimactic.
Both Morgane and Lisette felt rather one-note to me. I was more interested in the pirates Morgane left behind or the inner workings of Morgane's mother's empire. And while I appreciate the sapphic representation, the romance felt forced and stale.
I wish the characters and plot were developed further as the bones of the story are of interest to me. I was simply hoping for more.

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Vengeance.

DNF: 46%

Pirates, a mystery with monsters, set in France?! This promised to be intriguing and unique.

Unfortunately, it's a major letdown.

First things first: no, I didn't finish this book. I made it almost halfway through and I still hadn't heard mention of vampires. Not even a hint. It's really hard for me to accept a story whose cover says "The Vampires of Dumas" but have <b>ZERO</b> mention of them for more than half the book. Either Jacques and Anna-Marie needed to be less cagey about France and their pasts or this needed to be dual PoV. Or a large chunk of the beginning needs to be scrapped. It just takes too long.

This book suffers from pacing issues. I was able to skim a lot of it and not miss anything -- that's never a good sign. And I know from reading other reviews by people who finished the book, the end goes by too quickly.

But the final straw that made me walk away was the dialogue. I caught a glimpse of it early on. Morgane and Jacques were talking/arguing and it felt very clunky and awkward and forced. But it passed and smoothed out so I thought it was a blip. Until we met Morgane's father and his household staff. All the dialogue felt stilted and wrong for the age and class of the characters. With the other issues this story has, I couldn't justify continuing.

I hope there's another editing pass here before it's published because I still think it could be good. As it stands, it'll remain on my DNF pile forever.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Solaris, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thanks to netgalley & the publisher for the ARC. This was a great book. Pirates, and anything else you could want out of a paranormal LGTBQ+ fictional novel, I absolutely fell in love with Morgane. Lisette was such a great teacher! In all things 😅

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Emma Newman for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Vengeance coming out May 6, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really love vampire stories, so I was excited to check it out. I thought the pirate part of the story was a lot stronger than the vampire part. I feel like for a book with Vampires in the title, there wasn’t a lot about them. They may show up in more books in the series, but I would’ve liked a little more in this one. The pirate parts were really good. There were a couple things I wasn’t expecting that I’m not really a fan of. The writing was good though. I would check out more books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy novels!

I cannot get into this book. I am just not in the right mood to read this. Nothing against the writing or characters, got like 10% in and cannot remember a thing and am just going to DNF this. Sorry! This book just is not for me but I can see fan of the Ever King and Daughter of the pirate king enjoying this!