The Vengeance

The Vampires of Dumas #1

by Emma Newman

Morgane grew up at sea, daughter of the fierce pirate captain of the Vengeance, raised to follow in her footsteps as scourge of the Four Chains Trading Company. But when Anna-Marie is mortally wounded in battle, she confesses to Morgane that she is not her mother.

The captain of the enemy ship reveals he was paid to kill Anna-Marie and bring Morgane home to France and her real family. Desperate to learn the truth about her lineage, Morgane spares him, leaving the Vengeance and everything she knows behind.

Her quest reveals a world of decadence and darkness, in which monsters vie for control of royal courts and destinies of nations. She discovers the bloody secrets of the Four Chains Trading Company, and the truth about her real mother’s death, nearly twenty years before...

Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Romance, Paranormal, Pirates, Historical, Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2025

About the author

Emma Newman writes short stories, novels and novellas in multiple speculative fiction genres. She is also a Hugo Award-winning podcaster and an audiobook narrator.

She won the British Fantasy Society Best Short Story Award 2015 for “A Woman’s Place” in the 221 Baker Streets anthology. 'Between Two Thorns', the first book in Emma's Split Worlds urban fantasy series, was shortlisted for the BFS Best Novel and Best Newcomer 2014 awards. Her science-fiction novel, After Atlas, was shortlisted for the 2017 Arthur C. Clarke award and the third novel in the Planetfall series, Before Mars, has been shortlisted for a BSFA Best Novel award. The Planetfall series was shortlisted for the 2020 Best Series Hugo Award.

Emma currently creates a podcast called 'Imagining Tomorrow' for Friends of the Earth. Her hobbies include dressmaking, LARP and tabletop role playing. www.enewman.co.uk.

Reviews

[EveStar91 · Rating 3 out of 5]

If she had known that it was the last hour of her mother’s life, Morgane would have done things differently. But that was the thing about a life at sea such as they had; there was no way to tell where death would come from.

The aptly named The Vengeance follows Morgane after the death of her mother (the captain of her pirate ship) as she leaves her life at sea and everything she knows to go to France hoping for vengeance. Dealing with several surprises coming up during her quest - chief of which is that she uncovers letters from her birth mother pleading for rescue, and a father who has been searching for her, she finds France and life on land very different from the life she led until then.

Morgane felt horribly awkward. Why did everyone care about being a man or a woman so much in France? On The Vengeance, the only thing that mattered was skill. But perhaps her aunt’s ship really had been an exception.

The interesting plot, action based but event driven, is the foundation of this book, and held my attention. Morgane is a great character, her strengths and weaknesses outcomes of growing up on a ship in a late medieval world. The overall duration of the book doesn't see a lot of change in Morgane's character, but she is pretty strong and street smart to start with.

“Nah.” Morgane sheathed the knife. “Any problem involving a man can always be solved with violence. Violence or gold, to be fair.”

A few good themes like gender-based expectations and rule of aristocracy came up, and meshed well with the other lead and secondary characters. The world-building contains some supernatural entities in addition to the medieval descriptions (as can be seen from the name of the series), but this wasn't explored as much as I'd like. Another quibble was that the plot progression didn't actually allow Morgane to spend much time with each of her parents, except for the mother who raised her, or actually see them in each other's company - which could have added to her character arc.

On the whole, The Vengeance is a fun read, and I'll keep an eye out for the sequel and more books by Emma Newman.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion publishers for an ARC, the review is entirely honest.

🌟🌟🌟
[3/4 star for the premise and the whole book; Half a star for the characters; 3/4 star for the plot and themes; Half a star for the world-building; Half a star for the writing - 3 stars in total.]

[vicky ꨄ︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ೀ 3.5★ .ᐟ

I will say this first I went into this book expecting this to just be a pirate book imagine to my surprise that paranormal is in it. Then I took my ass to goodreads to read the genre and it was in there for my eyes to see. So I say this is completely my fault. Also should of realised it since this series is literally called the vampires of dumas hint the vampire in the name.

This book has such a plot but the pacing wasn’t that good. The start of the book was amazing, having to read about how Morgane lived on the vengeance and how she worked with being a girl pirate. I thought that this part would go on a little bit longer but it didn’t. Would’ve loved to see how the ship got on after the death of the captain. Morgane journey to find her mother was interesting until it wasn’t.

Since this series is advertised as vampires, the said vampires didn’t show up until the 90% mark. I would have assumed that they would show up earlier and be stronger since we all know that vampires are stronger than normal people. Apparently not in this book.

Also can we talk about the synopsis of the book! It literally says The truth about her real mother’s death from twenty years ago what death??? Her real mother is alive and Morgane gets to meet her. Like I’m so confused as to what this is trying to say since it doesn’t happen in the book at all.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.














ೀ preread ᡣ𐭩

My copy of the rebel witch still hasn’t came in 😭😭 Anyways while I’m waiting I’m going to start this arc which I completely forgot that I even requested it

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

[MillennialMomReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vengeance is a book that has excellent plot but suffers a bit with pacing. Morgane is a pirate, kidnapped by a family member at birth who thrives in her life at sea until a mystery draws her back to France. I loved the side characters in this book and wish there had been more time spent on them-I think this is a book that actually would have done well being longer with more lore than shorter. Overall it’s still a satisfying read, more for those looking for an adventurous book than a fantasy/paranormal book.

Thanks to the author and Solaris Books for this ARC

[Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

While The Vengeance has some really good elements, I found that the parts I didn't love negated the good just enough to make this an average read. I really enjoyed the premise of the book, the conversations about class hierarchy were good, and I liked the sapphic love story. However, I didn't love the main character's "not like other girls attitude," she was very gullible at times, and I found the pacing pretty poor. The majority of the book is spent following the main character as she looks for different relatives and has the same revelation over and over again. We didn't even meet the main villian until the 80% mark, and this book is a standalone! So even though there was some good, this was an overall very average read. Nothing too bad about it, but it doesn't stand out either.
Thank you to Rebellion and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vengeance is definitely a book where the buildup and plot momentum was a tad bit ruined by the climax. I loved the start of it, following Morgane on her journey to finding her mother and seeking revenge, but when the paranormal aspect was introduced it seemed abrupt and out of place especially since I was 70% into the book already. This was only made worse by the ending which seemed far too rushed, clean and convenient for my expectations and the general feel of the book.

However it did not derail my enjoyment of the book. I loved the Morgane, I loved the side characters and how Morgane saw them and I loved Morgane's relationship with Lisette, they were adorable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Sue Miz · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 🌟 🔅
First a thank you for Netgalley and the author for providing the ARC of this book for my honest opinion

I am now in search of every Pirate/siren/mermaid book whether historical, paranormal, retelling, or fantasy.
So I was very intrigued about a female pirate trying to find her biological family in a world haunted by vampires and conspiracies.

But sadly, it was a no for me

as much as I enjoyed the first and last 15% of the book, these were quick-paced and full of adventure and action, the 70% in between were dull and very slow.
For a book promising vampires and paranormal, we meet our first werewolf at 65%??!!!!
Things kept happening to Morgan that were either irrelevant or not understandable.

The romance felt rushed
I wanted more for a FF relationship
and the parts that should have been the focus were not given enough space

Morgan herself was lacking as a character.
I understand that she lived her life on board a ship
but she was surrounded by pirates and scoundrels
she knows about thieving and lies
so how come she was easily manipulated?

every person she meets tells her that they are there for her and she should come with them and she goes without a question!
someone says "I am your father" and you immediately believe them???

there were points where I was saying "How stupid can she be?" and lo and behold, she is and she says it herself.

I hope this would be resolved because the book has much potential.

[❁lilith❁ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Solaris for access to this eARC! All opinions are my own.
______________

For a book one in a series entitled ‘The Vampires of Dumas’ there was a severe lack of vampires, or any supernatural/fantasy element at all. When such an element came around it felt very strange and off-pace with the rest of the book, which was already quite convoluted with a sea of plots and characters that didn’t get wrapped up.
Characters were introduced sporadically and given small margins of screen time before either being killed off or sent away and new ones introduced. It made sense for how the main character was navigating a large swath of the ocean and then France, but it made for disjointed reading and not being able to gain attachment to any characters. Our main girl is quite often ridiculous, and when people are constantly telling her of the danger she is planning to go towards she does nothing but ignore every warning coming her way. It was very frustrating to read, and it made me start skimming from about 60% onwards.
The beginning of this was my favourite part, the piratical themes and how the ship was described I found really intriguing and well-researched. Unfortunately my enjoyment didn’t stay for the rest of the book.
My funniest gripe is that our MC seems to be the only girl in France with blonde hair??? It is the one descriptor that everyone trying to acquire her uses, and it did make me laugh that it was such a factor.

[S. Naomi Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, I'd like to thank Solaris books for gifting me an eARC of this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own. Okay, on to the review...

Oh my gods, this is simply fantastic. I think it's my favourite Emma Newman book so far, and if it truly is the first of a new series, I will most definitely be buying and devouring every single one. It starts out as a pirate story, then becomes something of a hero quest, and by about two-thirds of the way through turns into something darker. Yes, there are vampires, but we already know that because the title of the series is The Vampires of Dumas. There are other supernatural creeps in there as well, but you'll have to read it yourself to find out what sort and how they fit in.

The narrative is reasonably self-contained, and could be read as a standalone, but there are enough loose threads at the end that a second book has plenty to play with. The main point-of-view character, Morgane, is full of sass and attitude, but still manages to have a gentle side as well, and the various supporting characters are nicely rounded and interesting. In fact, there are a few I really hope turn up for the next book, especially Captain de Valois - I need to know what happened to him!

Seriously, if you're looking for a fun swashbuckling adventure with a touch of the fantastical, some creepy supernatural critters, and a host of engaging characters, you could do much worse than grab yourself a copy of this one when it comes out. I'll certainly be getting a physical copy.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came for the high seas adventures of lesbian pirates and vampires. I stayed for the flammable brandy and bumbo!

This is a strange novel from a familiar author - Emma Newman is famous for her "Planetfall" series, which is part of my enormous pile o' stuff to read. So I was expecting great things, and I did get some of it. "The Vengeance" is a swashbuckling tale, much stronger in the first half of the story where our young heroine, Morgane, is a daring captain's daughter who gets caught up in a quest to find her real mother. But as the story progressed, it had pacing issues that made the tale stretch out a bit. Additionally, Morgane as a character was quite the foolhardy young thing, rushing off into danger and acting the fool a bit too often for my tastes. Perhaps it was her age - she's a young girl who's been raised on a pirate ship, so her manners and tastes run to spit, calling people barnacles, and running people through with a sword. Which is all fun, until you realize that it doesn't quite work when you find yourself in civilized France hunting for a noblewoman.

The ending felt a rushed, and it's only at the very end of the book that Morgane meets her mother, understands what's really going on, and burns the house of cards down. Vengeance, after all, can be flammable brandy and some bumbo. Overall, I enjoyed the book, even the hard candy happy ending that was a bit too sweet for my tastes.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished my first book of the year! Finally 🥲 I cannot express how stressful these 6 months were but I managed to find some time to read this month.

Thank you to Solaris Books and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC!

A book that left me feeling quite conflicted. I absolutely adore Morgane as a main character. She's strong-willed, so utterly genuine and therefore also flawed. She's relatable and very well-developed. I know who she is, what her values and motivations are. Unfortunately, I can say this only about her. All of the other characters really felt like just side characters. I can't tell you why certain characters helped her while others harmed her. We get told this information but there is not really much proof of any of this.

I did not care much for the romance as I didn't feel connected to the love interest. Technically speaking there were enough scenes to build a connection between the two characters as well the readers and the relationship but the latter got neglected in depth. I don't know much about the love interest and wish we could've dug deeper into the development of that character and the relationship.

SPOILERS

The pacing was a little awkward. The first part on the ship was really nice and I would've loved to spend more time there as I was promised pirates. The only pirate we get throughout the rest of the story is Morgane. The rest is all just tangible build-up to the ending which gets resolved SO FAST. The build-up didn't feel senseless but there was also not much to be gained from it. As we travel with Morgane we meet her father who is swiftly killed off. At the end we meet her mother who gets no more than two scenes with our MC before she's also killed off. Introducing and killing off important characters within a few chapters feels really jarring. And it was done thrice in the book! I think it worked well with Anna-Marie but the other two (three even if you count the Comte) felt too forced and too fast.

SPOILER END

I was also promised vampires and got none until 90% into the book?? This felt much more like a prequel than a first installment of a series. Everything feels sort of wrapped up plot-wise so I am merely curious as to how Morgane's life continues but there's no hook or cliffhanger plot-wise.

(I did really enjoy the Rapunzel allegories. Very fun twist to the original story!)

[Nicki Markus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Vengeance had an awesome premise but overall the book didn't really come together for me. To start with the positives, the early part of the book with all the pirate ship stuff was great and clearly well researched. Had this just been a swashbuckling pirate tale, I think it could have worked well. Where it fell apart was in the latter chapters once Morgane left the ship to seek her mother in France. The introduction of the vampires came far too late to have an impact -- it just felt tacked on -- and I struggled to accept Morgane's fighting ability when she came up against vampires for the first time. The other aspects where this book didn't work for me were the dialogue, which felt really forced, the pacing, which was slow at the start but then rushed at the end, and the romance, which felt too sudden to be believable. It looks like this book is intended to begin a series; however everything felt wrapped up (however swiftly) by the end of the this volume, so there was nothing that made me interested to read on. In conclusion, I am giving this book 3 stars. It's worth a look for the fun pirate stuff at the start, but I feel the inclusion of the vampire element was misguided (and you'll feel let down if you read this expecting a vampire story) and the book could have done with more editing on pacing and dialogue.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up


Mixed feelings, Very mixed feelings for this book. Loved everything about the pirates: loyalty, experience and dynamics on the ship. Plot was interesting, if not a tad bit slow and when we got closer to the end it felt like we took a complete 180 into a different world and genre. It was just not fitting or connecting for me. Also, the relationship between Morgane, Anna-Marie and this mysteries mother was very dramatic, some aspects did not make sense on a number of choices that they made, I was getting pretty frustrated. Everything else about this book was ok, engaging at times, with some action and excitement but I was not sucked into the story or really invested.
I received an advanced ebook via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

[Mimi Schweid]

Finally grabbed this from the library!
10/27/2025; I will be going back to this at a later date. Not the right headspace for this one at the moment like I thought.

[melhara · Rating 5 out of 5]

May 6, 2025 Update:
Happy publishing date!!

This book is light on the fantasy/paranormal and romance component but very well-done on the historical fiction and character development side of things. I loved reading about Morgane's life as a pirate and the culture shock she experienced in France while amongst "civilized" people.

September 26, 2024 Review:

4.5/5

Sh*t and Blood! A sapphic historical fiction with pirates and vampires - what's not to love?!

Morgane grew up on a pirate ship as the daughter of a badass female captain, Captain Anna-Marie, whose sole mission is to attack and steal from ships operated by the Four Chains Company. One day, after a raid gone wrong, Anna-Marie lets out a dying confession that she's actually Morgane's aunt and that she stole Morgane out of both vengeance and the desire to protect Morgane from her sister. Morgane also discovers that every Four Chains Company ship that they've raided contained letters and gifts from her biological mother in the hopes that they would eventually fall in Morgane's hands and that Morgane would return to France to be reunited with her real family. Determined to find her biological mother, despite Anna-Marie's ominous warnings, Morgane sets sail for France only to realize that, in doing so, her life might be in danger.

I really enjoyed reading about Morgane's journey travelling to France and the culture shock of going from being a pirate to trying to blend in with French society in search of her long lost mother. Her characterization and that of the supporting characters were great and made the reading experience highly enjoyable.

All the characters were interesting with my favourites being:
- Morgane, who is unapologetically herself the entire time - strong, brave, brash, and honest. If you like Lila Bard from A Darker Shade of Magic but wished she was a bit more queer (and vulgar), then you'll love Morgane.
- Captain de Lavois, who brings Morgane to France, is truly the sweetest man and the prime definition of a gentleman - I hope we see him again in future books because he was one of my favourite characters!
- Lisette who was absolutely adorable, open-minded and loyal - she must be protected at all cost!

This was a fairly slow moving and predictable story with well-developed characters and spooky and mysterious setting. The ending was rushed but the story wrapped up nicely (no cliffhanger, yay!). This could easily be read as a standalone novel (I would have assumed it was a standalone, were it not for the cover indicating that it's part of a series). I am curious what the rest of the series could hold.

**I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration, but all opinions are my own.**

*** #6 of my 2024 Popsugar Reading Challenge - A book about pirates ***

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Vengeance by Emma Newman

I was so interested in this book when I read the premise! I loved the idea of pirates and vampires combined together in the same story, and I haven’t read many pirate books so I was really intrigued. Although I did enjoy this book, I found it a bit hard to read at times and felt there was room for improvement throughout.

The beginning of the book was fantastic. I appreciated very much that we started right in the middle of the action, with Anna-Marie’s death and her vendetta against the Four Chains Trading Company being introduced. This hooked me as a reader immediately, and Anna-Marie’s vendetta, mixed with the uncovered letters from France started the mystery and suspense right from the get go. Seeing Morgane’s adventures on the ship, hearing all the stories from the crew and learning about their life at sea was my favourite part of the entire book, so I hoped this would go on longer than it did. I did feel that the parts based at sea on The Vengeance were just more enjoyable and I do hope if there is a second book that we can see more of Morgane’s pirate life. I loved that each of the crew (like Bull, Dill, Plague Arse and even King Charles the goose) felt like real pirates; and that speaks to the author’s brilliant work at creating well constructed characters that all differ from one another and are brought to life by the interactions they share.

Morgane as a character was endearing, interesting and down-right hilarious at times. The lack of etiquette she shows due to her upbringing on the ship was really enjoyable to see, and had me giggling at many points. For example, when the captain of the ship had to explain to her why the pants had a hole in the centre and she delighted in embarrassing him had me laughing out loud for several pages. I must say, when Morgane is at the docks and says she hates the way men smile at her, I found that totally relatable and a nice addition to show a young woman becoming familiar with the lust of men for the first time. Although, I must say I did become totally frustrated with her at multiple points. For someone who believes herself to be very smart due to her upbringing on the ship, she was incredibly naive and kept walking herself into sticky situations that would have been so easily avoided by just employing a bit of critical thinking. Her internal monologue was confusing and long-winded at times, because we see her saying “Oh I’m so smart, I know just what to do”, then her harshly berating her own stupidity after things go wrong, just to return to thinking she knows best literally moments later. It felt a bit like if whiplash was a character. I felt there would have been a better way to explore Morgane’s character through exposition in dialogue or through her reactions to situations rather than having these long, drawn-out internal monologues that were really overused here. The way the writing style was, how it included these monologues and Morgane’s almost childish character traits did make the book feel more suitable for YA readers, but I know it’s not marketed that way and so this confuses me.

Lisette and Morgane’s unlikely friendship at the hunting lodge really warmed my heart, and I found myself really enjoying the moments they spent together in the beginning. The contrast between Lisette’s overly-proper way of carrying herself and Morgane’s inappropriateness was so well done and really funny to watch happen on the page. Throughout the book, I enjoyed how Lisette and Morgane caused each other to grow as characters; Lisette encouraged Morgane to be more pensive and cautious, whilst Morgane encouraged her to be braver, more spontaneous and think of herself first. I appreciated that these character developments seemed to come naturally and although there was a clear difference, it didn’t feel like either character changed themselves entirely, just improved each other by being together, which was lovely to see.

I did, however, find their jump from friends to lovers a bit sudden and I had to reread a few pages to see if I had actually missed something; it felt like we went from normal friendly banter to snogging rather quickly. I do wish this sapphic relationship between the two would have been explored more deeply, but I appreciate that this was more of a sub-plot and the action took the main focus. Because we got very little exploration of their relationship, when we then see how Lisette somewhat saves Morgane at the end, it feels a bit forced or even unrealistic, especially when you also take into consideration that Lisette then leaves her family and her whole life behind to go and become a pirate with a girl she’s known for very little time. I’m just not a fan of an insta-love type romance, so perhaps this is what is causing my dissatisfaction here, as I just find it to be wholly unrealistic.

My main issue with this book was the pacing. The plot was so good, and I found some scenes truly gripping and intense (like the scenes showing Morgane’s experiences being hunted around France upon their arrival, or the scene with the wolves), yet it was let down by the constant shift in pacing. It felt like the author was trying to stick within a certain wordcount, and some scenes which should have been dedicated more time on the page came across as if they were being rushed and the readers were left feeling unresolved (like why were there wolves involved, where did they come from, what purpose did they have??). There was an almost constant up and down in suspense and tension throughout, which left me feeling a bit disappointed. It also felt odd to me that this book was marketed as being a paranormal/fantasy book and yet there was absolutely no hint of that until about 75% of the way through, and even then it felt like an afterthought and no real investigation was done into the werewolf aspect. Then we go another 10% of the way through without any further mention of any fantasy elements until we suddenly find out about the vampires at about 90% of the way through! It was just an odd way to put the plot together in my opinion. If you market something as a vampire book, I expect it to include vampires as a main element, not just as an afterthought at the very end. I hope, if there is a follow-up book in this series, we will actually get more vampires written in, otherwise it just feels like something the author threw in at the last minute so they could market it as a vampire book!

Overall, I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars. If there ends up being a series following these characters, I will certainly give it a good go, as there were definitely enjoyable moments throughout, it just unfortunately was let down due to the unavoidable issues you encounter when reading it. Thank you to Netgalley and Emma Newman for the ARC.

[Mariah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lying on her deathbed after a ship raid goes wrong, the woman Morgane believes to be her mother - Anna-Marie, "The Scourge of the Sea" and captain of The Vengeance - confesses to being her aunt instead. She tells Morgane that she was taken away from her real mother when Morgane was just a baby, with the vague and mysterious excuse that her birth mother is a monster. Anna-Marie urges Morgane to not seek her out. However, armed with only her "ship smarts" (to include a couple trusty pistols and blades), but severely lacking in etiquette, cultural/societal understanding, as well as the ability to read or write, Morgane travels to France determined to avenge her aunt's death and discover the truth about her heritage.

I was sure a pirate-vampire mash-up was going to be packed with action from beginning to end, but boy was I let down there. While there are consistent elements of action spread throughout, it's nothing at the level I expected based upon the synopsis. The majority of the novel is Morgane getting into one sticky situation after another because she's completely naive (her ship smarts only help her AFTER she's been duped) and then regretting her decision to ever leave the comfortable familiarity of The Vengeance, followed by multiple sentences of her inwardly berating her own stupidity. While this is probably a logical progression of thoughts/emotions, the formula is used to death.

Nothing remotely supernatural occurs until well after the 50% mark, and the REAL reason I showed up to this vampirate party (I'm guessing most others' too) doesn't happen until - get this - the end.

Morgane's personality is also lacking. Newman plays up her ignorance and learned brutishness to the point that it just seems to come across as cutesy comic relief that tries too way hard. This isn't a YA book, but this stylistic choice made it feel that way. Finally, Morgane's and Lisette's fate after all is said and done struck me as a little bizarre and ridiculous. It was like Newman was trying to squeeze too much in between the fairytale element and the edgy, dark fantasy vibes.

The Vengeance wasn't for me, but I feel part of that could be chalked up to misleading marketing. As I understand this is the first part in a developing trilogy so here's hoping books two and three deliver...although admittedly I will wait for other reviewers to let me know before giving them a shot.

Thanks to Emma Newman, Solaris, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Vengeance will be published and available on May 6th.

[Jamedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally on JamReads

The Vengeance is the first novel in a swashbuckling historical inspired fantasy series, The Vampires of Dumas, written by Emma Newman, and published by Solaris. A great adventure story that will be following Morgane on her journey across France trying to unveil the truth about her mother, while navigating a society where she's the outsider, coming from a pirate's life.

Morgane grew up at the sea, part of the Vengeance crew, a pirate ship that is the scourge of the Four Chains Trading Company; however, when Anne Marie, her adoptive mother, is mortally wounded, Morgane discovers she's not her mother as she believed. The captain of the ship was paid to bring Morgane home to France and to meet her real family; Morgane leaves the Vengeance, embarking on a journey across a society where she's the outsider, many deceptions from various sides, and to discover the dark truth about her mother and France's aristocracy.

Honestly, I feel Morgane a bit of a contradicting character; while I absolutely love how badass and how brave she's, especially when she doesn't really get many of the ideas behind Frech society (and correctly pointing many of the failures of the monarchical system), I was also a bit disappointed with how naïve she acted at moments, leading her to dangerous situations due to her overconfidence. Lisette, however, is a character that slowly grew in me, adorable at moments, but also that anchor that Morgane needed when the trust in herself evaporated, a resourceful person in the most unexpected of situations. The rest of the cast fills well their role, even if they might be a bit plain.

While the novel is a bit light on the speculative elements, I really enjoyed how well Newman played with the historical setting, and putting it from the perspective of an outsider also gave her the opportunity to point many of the contradictions of the moment. While the pacing is a bit weak at the middle, the beginning and the ending balance it, and there are excellent action sequences that will delight the readers.

The Vengeance is a really enjoyable novel, a story that establishes the setting for a bigger series that promises much, especially in terms of setting; if you are looking for a swashbuckling adventure, mild romance and some supernatural elements in your historical inspired fantasy, Emma Newman is your author.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting far more vampires in this book, but I'm really not mad that there weren't that many. Rather than being a "vampire book" it was an interesting, action-packed and entertaining story about a young woman trying to piece together who she actually was while also dealing with a lot of people who were trying to do her harm.

There was far more mystery than vampires, which helped to build up the tension for the final 25%. Morgane was raised on a pirate ship by who she believed to be her mother. When her "mother" is fatally wounded, she's given some of the real story and this starts her off on the oath of trying to find her real mother.

While there were some moments where the pacing was a bit weird (the final 30-40% of the book seemed to cover a lot of time with little detail compared to the long journey described towards the start of the book), Morgane's character and the way she sees the world kept me interested. I wanted to see more of her and Lisette, as well as more of her with her mother as these interactions felt a lot more rushed, but I still enjoyed the book.

I was expecting it to be a series so I was pleasantly surprised that it was written to a close. I wouldn't have been mad if it had been given a further 50-100 pages though, just so the end didn't feel so fast.

[Lu🪷 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good especially because I love reading about pirates and vampiren etc. I loved it, even if it was a bit slow paced at times. It almost made me cry when Jean-Baptiste died, which no book has done for a long time.

“You’re not crying because you lost something you had. You’re crying because you have lost what could have been.”


I suspected from the beginning that the mother was a vampire, and when Lisette was introduced that they were going to have a relationship, but it certainly didn't lead to me enjoying it less.

Morgane (the MC) annoyed me sometimes, yes, she's a strong female lead, but does that mean you can never listen to other people when you should? I still loved her.

[Bethanie Free · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Emma Newman for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book! Once it got going, I found it hard to put it down. Morgane as a character was as an absolute delight to read about and she was so easy to fall in love with. I wanna feel the same about Lisette but we were given so little of her.

On to the world, I love it. It felt very authentic and believable. Like trips take time and they aren’t going to sail around France in a day with the equipment they had. I liked the aspect of Morgane being so disconnected from the land world. It added to the authenticity of the world.

As much as I loved the book I just felt like it was lacking where I wanted more and going to in depth on parts that didn’t need it. I understand the traveling takes time and it would drawl on to describe the whole thing, but even a few little events from the trip would help really feel the depth of the relationship between Morgane and Lisette for later in the story.

I definitely think the series will be on my tbr list to keep looking for next installments. I’m very very interested in what the author could do with the world.

[Abby Buck · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a blind date with a book from my library. It was labeled as fantasy. I thought it could be interesting when I saw it was about pirates and vampires. The first few chapters of the book were the most enjoyable, but it quickly went downhill. Characters were not developed, the pacing was off, and a romance that felt out of place was thrown in towards the end. The vampires also didn't show up until the very end and the pirates were left behind after the first few chapters. I'm giving it two stars rather than one because I finished it and really enjoyed ranting about it.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice sapphic, found family, swashbuckling, adventurous, fun historical fiction fantasy (little romance) book.
I really loved the characters and the friendship bonds. I wished some things were more explored.
The writing was really easy to read, little vibes of New Adult.

[Elisa Martins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic story, fast paced and everything you want on this kind of books. Betrayal, family, love and lots of action. Great book

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Solaris publishing for the ARC! Unfortunately... this one was a bit of a mess for me.

Okay, first of all, can we talk about how misleading this synopsis is?? It's literally advertised as"The Vampires of Dumas" (probably the name of the series if it's gonna have multiple books), but guess when the vampires show up? THE 90% MARK. I'm not even kidding. I kept waiting and waiting for vampires to appear, and they barely make a cameo at the end. Also, there's this whole thing in the blurb about "the truth about her real mother's death from twenty years ago" and I'm sitting here like... did we read the same book? Because that simply doesn't happen in the book.

The pacing is all over the place. The first 100 pages don't have much action. Then suddenly things pick up and we're off on this adventure (which, okay, gets kind of fun), but then the last 10% is just CHAOS. It's like the author remembered "oh wait, this is supposed to be a vampire book" and crammed everything in at the end.

The whole thing has this weirdly corny vibe to it? Not necessarily in a bad way if that's what you're into, but it definitely reads more like YA than adult fiction. There are some genuinely fun adventure scenes once you get past the slow start, and I can see the bones of a good story buried in there somewhere.

I will say this, there's an interesting idea here. The adventure parts are actually pretty entertaining once they get going. But the execution... yikes. And the climax of the book uses one of my least favorite plot devices.

Here's my advice:
- If you're here for vampires, just skip it. Seriously. Go read something else.
- If you like YA-style adventure stories and don't mind the supernatural stuff being basically an afterthought, you might have fun with this.
- PLEASE, publisher people, if you're reading this, change that synopsis before the book comes out! It's doing the book zero favors and is just going to make readers mad.

TL;DR: Misleading marketing, weird pacing, corny but sometimes fun adventure story that should probably be marketed as YA. And seriously, where are the vampires??

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, thank you to @netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this eARC. Overall this was an enjoyable read, my only complaint is that it took FOREVER for Morgane to get to France, and maybe it’s that I have no patience, but I was way more interested in her mother’s backstory than in the pirate stuff, so the first section just felt like it dragged on for me. That being said, it was still entertaining and well written, I just wish it was a bit shorter. I did like the characters, especially Morgane, and I was very immersed in the setting of the book the whole time.

[Reese · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Vengeance is a fun adventure about pirates, vampires, and a woman’s quest to uncover the truth of her parentage. Morgane is entertaining as a narrator and relatable in many ways (I also don’t see the point in certain social frivolities and the rich only getting richer). She’s fair, loyal and can handle herself well in a fight. I quite enjoyed following her along in a story that is mainly character driven.
Morgane navigates through drastic changes in her circumstance, going all the way from swashbuckling to vampire hunting while contending with a sudden shift in social class. Once a pirate, now the daughter of a Comtesse.

The pirate aspect of the book was one of the best parts, it was well researched and felt authentic. This, however, only highlights the one thing I have to say against the book. Which is that there just wasn’t enough time spent in the vampire portion. It’s well over 75% of the way through before we really get a hint of the vampire aspect of the book and even then, I felt the story would’ve benefited by swaying a little longer in that direction. I find myself still wanting to know more about how vampires are tied into the nobility, apart from Isabeau and the Comte.

Hopefully, this is further explored in the following instalment in the series.

[Emelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

☠ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 ☠

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 by Emma Newton — it’s an adventure that any pirate enthusiast will enjoy. 🏴‍☠️
The story follows Morgane, a young woman raised on the unforgiving seas as a pirate, now thrust into the rigid world of royal society while she searches for the truth about her real parents.
What I loved most about the book is its focus on Morgane’s personal journey—her struggle to adapt, find her place, and stay true to herself in this new, challenging environment.

What makes 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 stand out is the refreshing portrayal of pirate life. The male characters, though rough, are surprisingly kind-hearted, and the lack of romance in the first 80% allows for a more plot-driven, character-focused story.
Morgane’s relationships, particularly with a girl she befriends, felt genuine and beautifully built on trust. The friendship seemed to be a core theme, adding depth to the story as Morgane learns to open up to someone after not being able to trust anyone for so long.

However, here’s where I had some mixed feelings. (SPOILERS)
Though the book is technically book 1 of a series called 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙨, vampires only make an appearance in the last 20% of the story. I had actually forgotten all about that aspect, enjoying it purely as a pirate adventure. When the supernatural elements were suddenly introduced, it felt a little out of place and overshadowed the well-crafted pirate plot.

Along with that, the previously platonic friendship between Morgane and her friend abruptly shifts into a romantic confession. While the queer couple is adorable together, the transition from friendship to romance was a big surprise, especially after the bond between them had been portrayed so innocently throughout the book.

Despite these twists in the last part, I still think 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 is worth the read. If you enjoy pirate stories, plot-driven adventures, and don’t mind a sudden supernatural twist or queer romance, this book could be just your thing.
Plus, it’s set to be a series, so there’s more to come!

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 releases in May 2025, and it’s definitely one to watch if you're into high-seas adventure, a strong female lead, and a bit of a twist at the end.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now and again, it is nice to dip into the world of vampires, and I have to admit, when I saw this book's cover, it caught my eye. I mean a skull and crossbones with swords, cutlasses, ships and various other bits, it is distinctive.

So obviously, this is not a straight-forward swashbuckling action adventure story; it does have vampires. The main character is Morgane, who sails with, who she thought was her mother on The Vengeance. Anne Marie is the captain, and it is on her deathbed that she drops this revelation. This sets Morgane on a path that will change her life. She is not aware of vampires, like I was when it is mentioned in the title, so it also goes that she is not aware of any others' plans, plots, schemes, and shenanigans to either help or hinder her on the search for her real mother.

This is a fabulous book and just what I needed, it is a dark book that is the first in the series.. There is a good amount that is not mentioned until a lot later in the boo,k and while this may put some readers off I liked it. It meant I got to know Morgane's thoughts, expectations and how she had been brought up on as a pirate on a ship in the Caribbean. After the death of her aunt, Morgane travels across the world to France, where she is unaware of how society expects women to dress, act, or speak. She is supposedly from a moneyed family, but not having access to the education that young ladies would have had, she was brought up with drinking, cursing, climbing the rigging and wearing practical clothing.

Her arrival in France is not straightforward. It is fraught with danger, and no sooner does her foot touch land than she is in trouble. She gains a friend, however, when she is rescued, but who her rescuer is and his role are something she is not fully aware of.

A good amount of this book deals with Morgane, giving the details of her life. I really enjoyed this as it meant the culture shock was more prominent and gave a sort of credibility to the way she behaves. Luckily, she gains an ally, and between them, they can travel, learn more about Morgane's family, but also hear some strange mutterings about things lurking in the dark. This adds to the suspense of the story and the danger that seems to follow Morgane, although the full reasoning behind this is not revealed until much later.

This is the first book in the series, and it ended well; it gave closure to one part of the story while leaving it open for the next in the series. This is an action-packed adventure story, a thriller and a fast-paced plot. It has a lot going on and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is one I look forward to continuing with and one I would definitely recommend.

[Nia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pirate adventure meets supernatural mystery with a sapphic romance? Yes please. The actual story was quite enjoyable but it would have benefitted from being longer so the supernatural elements could be more prominent. For the primary motive of vengeance, I never really felt Morgane was driven by anything other than a morbid curiosity for her birth mother. It's set in the world of Alexandre Dumas but I don't really feel like that happened??

First of all, it was not marketed correctly. This book would have had a higher rating if the blurb and parts of the cover was different. Based off the blurb and the "Vampires of Dumas" tagline, I expected a different sequence of events to what happened. I thought Morgane would craft a plan to infiltrate French nobility after her aunt Anna-Marie was murdered in a sort of Count of Monte Cristo vibe (where Morgane had grown up to be the perfect weapon of revenge). I thought Morgane would reluctantly ally herself with a young woman facing the same fate as what Morgane's dead mother went through. I also thought the Four Chains Trading Company would play a huge role in the story, especially since the secret vampires are also influencing global 17th century politics. Instead, the majority of the book was travelling, first from the Caribbean to France and then from Nantes to Arras. It took over halfway for the first supernatural element to appear in the story which was very brief. The word vampire was not said until the last 90% which was equally minimal. So really the plot was a pirate woman looking for her long lost mother and I bet you can guess the twist...

The writing was 99% excellent and while the plot points were not ideal, the way it was written meant that characters had a certain amount of presence despite being there for a relatively short amount of time. For example, Jacques and Dill (part of the pirate crew) were only in the first 3 or 4 chapters but the author made them a part of the whole story by having Morgane constantly reflecting on the life she loved as a pirate. Likewise, when Lisette was introduced halfway in, it made it very easy to like her and ship her with Morgane. Morgane and Lisette are the best girlfriends and I actually have no notes on their relationship (it helped it was very quick too).

I liked Morgane although I don't understand how she knew absolutely nothing about life outside being a pirate. If half the crew of her ship was from Europe (mainly France) then wouldn't they share some stories about the life they left behind?? Surely, as an outlaw, Morgane would have known that pirates have a way of life that subverts "normal" life? It was funny to see her grapple with capitalism, feudalism and gender/patriarchy in France but I also think she was a little bit too naive. It was understandable she thought France was an island (since she's only known life as sailing from island to island) but once again, wouldn't she have some understanding of mainland? Especially since the other half of the crew were former enslaved people??? Also 3 different people told her to not look for her mother because she's a monster and yet Morgane kept going??? It made her seem naive which was strange because she could also tell when people were ready for a fight. However, Morgane was great. Rough and tumble and adamant she would not wear a dress.

The biggest issue I had was an editing/proofreading mistake. The captain who takes Morgane to France introduces himself as Valois. TWO PAGES LATER (in the SAME chapter), he is called Lavois. For the whole book, he is called Lavois. I don't understand how this was missed. He was called Valois twice before he's suddenly called Lavois. The first time he was called Lavois, it was in a letter so I thought the person writing the letter had written it incorrectly/Morgane misread it. But no?? It cast a shadow for the rest of the book for me.

[Librow0rm Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vengeance by Emma Newman is a fun, pirate adventure romp, that takes the reader to 18th century France and the Caribbean. Morgane, has grown up at sea with her Pirate Captain mother, Anne Marie, the fearsome leader and captain of the Vengeance.

For all of Morgane’s life, Anne Marie has
hated the French "Four Chains Trading Company", and many times has she hunted down and pirated their ships with zero mercy, until one day this Anne Marie’s vendetta has disastrous consequences that lead Morgane into danger and her own personal quest for vengeance.

Morgane’s quest sees what started out as a basic pirate story turn into something completely different, leading Morgane to the politics, secrets and powerplays of the decadent French court, where something much darker resides including werewolves, other supernatural beings and of course vampires.

Morgane finds herself amidst very different but, even more tumultuous, stormy seas that she needs to learn to navigate, but fortunately for her, she’s not alone in this…even if she would rather plot her course alone to begin with.

From the early seeds of animosity and dislike, friendship and more blossoms for Morgane and Lisette. Their relationship arc grows from an early reliance on one another for guidance and protection into something that was truly a pleasure to witness, even if at times it did feel a little rushed.

As a first book in the series - The Vampires of Dumas, The Vengeance delivers a plot full of adventure and sets the foundations for a world not just an ocean of adventure.