Emma Newman’s The Vengeance, which is the first in her Vampires of Dumas series, has everything I need in a book. A female protagonist, adventure, pirates, vampires, LBTQ+ characters, mystery, a gothic chateau and werewolves-it’s almost all my favourite things rolled into one. Yet somehow this novel left me a bit flat. 

The plot is fun and intriguing, which in many ways oozes adventure and excitement. The daughter of the infamous pirate captain Anna-Marie, Morgane sails with her mother and her crew around the Caribbean on their ship the Vengeance, striking fear into the all they meet. Anna-Marie is as a fearsome pirate, who is obsessed with attacking ships belonging to the Four Chains Trading Company. However, when a raid on a Four Chains Trading Company ship goes spectacularly wrong, Morgane discovers a shocking truth about her past and sets out on a journey to her land of birth, France, to discover her heritage. 

I liked Morgane. She is feisty, blunt speaking, loyal and good person to have on your side in a fight. But despite Morgane’s tough exterior, she is in many ways extremely naïve and struggles to see the reality of things, despite the facts. She is a great heroine and in fact the book is full of great characters created by Newman. I particularly like Anna-Marie, despite only being a small part of the book and in fact I enjoyed all the female characters. They were all different, fun and complemented each other. However, other than Morgane and perhaps one other character, I felt I didn’t really get to understand them and what made them tick. Also, there were some characters whose appearance I felt was rushed and I think that is my main issue with this book.

The story is fun and is in the vein of Alexander Dumas’ swashbuckling storytelling but the storyline felt rushed, especially the ending. It could have been longer and the ending, which had me on the edge of my seat, felt particularly rushed. However, the book is the first in the series and I am hoping that future books will answer all my questions about these brilliant characters and I can carry on this swashbuckling adventure for a bit longer.