Published by uclan publishing, 2020.

Following the sudden death of their father, twins Grace and Connor Tempest hastily depart the suffocating small town of Crescent Moon Bay in their dad’s old sailing boat. Caught in a vicious storm, they are shipwrecked and separated in the cold, cruel ocean. They are rescued by two very different ships and their fates are also very different. Connor finds himself on board the Diablo in the hands of pirates eager to train a new recruit. Meanwhile Grace ends up on a mysterious ship with a very unusual crew. In a world of danger and secrets, will the twins ever be reunited?

Vampirates, Demons of the Ocean is an exciting swashbuckling adventure. It totally absorbed me and I was transported to life on the high seas. From the explanations of sword fighting techniques and the formations used in pirate raids to the different jobs and responsibilities of the crew, there’s so much brilliant detail that it was easy to imagine life on board. There’s a fantastic cast of characters too and some really believable tensions and rivalries.

Grace and Connor’s new lives are full of peril and the unexpected. It makes for a pacy, gripping read. Chapters set on the Vampirates ship have a sinister tone and the book was unnerving at times. The scene where Grace explores the ship alone, descending further and further into the darkness below deck, was incredibly tense. There’s also an element of mystery running throughout the book and we are left with some tantalising unanswered questions at the end.

Vampirates, Demons of the Ocean is the first book in a series and Grace and Connor have many more adventures ahead of them. I’ll definitely be on board too.

Rating: 💙💙💙💙💙

Suitable for children aged 10+

Thank you to uclan publishing for sending me this book to review.