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clrouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
rookeatsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
My biggest problem with this book is Gibson's tendency to tell and not show. The first 20-30% of the book is infodump exposition about "This is how Laura feels about this. This is how Carmilla feels about this. And they're both sooooooo mad at each other and have such a tense rivalry (You believe me, right?)" Also, a nitpick but Gibson's tendency to start multiple chapters with "Month verbed XYZ'" made me want to bash my head against a wall. Find a better way to make time transitions!
The telling instead of showing was especially notable when considering that a huge theme in the story is love and obsession and the ways that they cross over onto each other and can make people do crazy things. This is all fine and dandy, except for the fact that none of the writing makes you feel like any of these people are genuinely obsessed with one another. I didn't feel any chemistry or magnetism between the characters and considering that one of the main conceits of the plot is Laura and Carmilla's academic rivalry and competition for De Lafontaine's attention, you would think that DLF would actually be an interesting character. Wrong! In addition, I lost my mind over the sheer amount of times you read "Laura hates Carmilla. Carmilla hates Laura. But Laura's obsessed with Carmilla. And Carmilla's obsessed with Laura" in so many words. Again, show don't tell.
The prose was also bland. All of the reviews claiming that it's lush and beautiful and whatever........ have you read good prose? There was a lot of "devouring" and "feverishly" and things of the sort and it comes off both incredibly pretentious and also like Gibson didn't want to put the effort into describing things in an interesting way. There are many sections where she just spells out exactly what she wants you to deduce thematically from a situation and so many overwrought metaphors that I wanted to vomit.
For your viewing pleasure, here is a passage that made me audibly say "barf" out loud because of the cliche, overplayed, and just dumb and cringey figurative language:
(Not major spoilers since this is tagged as a romance, but spoilered just in case)
Honorable mentions:
Also, completely separate conversation that I do not have the brainspace to go over in this review, but you would think that someone who writes queer romance would possibly realize that framing lesbians (or sapphic women in general) as predatory monsters who prey on younger women *cough cough, De Lafontaine* is problematic??? Like did the author think about the implications of that for more than 10 microseconds.
In conclusion, I don't know what possessed me to read this trainwreck of a book but I would not reread. I was so hyped by the premise and was severely disappointed by the execution. Rather than a thoughtful reimagining of Carmilla in an invigorating setting, it came off as a wannabe The Secret History with half the wit or writing skill.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
exhumedprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail
courtsport3000's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
There's so much in this book that Gibson does well that I hardly know where to start. The dark academia vibes are perfection. The character work is some of the best I've read in a long time. The way the relationships are portrayed in this book... somehow Gibson manages to capture all these subtle, delicate little details that really make everything feel realistic and relatable, even when it's not. There's this careful balance between the comfortable and the uncomfortable and it's handled in a way that's almost playful. It works so well in a book that centers yearning that becomes obsession and idolatry that borders on unhinged. Add in all the trademark moments of college girl life - discovering an independent self, exploring sexuality, deciding where you fit (or don't fit) within the norms and expectations you carry... I could ramble forever about all the ways I found this book relatable in all the best and worst ways.
As for the more horror-ish elements, those were more in the forefront than I expected them to be, but not in a bad way. I do wish certain aspects of that plotline were better fleshed out (not a pun...?) but I found them rewarding regardless. I also have complicated feelings about the ending, but I'll leave it at that to avoid spoilers. Eager to see what other readers think about it.
I'm basically going to scream about this book for a really long time. So grateful to Redhook for an ARC in exchange for review.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment
lavender_menaceee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood and Death of parent
amina_writes_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Alcohol
midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
It was mostly an enjoyable read for me even though some things bothered me about the plot. Specifically the lack of urgency on the part of DeLafontaine, Laura and Carmilla to dispatch an out of control vampire on the college campus sooner in the narrative. Instead DeLafontaine introduces them to vampire society (specifically Carmilla who she’s turned earlier in the story; with her human companion Laura in tow), Laura goes for Thanksgiving break to San Francisco to spend time with her friend’s family, and DeLafontaine holds these private poetry readings between Carmilla and Laura. There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency until towards the end of the book to prevent more murders of the student body which I found bizarre.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Grief and Death of parent
the_lesbrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Blood
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
bookameme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dark, Gripping, & Stimulating
Quote:📖
In the end, I stayed. I had the awful, yawning feeling inside myself that for her, I would always stay.
Thoughts: 💡
The first chapter had a slightly slow and meandering feel to it, but as soon as the story dove into the rivals to lovers vibes I was hooked. There is this moment of intense attraction that quickly burns into rivals that grabbed all of my attention in a sharp flash and from that point on the story had a fast and dark vibe, and I adored every minute of it. The imagery and poetry that permeated everything was spectacular. It was very LGBT positive but still recognized the struggle of marginalized people in the time period. I can’t sing enough praises for this story.
Writing Mechanics: ✍️
The plot is inspired and the language used and structure of it all is brilliant. All the characters were beautifully developed with rich backstories and deep motivations. There were points of the story that were so eloquently written that I had to reread and ruminate on the context and beauty of it. And the poetry! Gah! I can’t sing the praises of it enough! Everything in this book was spectacular!
Fun Bits:
⚜️ Sapphic Vampires
⚜️ Academic Rivals
⚜️ Needing to Please The Teacher
⚜️ Beautiful Poetry
⚜️ Sizzling Romance
⚜️ Plus Size Heroine
Important Note:✨
Standalone companion novel to A Dowery of Blood.
Full Content Warning:⚠️
Uneven Power Dynamics, Inappropriate Relationships Between Professor & Students, Toxic Academic Environments, Blood, Gore, and Murder, Alcohol and Drug Use, Smoking, Racist Political Policies, Homophobia, Religious Discrimination Against Women
Stats:📊
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙
Dark Historical Fantasy: Dark Academia, Sapphic Romance, Academic Rivals to Lovers, Vampires, Mystery Vibes
First Person, Present Tense, Dual POV
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent
bookswithbethx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent