Reviews

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

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penguin_emperor_of_the_north's review against another edition

2.0

This is one of those books, I wish I could read without knowing it's a classic. As it is, knowing she's a vampire, it's kind of obvious that she's a vampire. I suppose that characters in the story don't know they're in a horror story.

I'm going with two stars mostly because the story sets up the suspense of Carmilla and Laura's relationship, the deaths in the surrounding area and then gets resolved by completely external factors. Which puts Laura in the position of saying, "Oh yeah, some crazy crap happened to me." but not really influencing the story.

So, it does a good job of establishing the suspense (and knowing about the vampire probably adjusts the suspense) but the overall resolution was a let down.

caseyoffthepage's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

mossgarden's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

Sexy, gay, and mysterious but the ending lacked the conclusion and answers I wanted. What was up with the carriage and Carmilla's "mom" at the beginning of the novel? I don't think that ever got answered but I was listening to the audiobook so I could have missed it. Would love to see a full period piece production of this, though a lot of plot would need to be added.