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katelynwillliams's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
3.75
I loved this book and I really wished it finished strong and wasn’t racist so that I could give it a higher rating.
I can’t believe how explicitly lesbian this book is for its time period and how, even though the lesbian is a villain, the book’s strength is its romance rather than the horror.
I wish Laura was more developed as a character, especially towards the end of the book. Nothing particularly happens to transform Laura from an innocent, naive girl to accepting and understanding the truth about Carmilla. She doesn’t reject the account of the General but does not believe it. Her father does not try to talk to her about it. She doesn’t have an epiphany or connect the stories. She literally just decides “well there’s a lot of reports so ig she’s a vampire” which isn’t growth it’s just not being an idiot. She doesn’t even seem upset about it when she comes to that conclusion— which makes the story incredibly anticlimactic since she was so taken with her AND a victim of her. She also does not seem upset when they kill Carmilla or when she is told that Carmilla’s love was only a lust for blood. She is, however, still missing Carmilla by the time she writes her narrative and thinks of her as a friend/lover, rather than a villain, which is intriguing. I just wish the novella explored her feelings a bit more.
The reveal of Carmilla’s identity and her capture/killing is also incredibly anticlimactic since the only “action” Carmilla takes is simply grasping the General’s wrist. For a dangerous villian who has been killing people, she does not seem scary or hard to catch. it’s disappointing to read, but at least it doesn’t demonize her sexuality and independence of men any more than it already does ??? i guess ??
Basically this story had so much potential and I will be rereading it— I just wish the 2nd half was just as good as the first.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Carmilla is quite an interesting book. The plot and allure surrounding (the first of its kind of vampire novel before Dracula became a thing) intrigued, and I felt that Le Fanu’s writing lived up to the hype this book has been getting. I appreciated the quiet horror that Le Fanu employs in Carmilla rather than angling towards a jump scare approach. Additionally, I found myself wondering about the nature of Carmilla’s and Laura’s relationship, especially if Carmilla was truly in love with her (though some of her most popular quotes seem to come straight from a romance novel, if you think about it). Even after the final page, Le Fanu still leaves you second-guessing everything that occurs in the book (but it’s in a good way, I promise), and it’s the type of book that lingers around after you’re done reading it.
An underrated classic that doesn’t get as much attention, I would recommend Carmilla for readers looking for queer vampire novellas to read this spooky season.
An underrated classic that doesn’t get as much attention, I would recommend Carmilla for readers looking for queer vampire novellas to read this spooky season.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
noura's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Racism and Murder
bunnivie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this was an excellent and quick read. i love homoerotic vampires, so it was fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
m1neava's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism and Racism
runefiction's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Racism
bearystarry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Loved this. Even though I'd heard people talk about this book before, I was not expecting it to be this overtly romantic? Loved the specific vampire lore here as well. I think this will be something I want to reread pretty often.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Murder
nokvi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Only a homophobe could sit and go I'm writing this to explain that lesbianism is bad and then produce homoerotic content in 100 pages. Like Camilla was confessing and wooing this woman, and sometimes you felt her ick towards it (yeah could have had more lesbians)
0.5 star because there's a line where a character is stated to describe a hideous black woman and I'm taking it as racism because look at the time period of this book, mans was probably racist as well
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death and Murder
Minor: Racism and Suicide
_p0ssum_'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? It's complicated
5.0
Sapphic vampires Sapphic vampires Sapphic vampires
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Minor: Racism