Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - Carmilla

Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

31 reviews

lenorayoder's review against another edition

mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Really liked this! I think the framing device works well here, and allows for closing lines that feel appropriately spooky. I will say that this is less a novella, and more like a small collection of very related ghost stories. Because of that this "book" doesn't have a traditional story structure, it's more like Laura's story, which contains the story Spielsdorf tells about himself and Bertha, the story of the Karnstein estate, the story of the Baron and his ancestor, and sort of the story of the doctor. I think because of the short length of the book and the framing device this works, but you should expect this to not really be a novella going into it.

The scenery descriptions do a lot to set the mood. I love how gothic this story feels. Spielsdorf's description of

Carmilla preying on Bertha is so genuinely creepy and well-written.

Some lines hit really well (

"We now laughed together over our momentary horrors."

)and make the whole book kind of feel like a campfire ghost story which I like. I like that the book kind of has the

Baron clarify the vampire lore

at the end, I think it makes sense given the framing device and clears up any confusion the reader might have had without cluttering up the main story. For vampire lore, I love the idea of a

vampire having an obsession over a victim that they nurture and draw out, while simultaneously gorging themselves on victims they don't care for to tide themselves over

. I also think the whole

'sleeping in a coffin floating in blood seven inches deep with your eyes wide open, heart beating, looking and being very alive and not pale or anything'

thing is a great image and absolutely needs to be in a vampire movie. So gross and fun. In general I like that Carmilla doesn't seem

dead at all - she's not pale, her heart beats, a doctor examining her doesn't find anything unusual - it's just that she has to drink blood and return to her coffin to rest everyday and has other specific traits that make it clear she's not really human.

I think the

Baron not seeking out Carmilla's grave and killing her before the events of the book

is a bit of a plot hole, but overall I think the story is good, an appropriate length, makes for good campfire story material, and has fun lore. Worth the read!

Content Warnings

mandareads222's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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_n_m_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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lilaceous's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

characters - .5⭐️

plot - ⭐️

engaging to read - .5⭐️

would recommend - .5⭐️

would read again - ⭐️

oh carmilla🤭

definitely predatory lesbian trope through and through, but a fun and campy read nonetheless.

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emdzi's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.0

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pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I recognize the importance of this book for being one of the first vampire stories to ever be published in the english language (and also, for strengthening the trope of the Lesbian Vampire™), but I do think it was a tiny bit underwhelming. The beginning was solid, and the gothic atmosphere was there, but as it went on, it felt like the author wasn't the best at developing characters or telling stories at all. The climax of the story felt very underwhelming, as if we were just being told a series of facts while reading a wikipedia page instead of living the scenes with the characters.
Also, the mystery aspect was not the best developed? While I know that being able to tell what was going on from a mile away was probably intentional, that wasn't really done in a way that makes it more interesting. I feel like, maybe, if the author gave us more specific scenes with the characters, scenes that had us observe them more closely and notice their intimacy, it would feel all the more vibrant and real, and the mystery aspect would make us feel more. But then again, it is a short story.
I feel like this is the kind of book that you could make a great adaptation out of (book, film, tv show), but as a standalone, it's just kind of okay.
I do really like it that they were lesbians tho. Laura was sooo in denial like Carmilla was like "I'm in love with you" and Laura was like "wow... so she's either a man in desguise and that's why she's in love with me, or she's in love with a guy somewhere and that's why she's acting so lovey-dovey around me. Because she likes someone else." Like GIRL!!!! SHE WANTS TO EAT YOU OUT!!!! DUMMY
Just feel like the lesbianism could've been a little more juicy as well!!!

Regarding this specific edition itself: just felt like they were enchendo linguiça, as we Brazilians like to say. Like, c'mon!!! This is supposed to be Carmilla!! It only says "Carmilla" on the cover!! It's fine that they added another old ass english vampire tale too, but then they started adding a shit ton of stuff that is so unnecessary !!! Like, the editor's letter regarding "Vampyre" is so unnecessarily long and fucking mysogynistic, and I know it at least mentions the context of this story (as to why and when it was written), but I got so fucking angry at that stupid fucking mysogynistic editor I didn't even give a damn. And then, after "Vampyre", they also added a nugu's letter about Lord Byron's vacation house in Greece??? Like, WHY???? HE DIDNT EVEN WRITE THE STORY???
The people who brought this edition together probably just wanted to make it longer to like. justify the price or something idfk

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