Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

6 reviews

calimie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A classic Gothic horror with all its best elements: an isolated castle, an endangered young woman, an incomprehensible horror. The mystery of Carmilla is by far the best part of the book: how alluring she is and how atracted to Laura she becomes, and Laura to her. 
Quite short, I recommend it to anyone interested in classic horror.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

Minor: Death and Death of parent

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

How come I had never heard of this book before?
I have this book for so long in my shelves and never looked at it twice... how? I know why... is this horrible cover, this cover is ugly. Anyway, I really loved this book. Who would thought that the predecessor of Dracula was a lady vampire...

This is a very short book with a great story in it. Very raw, very cruel, very tough. The way Carmilla manipulates people around her is very creepy and, at the same time, appealing. There is this constant sexual innuendo between the two (aparent) little girls that for todays standarts would be completly canceled. And there's also this thing with Carmilla choosing little girls... Maybe because they are virgins? Probably is from here that the myth around virgins and pure blood emerged... who knows? Maybe was just the author trying (and succeeding) to scandalize society back then.

The point it that this is a awesome book that every horror/vampire lovers should know about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Stalking, Child death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual harassment

thenerdybookwitch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

This pleasantly surprised me! I was expecting it to treat Carmilla and Laura’s relationship negatively but it’s not at all. Their romantic relationship is not judged by anyone. I can see why so many Lesbian bookworms absolutely adore this book. It is a vampire classic that has set a huge standard especially in the Lesbian vampire genre. It is a very good read and I highly recommend it.

Note: This is a book from 1872 so problematic themes are still going to be present. Especially outdated terms that are Ableist today. It also has such a negative view on Suicide at the end. Just keep that in mind when reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, and Ableism

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Racism

celestriakle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Dreamy and extremely gothic. Some of the luster and horror has been lost with modern knowledge and tropes, but fascinatingly compassionate to even its monsters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Grief

_piercingwords_'s review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

As a bi vampire lover, I liked this book and found it interesting to see the resemblance and differences to more modern adaptations of the vampire myths. 

I also liked how Carmilla's and Laura's queerness was not directly demonised and found it very progressive for its age in comparison to other classics.

It was, as one of the first influential vampire stories, predictable but nevertheless an enjoyable read.

Spoiler

Did I get that right though? That Carmilla was actually remotely related to Laura? The thing I actually did not expect and threw me off a bit oof

Spoiler

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Incest, Violence, Death, Murder, Suicide, and Blood

dannythestreet's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, and Violence

Minor: Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, and Toxic relationship