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staghunters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Good read, but loses A Lot of steam once General Spielsdorf enters the stage proper. Carmilla is almost entirely shoved out as a character of her own, and instead a lot of exposition dumping and deus ex machina-ing is done.
Love the lore, but it could have been drawn out or weaved into the period of Laura's decline more, I think.
Love the lore, but it could have been drawn out or weaved into the period of Laura's decline more, I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Minor: Racism
laios's review against another edition
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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
starduststyx's review
dark
mysterious
2.25
i know it's a classic but my brain was just like huh. mid.
I KNOW THATS A BAD REVIEW but like cmon. the queerness of it is not strong enough to save it. It's very one sided and kinda predatory im ngl. I knooow thats the point but i thought it would be better than this. I DO like the atmosphere and the fact it's from Laura's pov. The rest of the book is just so whatever and the lil bit of racism threw me off guard lol. Did not care for it.
I KNOW THATS A BAD REVIEW but like cmon. the queerness of it is not strong enough to save it. It's very one sided and kinda predatory im ngl. I knooow thats the point but i thought it would be better than this. I DO like the atmosphere and the fact it's from Laura's pov. The rest of the book is just so whatever and the lil bit of racism threw me off guard lol. Did not care for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Child death and Racism
Minor: Death of parent
eve81's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Lesbophobia
panaceaenthusiast's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Racism
kimblebimble's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
It’s just thinly-veiled homophobic propaganda (with some pretty abrupt racist remarks thrown in as well). I’m not a huge fan of the writing style but it’s also not a very good story in my opinion, more just a warning tale. But it’s quite short so not difficult to get through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
theothergrl's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Nicely paced suspense as the narrator discretely tells her story but then the ending is hurriedly wrapped up.
Nice classic prose and cool that it paved the way in the vampire genre.
Content/trigger warning: an overtly racist sentence at the beginning. Also, a lot of people describe this as sapphic but honestly the main character is repulsed and uncomfortable with Carmilla's unconsenting advances. It only has a predatory representation of queerness.
Overall it's okay, cool to read a pioneering book in the vampire genre, but it's nothing to write home about.
Nice classic prose and cool that it paved the way in the vampire genre.
Content/trigger warning: an overtly racist sentence at the beginning. Also, a lot of people describe this as sapphic but honestly the main character is repulsed and uncomfortable with Carmilla's unconsenting advances. It only has a predatory representation of queerness.
Overall it's okay, cool to read a pioneering book in the vampire genre, but it's nothing to write home about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
dark_marble_eyes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Read this for a queer goth book club! I had seen the YouTube series inspired by this book long before reading this, but I’m glad to have finally seen the inspiration! I can see why this has such a long legacy. Off to consume more sapphic vampire stories… that are hopefully a bit happier!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racism, Blood, and Toxic friendship
noxxmog_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Child death
katelynwillliams's review
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