Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

10 reviews

eva_vva's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Gore, Sexism, Suicide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

inkwellimps's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I feel like the ending should bother me on principle,

Carmilla's vampirism is brought to light by a traveling character who enters the narrative at the end, functionally, in order to resolve the plot.

But, honestly, I didn't really mind it much. I found the whole book pretty enjoyable. 

As far as "lesbian vampires" go-- I hadn't realized the girls were so young, and Carmilla's more romantic feelings make the protagonist uncomfortable (and, in turn, made me a bit uncomfortable, knowing how unwanted attention feels), so be aware of this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

riverofhorton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.75

I loved 95% of this book, and will be coming back to it in the future.

One of the things I especially liked was that the lesbian relationship was incredibly obvious, but none of the characters seemed to have much a problem with it, despite the cultural attitudes of the time this book was published.

I only wish it were longer and gave more detail on the time they spent together, though I do understand this is intended to be read as a letter to the reader.

The only bit I don't like is the implications around the "vision" that starts the book.

Laura, the narrator, is 6 at the time this vision happens, which involves the (by that point) 150+ year old Carmilla being very intimate with her. Carmilla does later say that for her side of the vision, she saw Laura as an 18 year old not a 6 year old, but it still weirded me out to think about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hellokatya's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

i really enjoyed the guide and introduction. it felt like a friend giving u inside information and really helped my understanding of the book. 
i do wish it had focused more on the relationship, more intimately, than it did. it felt very glossed over and not the focal point of the story. definitely should’ve been a longer and more thorough story. 
overall, i did it enjoy it, but it was a bit hard to comprehend at points - had to reread numerous times - but i think that’s also a skill issue as i’m not used to this particular style. 
would recommend

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Abandonment

calimie's review

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

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: Body horror, Death, and Murder

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

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

celestriakle's review

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, Racism, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

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

Minor: Death, Grief, and Alcohol

_piercingwords_'s review against another edition

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.

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

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

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

dannythestreet's review

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

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