Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

11 reviews

rainbowrocky's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book must've blown minds in 19th century Ireland. I can see why it's a literary classic. I loved it a lot even if the characters are a bit one dimensional. It's more about the atmosphere, the looming threat of death. We know what's happening to Laura, but she hasn't the faintest idea since she's so innocent. Spoilers:
Carmilla's death was a bit of a let down. I thought we were building to something more shocking but her death was over so quickly and unceremoniously.

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sympatheticdroid's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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
Sometimes its absurdity made it absolutely hilarious, but I think overall it's more about the dark romantic undertones than the funnies. The dark romantic undertones are between this weirdo Carmilla and this really sad girl Laura, both who you can interpret in a billion different ways. There's a lot of speculating to be done while reading, and even more to be done after you're finished. The length is short, it's in the public domain and the pacing is lightning quick so there's really not much reason to avoid reading it if you're at all interested in vampires, lesbians, lesbian vampires, historical queer fiction and/or historical fiction featuring women.

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those_moody_readers's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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aparker89's review against another edition

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

4.0

A classic tale, older than time.

We all know Dracula, his real life niece Bathory ,and their reigns of terror. But what if there was someone else waiting in the dark? Camilla is charming, beautiful and witty but something dark is lingering behind her sparkling eyes. Meet Laura, a lonely young woman who wants nothing more than companionship and follow her tale of terror! 

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kelisabeth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0


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filipa_maia's review against another edition

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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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maeverose's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

Edit: upon re read, I’ve lowered my rating to a 3 (was a 4). I think I was mostly excited about the vibes the first time I read it. Still liked it though.

I guess I’m eating my words about not liking the writing style of classics, huh?

I loved the writing style of this book. It was atmospheric and gothic, I loved the setting of the castle and the grassy hills and the ruins of the old town. I  pictured fog over everything anytime they were outside. Now I  wanna have a picnic at old castle ruins in the fog with a pretty vampire. (Sadly that doesn’t happen in this book but it could’ve). This might be my favorite classic I’ve read so far… it’s at least tied with Dracula, but I think it tops it. It actually got pretty creepy at times.

Was also a little surprised how explicitly sapphic it was, given when it was written. I was expecting it to just be homoerotic in the way that classics sometimes are, or overtly homophobic. I think it’s safe to assume that the combination of sapphic elements and vampirism was very intentional..  automatically villainizing lesbianism by portraying it as a ‘virus’ that you can ‘catch’, something that’s evil and scary… But reading it it isn’t actually explicitly homophobic. It’s all subtext. It could easily be read through a more modern lens, removing that subtext.

My only complaints:
•The racism. It’s only in one or two scenes, but it’s pretty bad in one scene especially.
•How naive Laura was, especially at the very end. She was supposed to be 19, right? How did she not connect the dots after the general’s story??? 😆
•It ended a bit abruptly
•And lastly, I just wish we got more pretty atmospheric descriptions of the ruins. I was waiting the whole book for them to go there and when they did we didn’t get much :/ I would’ve liked more atmospheric descriptions in general, but at least we got some.

Overall, I’m really happy I liked this! I was starting to worry that classics just weren’t for me. Hopefully there are still more out there that I’ll love.

“Thus fortified I might take my rest in peace. But dreams come through stone walls, light up dark rooms, or darken light ones, and their persons make their exits and their entrances as they please, and laugh at locksmiths.”

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shrutislibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75


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chloebethx_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was everything I expected it to be before reading, a classic tale of the supernatural but with a feminine twist! This book drew me in and I finished it all in one sitting… truly a mesmerising piece of art!

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amalyndb's review against another edition

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dark

3.5


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