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harpoonholly's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Read by Mary-Anne Dickinson. She voiced Carmilla and Laura very well and I even appreciated the hunchback's voice. The rest blended together, but the textual voices could be somewhat difficult to tell apart, too.
It's a classic for a reason and I find Carmilla to be slightly more frightening than even Dracula.
It's a classic for a reason and I find Carmilla to be slightly more frightening than even Dracula.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racism and Antisemitism
bearystarry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Loved this. Even though I'd heard people talk about this book before, I was not expecting it to be this overtly romantic? Loved the specific vampire lore here as well. I think this will be something I want to reread pretty often.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Murder
mutamam's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This vampire book was written before “Dracula”.
An intense novella that describes its story beautifully. The tense story alongside the beautiful prose leads the reader to feel anxious. As such it is a real page turner! Definitely recommend this book.
It contains contemporary views of homosexuality in a way that demonizes it. However, from a 21st century mindset it adds even more depth to the book and creates a perspective shift allowing the reader to actually empathize with the vampire as well!
An intense novella that describes its story beautifully. The tense story alongside the beautiful prose leads the reader to feel anxious. As such it is a real page turner! Definitely recommend this book.
It contains contemporary views of homosexuality in a way that demonizes it. However, from a 21st century mindset it adds even more depth to the book and creates a perspective shift allowing the reader to actually empathize with the vampire as well!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death and Terminal illness
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
starting the Carmilla routine (waking up at 1pm and drinking hot chocolate)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a classic vampire story and an absolute delight, and the audio production was so well done and atmospheric. A great spooky season read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Blood
Minor: Sexual violence
maregred's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Blood
el219's review against another edition
5.0
grrrrrr i have so many mixed feelings abt this,, was definitely way too short; lacked details that help you connect with the characters & even details that explained important plot points. was also hard to follow at times since each scene was about 5 pages long,, yet despite the simple storytelling, it was strangely atmospheric and alluring. everything felt very murky but that’s kind of the point. i’m just disappointed at how much better this could have been :( i needed more scenes between laura & carmilla to show their “unconventional” and sometimes toxic relationship; i needed more creepy outbursts and declarations of love. i wanted to know about laura feeling conflicted about carmilla in depth; not knowing whether she should love or hate her, etc. i did love this, but its “wasted” potential makes me love it a little less
edit: im lying actually i think about this every day five stars
edit: im lying actually i think about this every day five stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
danimacuk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, and Terminal illness
littleflowerfairy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Racism, and Grief
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
saraaaa's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I have mixed feelings about this book. It's tense, it's gothic, it's the first work of fiction revolving around vampires, it's homoerotic. It has some beautiful images and descriptions, especially when it comes to the relationship between Carmilla and Laura. Overall, I'd say it's a story worth reading.
I think its main problem is that it didn't fit the novella format that well. Everything felt rushed, especially the ending chapters, as if Le Fanu was running out of ink. By the end, the line between the protagonist-narrator and the author blurred every few paragraphs rather noticeably. Had it been a novel, there could've been enough room for both of them, without the technical information taking up precious space from the plot, that could've been better developed. Many plot points were left unexplored in their potential, some were just plainly ignored –Who was the older lady who accompanied Mircalla to meet her victims? Another vampire who just passed by from time to time to help spread their species? Was the voice of Laura's mother a mere hallucination, or did she really somehow comunicate with her daughter to save her? Was the fact that she was a blood relative to the Karnstein family relevant?
At the same time, almost paradoxically, the prose was so complex, the periods so long and full of subordinate clauses, that I found the pace rather slow.
I think its main problem is that it didn't fit the novella format that well. Everything felt rushed, especially the ending chapters, as if Le Fanu was running out of ink. By the end, the line between the protagonist-narrator and the author blurred every few paragraphs rather noticeably. Had it been a novel, there could've been enough room for both of them, without the technical information taking up precious space from the plot, that could've been better developed. Many plot points were left unexplored in their potential, some were just plainly ignored –
At the same time, almost paradoxically, the prose was so complex, the periods so long and full of subordinate clauses, that I found the pace rather slow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Blood