Reviews

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

booksandbesitos's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.5

I want to challenge myself to read more classic books, and while I typically haven’t been a fan of classic books, I actually enjoyed this one a little. It was kind of fun to see where the inspiration for some of my favorite vampire characters came from. I was kind of disappointed to see that.

carmilla gets killed in the end

But overall, it was still a pretty good read, and one of my favorite classics I’ve ever read

I don’t want to say that it doesn’t hold up because again pretty solid read- however because of modern day vampire stories using a lot of the tropes from this and other classic vampire stories, it is very very predictable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Death of parent

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

I am unsure why this book became such a classic. There are fun elements, big ~weird girl~ vibes in a lesbian vampire tale. While I typically love weird girl vampire shit, this reads like a straight man’s gothic style fantasy of those elements. And the pious narrator’s rejection of and disgust towards all of Carmilla’s advances feels icky with a modern lens. If I had read this when it was written I probably would have loved it, and I can absolutely see how this may have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. My modern sensibilities and socially conscious mind however would not allow me to enjoy this book as intended. The deeply unnecessary racism towards Carmilla’s servants was especially gross to read. The story does contain elements of thrill that would like be incredibly engaging in its original newspaper serial form, but as a book I found it underwhelming. 

aaliyyaa's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

redhoods's review against another edition

3.5

weirdgirl lesbian vampires <3

kirou's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

annaownsthestars's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

nhlghst'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

3.0

Interesting if you are particularly interested in reading the earliest occurrences of vampires in literature, but admittedly the mystery and horror falls flat in the light of everything that's been written about vampires since this book came out. Characters were a bit boring.

abigailrosalynn's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

f_a's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

5.0

romehsaur's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0