Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

11 reviews

danilo_syrtis's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Suicide, Grief, and Misogyny

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

plume_de_renarde's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Suicide and Misogyny

tessalexandra's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Antisemitism, Gore, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Misogyny

Minor: Slavery and Suicide

rabidteddybear's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

aparker89's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gaslighting, Blood, and Death

Minor: Bullying, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Misogyny

abmochapman's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

“Certainly LeFanu needed a monster; he could not imagine lesbian desire otherwise,” says Carmen Maria Machado in a perfectly normal interview.

Having read The Gilda Stories and Fledgling, I was immediately excited to find a queer vampire story pre-dating Dracula. This gothic novel reads much more like a condemnation of deviant desires than an exploration of sexuality and the supernatural as in the case of its more modern counterparts. Yet, I think Carmilla is nonetheless an important piece of vampire and lesbian literary history. 

It was slow and tortuous, ridiculously campy, and almost erotic. Though it was not as scary or suspenseful as I had hoped, I had fun! 

And did you know Marcia Maren, like Mircalla, is an anagram? Once I realized — after some research, of course — I found an even greater appreciation for Carmen Maria Machado’s introduction and how she twisted LeFanu’s self-serving fiction into her own.

 

Now I can’t wait to dive deeper into author interviews and fan re-tellings (such as the web series). I love a queer reclamation of a cult classic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Grief

Minor: Racism and Misogyny

jojo_'s review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Ableism, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Lesbophobia, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Classism, Incest, and Sexual content

celestriakle's review against another edition

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, Toxic friendship, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Racism

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

Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Grief

deadeye's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Racism