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devermismysteris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Cannibalism and Chronic illness
Minor: Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Sexual content
takarakei's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
saintxkathryn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Blood
ebscaggs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Sexual content
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
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 just pictured fog over everything anytime they were outside. Now I just 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.
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, and Ableism
Religious themes, beheading, cremation, sleep paralysis (not really but the descriptions are similar)steveatwaywords's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
In so many ways superior to later books on the supernatural, Le Fanu offers first a cadre of strong females, set almost singularly to make decisions and reason for themselves, especially against the relatively single-minded and flat/impotent males. That the story is also homoerotic underscores how the later mythologies of vampirism will develop, but unfortunately more strongly under a chauvinist pen.
The powerful seductive power of Carmilla is disconcerting mostly for its miscues and almost naive desires, and for that all the more believable. That the evil has devised several scenarios for preying on mortals is fascinating. But our narrator-protagonist, too, shares in a dualistic attraction/repulsion to what she encounters; her ambivalence which results in a kind of paralysis is far more credible than anything like "magic hypnotic eyes" and the like.
All in all, Le Fanu's work is one of my favorite of the genre now, ranking up with King's Salem's Lot but with the authenticity of its Victorian age.
Minor: Sexual content
florecita_lectora's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, and Lesbophobia
jojo_'s review against another edition
- 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
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
paladinosaur's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Chronic illness
Minor: Gore, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Medical content
deadeye's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Racism