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linblythe_pub22's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry
mmoonlight's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
I wanted to read this one for a while now, and because I recently received a copy, I finally could.
While I did not particularly like any of the characters, I did enjoy the development of Laura and Carmilla's dynamic, the prose, the descriptions, and the feeling of suspense. Now I understand why Carmilla is such a groundbreaking work.
The only real complaint I have is that I expected something more complex when it comes to wrapping up the story. For example, more about Baron Vordenburg, whose appearance was really underwhelming, or for the final clash with Carmilla to be something bigger, something more striking and intense.
However, those aspects did not make me enjoy the novella any less. It was predictable and formulaic, as a lot of Gothic tales are, but I still found it entertaining.
Also, I have to say, I love the cover of the edition I was gifted, as well as the chosen fonts. Very pretty.
While I did not particularly like any of the characters, I did enjoy the development of Laura and Carmilla's dynamic, the prose, the descriptions, and the feeling of suspense. Now I understand why Carmilla is such a groundbreaking work.
The only real complaint I have is that I expected something more complex when it comes to wrapping up the story. For example, more about Baron Vordenburg, whose appearance was really underwhelming, or for the final clash with Carmilla to be something bigger, something more striking and intense.
However, those aspects did not make me enjoy the novella any less. It was predictable and formulaic, as a lot of Gothic tales are, but I still found it entertaining.
Also, I have to say, I love the cover of the edition I was gifted, as well as the chosen fonts. Very pretty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Classism
the_cheerful_necromancer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.75
Honestly, complaining about pacing problems or plot macguffins in a horror story this short and this old would be redundant. I enjoyed it a lot. I would not survive a homoerotic codependent friendship with a beautiful lesbian vampire and I am okay with that.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Honestly all the triggers in this book are EXTREMELY mild in my opinion (the time period after all wasn't especially keen on graphic gore and psychological violence). Keep in mind that this book, having been written SO long ago, is dismissive and even very slightly hostile towards the homoerotic female friendship at its centre, but frankly it is SO mild even then. This book is a stiff gothic vampire story, it is not especially upsetting to the modern audience. Main character's mother is dead, it is brushed over excessively briefly.flowerkitties's review against another edition
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder
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
333lex's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting
it’s a book about vampires so expect blood and such (albeit very minor)rory_john14's review against another edition
dark
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Medical content, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
eva_vva's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Confinement, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Gore, Sexism, Suicide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Carmilla is quite an interesting book. The plot and allure surrounding (the first of its kind of vampire novel before Dracula became a thing) intrigued, and I felt that Le Fanu’s writing lived up to the hype this book has been getting. I appreciated the quiet horror that Le Fanu employs in Carmilla rather than angling towards a jump scare approach. Additionally, I found myself wondering about the nature of Carmilla’s and Laura’s relationship, especially if Carmilla was truly in love with her (though some of her most popular quotes seem to come straight from a romance novel, if you think about it). Even after the final page, Le Fanu still leaves you second-guessing everything that occurs in the book (but it’s in a good way, I promise), and it’s the type of book that lingers around after you’re done reading it.
An underrated classic that doesn’t get as much attention, I would recommend Carmilla for readers looking for queer vampire novellas to read this spooky season.
An underrated classic that doesn’t get as much attention, I would recommend Carmilla for readers looking for queer vampire novellas to read this spooky season.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
clovetra's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
easily out of all the classics i’ve read from before the 1900s, this is my favourite.
yes technically this edition is modern as it was edited by carmen maria machado but SHUT UP.
also shout out to carmen i loved her editing!!!! her little end notes plus her prologue? honestly without her editing i don’t think i would’ve enjoyed this as much. so happy i chose to read this edition. the fact that carmen doesn’t add the additional letters simply to spite the author for hiding just HOW DOWN BAD laura was???? god her prologue was so fun. usually prologue’s for classics are a snooze fest where it’s literally just them recounting the authors life, but carmen somehow managed to breathe life into a short summary? plus i don’t know if the original edition has this or if carmen added it, but the images!!!!! did not expect them, and honestly it added to the story quite nicely, especially the images where laura is so incredibly down bad. she’s so me coded (falls head over heels in seconds without checking for concerns and becomes absolutely infatuated with someone she knows jack shit about). i love stupid lesbian rep in my 1800s gothics.
god what can i say. this book immediately gets bonus points because i am infact a lesbian who loves vampires and horror. like this book was set up for me to love it. plus carmen’s editing made all the fanciful 1800s english actually coherent! cuz im sorry english pre-1900s is so hard for my brain to comprehend. sorry booktwt im not smart enough for classics sue me. but this? this made so much sense and i loved it.
i also loved that the classic vampire traits we’ve grown to know don’t come from this. i mean this was literally the blueprint of vampire tales. i love that carmilla is just a sleepy girl who wakes up at 1pm and is moody. me and carmilla are one in the same. she gets me fr. like fuck that shit about garlic give me an enchantress who happens to be perpetually tired. like my girl has CFS/ME and is goth she’s literally me!!!!!!!! plus she turns into a cat!!!!! all lesbians love cats!!!!!! carmilla is the same as modern day lesbians i said what i said.
also props for the lesbianism being so explicit! in other classics there’s a lot of subtext…., nah in here we see carmilla and laura kiss and laura has a sleep orgasm cuz she dreams about carmilla. she’s so down bad.
i wish i got a bit more time with my homegirl carmilla and saw her be more explicitly a vampire but im not too mad about it. i like the fact her vampirism is more of an undertone and is less explicit honestly. fuck lesbianism being in the subtext let’s make the fact she is an ancient supernatural being the subtext 🔥
anyways this might actually be my favourite classic. I LOVE LESBIANS!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent