Reviews

Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu

janus's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

cbharpy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

A fun take! But I was left with so many questions. Some of the information and some of the plot felt so sudden. I feel like it could have used a few more pages. The artwork is beautiful, though, and the take on the Carmilla myth is fresh.

rg1026's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

ottessa91's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

mallorieedward's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

bookishly_laura9813's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

nouveau's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

yuvia's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I liked the art but the story itself was completely lackluster. It had so much potential to be something unique and interesting by incorporating Chinese mythology, a unique retelling, but literally nothing happened and the mythology wasn’t really explanded on. Like, at all. Such a waste of an idea. Athena, the main character, was not likable at all and I found it really hard to be sympathetic towards her. The choices she makes are questionable

(disrespecting Morgan’s boundaries, cheating on her, not really having any remorse about any of it, barely seeming to care that she died, etc.)

and at times made no sense

(investigating murders when she had no real business in doing so, trusting a random drug addict who stole her jacket and followed her home, getting further involved after they murdered your ex gf, etc. are all incredibly stupid things to do)

. The author also seemingly tried to add some type of commentary on the racism Chinese people face? But it was done so poorly that I wasn’t sure what exactly she was trying to convey in regards to that topic. Those racism moments were executed very randomly in the story and added pretty much nothing to what was going on. Overall, a disappointing read.

lesbianbarista's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Carmilla, the first vampire, whose story came before Dracula, who tempts unsuspecting women to their death. I've never considered reading the novel (I know, a shame) but with how beautifully this was done, art and writing, I'll have to give it a shot.

I can't put my finger on it, but something about this graphic novel didn't fulfill me which is funny considering it's about vampires. It just didn't feel complete, even if it is going to be a part of a series (which is what the ending led me to believe). 

lunarcaustics's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.0