Reviews

Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu

Only show reviews with written explanations

julesleigh's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.75

This was so good!! I could live in this word forever. A semi modern retelling of Carmilla with Asian inspired mythology mixed in.

anoliveri's review

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mysterious fast-paced

3.0

More like "Carmilla: The Thirst Vampire" amirite?

Jokes aside, this graphic novel was some good popcorn. It places itself in conversation with J. Sheriden Le Fanu's original short novel Carmilla, a story about a lesbian vampire living her best life, which predates Dracula by a couple decades. I still have not read Carmilla (so I'm not actually sure if she gets to live her best life, sorry), but this graphic novel has me more interested in reading it than I was before. Amy Chu's take on Carmilla follows a young queer Chinese American social worker, Athena Lo, who becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of why homeless queer women are dying of similar circumstances in her Manhattan neighborhood. The New York vibes are strong with this one, and the social commentary walks in stride with the plot, neither jostling the other for real estate on the page. Also, the Chinese folklore Amy Chu weaves into Athena's story is gorgeously brought to life by Soo Lee's artwork. Truly stunning color choices.

All this being said, it still felt like popcorn. Like, there's some fiber and some good crunch, and you can't stop 'til you've reached the bottom of the bucket, but it still didn't feel like a full meal. I think that boils down to how short this graphic novel is--I feel like I really wanted more about Athena's family life and a little more exploration of some of the reveals we get in the third chapter. This is a compliment, though; it means that I really enjoyed Athena's character and wished to spend more time with her. So, overall a very enjoyable graphic novel fit for a weekday snack (I finished it in less than an hour), and I of course appreciate any author who is doing the good work in making horror as queer as it should be. This is why I wish I could add a heart to my rating like I can on Letterboxd!!

Read and enjoy. Recommended to anyone who loves vampires, flawed queer characters, and New York giving New York.

For fans of: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Infidel by Pornsak Pichetshote, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, White Horse by Erika T. Wurth, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Lost Boys (1987), Dracula (Netflix, 2020)

sarahspages's review against another edition

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3.5

the art was so gorgeous. I loved almost everything about this, just wish it was a bit longer so it didn’t feel as rushed in the end. I really recommend this if queer vampire stories are your thing, I’m so surprised I haven’t seen anyone talk about this graphic novel before.

pastelhellion's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Beautiful art, it's an absolutely gorgeous graphic novel. However, I feel it's a bit rushed. I think it could've been fleshed out a bit more. But still an entertaining read!

seekerxr's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Overall it was better than the original Carmilla, in my opinion, but not by that much.

I put this on my list because the classic was honestly a big disappointment for me, so I put my hopes into a retelling. Carmilla has such good bones to be a great story but this is two iterations of it that I just feel didn't live up to its potential. I think especially with this telling, having the background be the 90s in New York with a queer POC being the main character, had the chance to be really interesting, but it was honestly average at best.

Bonus points for the creative inclusion of Chinese mythology and the side characters that I liked better than the main characters, to be honest, but other than that this book was pretty flat. It did kind of give A Dowry of Blood near the very end, when Carmilla was talking about all the girls before the MC and how "none of them mean anything compared to you" but that was probably the most interesting point in the whole story.

Also I just hate

the cheating trope, even if she got manipulated into it.

It automatically tanks any story rating for me.

Still disappointed, hoping I can find a Carmilla adaptation or inspiration that I can truly obsess over.

oao's review

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A few things I enjoyed: an ancient vampire living through time (while another character speculates them bipolar); the inclusion of iconographic writings.

But a few cliches as well: the absent mysterious one is someone already been introduced; the protagonist being the last of XXXX; “kill your gays”.

I don’t particularly think it’s a good idea to make the victims exclusively young women. I’m just tired of the larger culture insisting on terrorising women while reassuring men of their safety. And I’d like some reasoning behind why a vampire would turn into a loong. (because they can turn into anything at all? So that’s the form they’d choose when confronting someone of East Asian ancestry? “I can be whatever you want me to be.”(P91) I’m not sure figuratively or literally.)

Overall, a page turner and seemed underdeveloped.