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danuu's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Racism, and Sexual violence
ambenicole418's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
The way it’s never explained why Carmilla’s mom just abandons her in people’s homes, so she can suck the lives out of their daughters is kinda funny to me. There is definitely an untold story there. Is her mom also a vampire? What is she doing after she abandons Carmilla? What is this journey of life and death she talks about? It also seems kinda reckless to abandon your vampire daughter in the castle right next door to the father of the girl Carmilla killed just a few days ago. How did her mom think that was gonna play out lol???
I have mixed feelings on Carmilla. One one hand I feel for her because she was turned into a vampire against her will and she’s just doing what she needs to do in order to survive. And as much as I wish Laura and Carmilla could live out their lives in a happy, sapphic vampire/human relationship, Carmilla was slowly killing Laura and killed a bunch of other women, so her death was justified and kinda necessary.
I also wish the romance between Laura and Carmilla was developed a little bit more. While I do recognize that Laura does indeed have romantic feelings for Carmilla, there are points in the story where it feels like Carmilla is 10x more in love with Laura, than Laura is with Carmilla. For example, Carmilla tells Laura that she has never been in love before and she will never be in love with anyone besides Laura, but Laura never tells Carmilla that she loves her too or opens up about her feelings for Carmilla at all. I guess this could mostly be attributed to the fact that this a 100 page short story rather than an entire novel though.
I have mixed feelings on Carmilla. One one hand I feel for her because she was turned into a vampire against her will and she’s just doing what she needs to do in order to survive. And as much as I wish Laura and Carmilla could live out their lives in a happy, sapphic vampire/human relationship, Carmilla was slowly killing Laura and killed a bunch of other women, so her death was justified and kinda necessary.
I also wish the romance between Laura and Carmilla was developed a little bit more. While I do recognize that Laura does indeed have romantic feelings for Carmilla, there are points in the story where it feels like Carmilla is 10x more in love with Laura, than Laura is with Carmilla. For example, Carmilla tells Laura that she has never been in love before and she will never be in love with anyone besides Laura, but Laura never tells Carmilla that she loves her too or opens up about her feelings for Carmilla at all. I guess this could mostly be attributed to the fact that this a 100 page short story rather than an entire novel though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
moviemagus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I have ambivalent feelings about this. Was looking forward to reading it and was glad to find the audiobook, but I probably wouldn't have finished it if it was longer. The story is historically important, but the performance is cringe...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Grief
butlere's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
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? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
toffishay's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Carmilla is kinda sexy and it employs very creepy Gothic imagery and an engaging read. I have the edition with an introduction from Carmen Maria Machado and I loved that additional insight into the history and impact of this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Lesbophobia and Classism
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Racism
blschuldt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Murder
_piercingwords_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? No
3.25
As a bi vampire lover, I liked this book and found it interesting to see the resemblance and differences to more modern adaptations of the vampire myths.
I also liked how Carmilla's and Laura's queerness was not directly demonised and found it very progressive for its age in comparison to other classics.
It was, as one of the first influential vampire stories, predictable but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
Did I get that right though? That Carmilla was actually remotely related to Laura? The thing I actually did not expect and threw me off a bit oof
I also liked how Carmilla's and Laura's queerness was not directly demonised and found it very progressive for its age in comparison to other classics.
It was, as one of the first influential vampire stories, predictable but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment, Incest, Violence, Death, Murder, Suicide, and Blood
coffeenurse's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence