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lila_still_reads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Boy howdy, I loved this book. A Dowry of Blood was alright, but Gibson really got me with this one. There’s sapphic vampires, there’s healthy exploration of submission/domination dynamics, there’s critique of unhealthy power dynamics in academia. It’s a Carmilla retelling. It rules. Some of my friends now think I’m weird because I won’t shut up about the dark academia sapphic vampires but jokes on them, I’ve been weird all along.
I loved Laura finding both her confidence and voice without needing to lose her softness. I appreciated that Carmilla never truly finds a healthy dynamic with De Lafontaine but is still able to move forward. I love what a pretentious little shit Carmilla can be and how her growing feelings towards Laura express themselves through academic jealousy and poetry critique.
It’s really good. There’s a certain scene at a party that just had me floored. Gibson writes tension so well and paces the romantic scenes in a way that made me kick my feet. As someone who’s just left college and has always felt that terrifying need to please authority figures, Carmilla’s dynamic with De Lafontaine was both so real and so heartbreaking. By choosing to depict De Lafontaine as more pathetic than evil by the end of the story, I think Gibson actually does a great job in defanging her (pun intended). Carmilla discovering healthier love was beautiful and I loved how her dynamic with Laura subverted my expectations.
It's not perfect- the over-arching danger/mystery element wasn’t always well paced- but I still loved it. Definite recommend if you don’t think it’s weird to love the unhinged poetry-writing vampires.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Mental illness
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