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abigalelouise12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Toxic relationship
haileeraye's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Gore
amina_writes_books's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Body horror, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Addiction, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
rosemina2016's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
midnightrose_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
It was mostly an enjoyable read for me even though some things bothered me about the plot. Specifically the lack of urgency on the part of DeLafontaine, Laura and Carmilla to dispatch an out of control vampire on the college campus sooner in the narrative. Instead DeLafontaine introduces them to vampire society (specifically Carmilla who she’s turned earlier in the story; with her human companion Laura in tow), Laura goes for Thanksgiving break to San Francisco to spend time with her friend’s family, and DeLafontaine holds these private poetry readings between Carmilla and Laura. There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency until towards the end of the book to prevent more murders of the student body which I found bizarre.
Graphic: Vomit, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent and Grief
librariamortis's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
bergha1998's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Emotional, 2 1/2 🔥
“Life doesn’t seem worthwhile without synthesizing my experiences into art, the catharsis of putting it all out onto the page. It’s the only way I’ve ever been able to get other people to understand how I’m feeling.”
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Death
missreaderlove's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved that Gibson stayed true to the majority of the plot in Carmilla, but added in her own little changes and quirks to make it her own.
The last quarter of the book was what dropped it down a star for me - I wished there was a focus other than the romantic story, like the previous parts.
Overall, an intense and engaging novel.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content
coffeecass's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood and Violence
blacksphinx's review
- 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
Well... this book includes an interview with the author. In it, she says her stories start as a music video in her mind with vibes-based images and that's exactly how this novel turned out. It's vibes. It is a collection of scenes that if it was a movie or a music video, would be turned into gifs and reblogged on tumblr until the end of days. There's a massive college party where all four floors of the dorms are transformed into a representation of The Divine Comedy. During the opening ceremony, senior girls in pure white dresses put laurel crowns on the incoming freshmen around a bonfire. Does this have anything to do with the themes of the story? Nope! But they are cool to think about!
Things only happen to push us from one pretty set piece to another. And there's very, very few things that happen in this novel. It honestly bothers me that both protagonists are poets and spend all of their time off-screen writing poetry, but we only get two poems from them in the entire book. The author is a poet... where are the poems? This novel also doesn't need two PoVs, and I sometimes got them confused because they were so similar. (I feel bad that the author admits she struggled to make their voices sound different; I don't think she succeeded.) I also think it's weird that the protagonist being plus size is a selling point but no one mentions this until like 45% through the book?
But the thing is like, I was one of those girls reblogging collections of stolen photos a decade ago. The vibes are immaculate! I would reblog the gifs of the movie of this novel! But it's like, eating a giant puff of black cotton candy from a cone with bookshelves printed on it. There is no substance here. The words are beautiful, but so little happens. I am completely torn on what number to give to this book. It was pretty. It bored me. I'd read her other novels. I'm glad I checked this out of the library instead of preordering it.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Murder
Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Lesbophobia, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Confinement