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dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time and it was finally in my local library!!!
It has such an eerie atmosphere from the start. I struggled to put it down. The strangeness of Carmilla was compelling to read. The way Laura describes her shows the depth of Carmilla’s alluring ways.
As a modern reader and someone who watched a lot of vampire media, it’s interesting to read the tells of Carmilla’s vampirism. Carmilla’s burning hatred for religion was hilarious to read, but I guess for the readers at the time, it would be quite shocking.
I can see how it shaped future stories of the dreaded vampire…
It has such an eerie atmosphere from the start. I struggled to put it down. The strangeness of Carmilla was compelling to read. The way Laura describes her shows the depth of Carmilla’s alluring ways.
As a modern reader and someone who watched a lot of vampire media, it’s interesting to read the tells of Carmilla’s vampirism. Carmilla’s burning hatred for religion was hilarious to read, but I guess for the readers at the time, it would be quite shocking.
I can see how it shaped future stories of the dreaded vampire…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Classism
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can’t believe this is (one of) the work(s) Bram Stoker based his most famous novel on … and he actually made the whole concept boring. Carmilla should get the recognition that was carelessly bestowed on Dracula.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder
Minor: Suicide
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Carmilla is quite an interesting book. The plot and allure surrounding (the first of its kind of vampire novel before Dracula became a thing) intrigued, and I felt that Le Fanu’s writing lived up to the hype this book has been getting. I appreciated the quiet horror that Le Fanu employs in Carmilla rather than angling towards a jump scare approach. Additionally, I found myself wondering about the nature of Carmilla’s and Laura’s relationship, especially if Carmilla was truly in love with her (though some of her most popular quotes seem to come straight from a romance novel, if you think about it). Even after the final page, Le Fanu still leaves you second-guessing everything that occurs in the book (but it’s in a good way, I promise), and it’s the type of book that lingers around after you’re done reading it.
An underrated classic that doesn’t get as much attention, I would recommend Carmilla for readers looking for queer vampire novellas to read this spooky season.
An underrated classic that doesn’t get as much attention, I would recommend Carmilla for readers looking for queer vampire novellas to read this spooky season.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Murder
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
In these mysterious moods I did not like her. I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon mingled with a vague sense or fear and disgust. I had no distinct thoughts about her while such scenes lasted, but I was conscious of a love growing into adoration, and also of abhorrence. This I know is a paradox, but I can make no other attempt to explain the feeling.
***
Girls are caterpillars while they live in the world, to be finally butterflies when the summer comes; but in the meantime there are grubs and larvae, don't you see - each eith their peculiar propensities, necessities, and structure.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Suicide
dark
reflective
fast-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
I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this! I usually don't like vampires, but I really enjoyed this. I liked the sapphic parts, as well as the vampire part.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Suicide
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Minor: Suicide
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loved this. Even though I'd heard people talk about this book before, I was not expecting it to be this overtly romantic? Loved the specific vampire lore here as well. I think this will be something I want to reread pretty often.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Only a homophobe could sit and go I'm writing this to explain that lesbianism is bad and then produce homoerotic content in 100 pages. Like Camilla was confessing and wooing this woman, and sometimes you felt her ick towards it (yeah could have had more lesbians)
0.5 star because there's a line where a character is stated to describe a hideous black woman and I'm taking it as racism because look at the time period of this book, mans was probably racist as well
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Murder
Minor: Racism, Suicide