Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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:
Yes
Definitely a better love story than Twilight.
Incredible, especially for its time. Although I would’ve preferred a different ending and found the actual one really abrupt.
I really wish the author had explored more of Laura & Carmilla’s relationship. I understand that this is probably the most you can expect from a novel written in 1872.
I’m planning on reading both Carmen Maria Machado’s annoted version & the re-imagined graphic novel coming out February 28th 2023.
Still rating it high for the beautiful prose, sapphic romance, incredible gothic setting & its influence on pop culture.
Please check trigger warnings if you plan on reading it!!
Incredible, especially for its time. Although I would’ve preferred a different ending and found the actual one really abrupt.
I really wish the author had explored more of Laura & Carmilla’s relationship. I understand that this is probably the most you can expect from a novel written in 1872.
I’m planning on reading both Carmen Maria Machado’s annoted version & the re-imagined graphic novel coming out February 28th 2023.
Still rating it high for the beautiful prose, sapphic romance, incredible gothic setting & its influence on pop culture.
Please check trigger warnings if you plan on reading it!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence
Minor: Suicide
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
Den eneste grund til at Carmilla ikke får 5 stjerne er fordi jeg vitterligt ikke er klog nok til at forstå 1/3 af ordene i den. Meget bedre end Dracula efter min mening (fordi den er lesbisk og ikke racistisk).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood
Minor: Suicide
dark
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Lesbophobia
Minor: Child death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Grief
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Edit: upon re read, I’ve lowered my rating to a 3 (was a 4). I think I was mostly excited about the vibes the first time I read it. Still liked it though.
I guess I’m eating my words about not liking the writing style of classics, huh?
I loved the writing style of this book. It was atmospheric and gothic, I loved the setting of the castle and the grassy hills and the ruins of the old town. I pictured fog over everything anytime they were outside. Now I wanna have a picnic at old castle ruins in the fog with a pretty vampire. (Sadly that doesn’t happen in this book but it could’ve). This might be my favorite classic I’ve read so far… it’s at least tied with Dracula, but I think it tops it. It actually got pretty creepy at times.
Was also a little surprised how explicitly sapphic it was, given when it was written. I was expecting it to just be homoerotic in the way that classics sometimes are, or overtly homophobic. I think it’s safe to assume that the combination of sapphic elements and vampirism was very intentional.. automatically villainizing lesbianism by portraying it as a ‘virus’ that you can ‘catch’, something that’s evil and scary… But reading it it isn’t actually explicitly homophobic. It’s all subtext. It could easily be read through a more modern lens, removing that subtext.
I guess I’m eating my words about not liking the writing style of classics, huh?
I loved the writing style of this book. It was atmospheric and gothic, I loved the setting of the castle and the grassy hills and the ruins of the old town. I pictured fog over everything anytime they were outside. Now I wanna have a picnic at old castle ruins in the fog with a pretty vampire. (Sadly that doesn’t happen in this book but it could’ve). This might be my favorite classic I’ve read so far… it’s at least tied with Dracula, but I think it tops it. It actually got pretty creepy at times.
Was also a little surprised how explicitly sapphic it was, given when it was written. I was expecting it to just be homoerotic in the way that classics sometimes are, or overtly homophobic. I think it’s safe to assume that the combination of sapphic elements and vampirism was very intentional.. automatically villainizing lesbianism by portraying it as a ‘virus’ that you can ‘catch’, something that’s evil and scary… But reading it it isn’t actually explicitly homophobic. It’s all subtext. It could easily be read through a more modern lens, removing that subtext.
My only complaints:
•The racism. It’s only in one or two scenes, but it’s pretty bad in one scene especially.
•How naive Laura was, especially at the very end. She was supposed to be 19, right? How did she not connect the dots after the general’s story??? 😆
•It ended a bit abruptly
•And lastly, I just wish we got more pretty atmospheric descriptions of the ruins. I was waiting the whole book for them to go there and when they did we didn’t get much :/ I would’ve liked more atmospheric descriptions in general, but at least we got some.
Overall, I’m really happy I liked this! I was starting to worry that classics just weren’t for me. Hopefully there are still more out there that I’ll love.
“Thus fortified I might take my rest in peace. But dreams come through stone walls, light up dark rooms, or darken light ones, and their persons make their exits and their entrances as they please, and laugh at locksmiths.”
“Thus fortified I might take my rest in peace. But dreams come through stone walls, light up dark rooms, or darken light ones, and their persons make their exits and their entrances as they please, and laugh at locksmiths.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent
Religious themes, beheading, cremation, sleep paralysis (not really but the descriptions are similar)
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death
Minor: Suicide
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
This pleasantly surprised me! I was expecting it to treat Carmilla and Laura’s relationship negatively but it’s not at all. Their romantic relationship is not judged by anyone. I can see why so many Lesbian bookworms absolutely adore this book. It is a vampire classic that has set a huge standard especially in the Lesbian vampire genre. It is a very good read and I highly recommend it.
Note: This is a book from 1872 so problematic themes are still going to be present. Especially outdated terms that are Ableist today. It also has such a negative view on Suicide at the end. Just keep that in mind when reading.
Note: This is a book from 1872 so problematic themes are still going to be present. Especially outdated terms that are Ableist today. It also has such a negative view on Suicide at the end. Just keep that in mind when reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Medical content, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book never explained what happened to Carmilla’s mom and I want to know 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Suicide
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood
Minor: Suicide
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Lesbian vampires - need I say more?!
Having read and loved Dracula, I’m so glad someone made me aware of this book and then lent me it so I could enjoy! I loved the writing style and the simplicity of the plot.
I found myself understanding why the protagonist was falling for the vampire, the character was so easy to like, which only made her character all the more evil!
An easy, classical read that I devoured in one sitting.
Having read and loved Dracula, I’m so glad someone made me aware of this book and then lent me it so I could enjoy! I loved the writing style and the simplicity of the plot.
I found myself understanding why the protagonist was falling for the vampire, the character was so easy to like, which only made her character all the more evil!
An easy, classical read that I devoured in one sitting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide