Reviews - Carmilla and Laura

429 reviews for:

Carmilla and Laura

S.D. Simper

4.11 AVERAGE

jaybees's review

3.0

emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

blazingjay04's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mrobison576's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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 ENJOYED THIS SO MUCH. It delivered exactly what I want from a literary side-quel. The text of the original book is not cast aside or thrown out. Instead, this book is presented as the artifact of Laura's diary, written with different sentences than the letters that comprise the original text, but describing the same events we already know and love with additional scenes that make this a requited love story.

This was such an engaging read. It was wonderfully paced, and the new details added to the original story fit in seamlessly. I loved Laura's inner conflict, I loved watching the development of her romance with Carmilla, and I also really appreciated that this book did not water down the monstrousness of vampires to make Carmilla a less controversial love interest (smh at the webseries...)

Truly the main thing keeping this from being a five star read is the presence of my most behated, beloathed, despised, and abominated trope Fated Mates. I thought it was so LAME and STUPID to get to the reveal that Carmilla was never going to eat Laura because one time a long time ago she'd seen a vision of Laura as her future soulmate. It is sooooooo much more sexy and sickos if Carmilla HAD been doing her usual seduce/drain/destroy routine and then something about Laura was special enough to stay her hand (but throughout the romance the threat still remains.......... Laura never knows if today's the day Carmilla might lose interest and eat her...... LIKE c'mon that's so much hotter).

mpaloma's review

3.75

“I feared what I would find, if I laid my soul bare.”

I have loved Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu since I read it when I was probably 12 or 13 years old. I was disappointed earlier this year when I read Hungerstone, advertised as a Carmilla retelling, which really only borrowed Carmilla the character to drop into an otherwise rich novel. I wish I had found this first, which satisfied my interest in a retelling true to the storyline, but more explicitly sapphic than Le Fanu’s.

Vampirism being a metaphor for lesbianism is one of my top literary interests, and I have always thought if I did a PhD, it would be the crux of my dissertation. It’s an old trope in media. Sheridan le Fanu’s Carmilla, published in 1872, was meant to be a cautionary tale against the dangers of lesbianism. It is one of the early works about vampires, and predated Bram Stoker’s Dracula by about 25 years.

Simper’s retelling leaves no room for interpretation regarding the romantic relationship between Laura and Carmilla, although I am always shocked by people who didn’t catch it in the original text. I enjoyed (or maybe more accurately, related to) Laura’s journey with her religious guilt. The ending felt a little heavy handed, but I will take the win for my lesbian vampires.

I also thank Simper for including the most iconic line of the original novella: “I have been in love with no one, and never shall," she whispered, "unless it should be with you.”

I would recommend this book to people who never quite got over their middle school vampire phase, anyone with a penchant for anagrams, and to night owls.

icarrion's review

4.5

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

nerdb4herds's review against another edition

3.0

tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

camilovescoco's review

4.25

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Carmilla and Laura is a love letter not just to the original novella, but to the fans who fell in love with it. S.D. Simper has done something very, very special with this retelling