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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
fast-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:
No
I loved the original story and this re-telling (from a different point of view) was so, so good. It was really nice that the Sapphic subtext of Carmilla was now the text in Carmilla & Laura, I loved it.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As someone else said, the review I've linked below captures what I also felt about the book. Carmilla is a compelling villain, that's what makes the romance in the original so interesting, and in this one she feels flattened. The romance also drags a bit, which is impressive because the book is incredibly short. There's a bit of pining, then their romance essentially boils down to them sleeping with each other every single night until the climax of the story. The latter half of the story lacks gothic intrigue, and the former feels essentially like Simper is almost doing a Somerton-style plagiarism, where they've taken the original Carmilla by Le Fanu, reworded paragraphs into modern English, and added a bit of extra dialogue. It just makes you want to go and read the actual Carmilla!
The plot, dialogue, and dynamic just gets ridiculous. It loses all the dark intrigue of the dynamic between Carmilla and Laura in Le Fanu's text and just becomes this weird shallow mimicry of 19th century romance, but like the author has only seen it as presented by parodies. When it got to the third chapter in a row where all that happened was yet another same-y nocturnal sex scene I started tuning out and skimming--and I absolutely hate to skim books.
Another thing that really bothered me was the use of American English and the evidence of not enough of a close edit before publishing. Some things that caught me:
The plot, dialogue, and dynamic just gets ridiculous. It loses all the dark intrigue of the dynamic between Carmilla and Laura in Le Fanu's text and just becomes this weird shallow mimicry of 19th century romance, but like the author has only seen it as presented by parodies. When it got to the third chapter in a row where all that happened was yet another same-y nocturnal sex scene I started tuning out and skimming--and I absolutely hate to skim books.
Another thing that really bothered me was the use of American English and the evidence of not enough of a close edit before publishing. Some things that caught me:
- Carmilla calling her "mother" figure "Momma". Carmilla of Styria...this story is based on a book by an Irish writer. "Momma" to me strikes me as like...deep south USA. Even just "Mama" would have been acceptable. Word choices have implications and meanings, this is one that should have been caught by a beta reader and edited.
- "cookies and tea". COOKIES?? an isolated Austrian noble girl calling biscuits "cookies" is insane to me. Also...what kind of biscuits? A bit of specificity adds some character and lived-in-ness to the world.
- "suitcase". basic research and better reading of contemporary literature of Le Fanu's Carmilla would have anyone cringe at this. Suitcases weren't really a thing in the time period depicted, and they most certainly would not have been a thing for some vampire skulking around in the rural woods of eastern Austria in the mid-19th century. A travelling trunk is the thing that Simper is thinking of.
- Several sentences that were egregiously grammatically incorrect, the kind that would have been extremely easy to catch in the edit.
The above examples are, to me as a fellow writer, evidence of a lack of a close enough edit. This felt like it needed another few passes before publication, especially a look at by a professional editor or some beta readers. It's not bad, it's just got major flaws that when you're familiar with this process they start to scream of a lack of consideration for certain aspects of the craft.
Other than that it's fine, just disappointing. Thank god it's short. If you need something to fill a few hours it fills that function finely.
2.75-3.75⭐️--overall average, some compelling aspects
Goodreads review I mentioned:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5009797725
me gusto un montón incluso más que el original, realmente disfrute mucho leerlo
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
oh i ate this up. if you love the original classic novella but wanted it to be even more explicitly gay, then you have to read this. this book is enthralling, the romance exquisite, and the characters true to sheridan’s original. it’s so well written too! this is what self-published books should be! and what a perfect book to be my first completed read of the year. 10 out of 10, would read again
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Internalised homophobia go brrrrrrr
Overall a really sweet and fun retelling of carmilla that makes it even more gay and gives a happy ending. Twas a vibe. Fast read.
Overall a really sweet and fun retelling of carmilla that makes it even more gay and gives a happy ending. Twas a vibe. Fast read.
When I read Carmilla, I was disappointed. There wasn't much of the romance promised, and the plot seemed slow until during the climax it was a bunch of nonsense with a massive info-dump. I liked how this book had a lot of the elements that the original had, but was much easier to follow. Not to mention the writing was fantastic as well as the romance. After comparing the two books, I feel like this book has way more plot, believable characters, and better worldbuilding. 10/10 would recommend!
Two halves of a whole, she and I, and by God I understood—I felt I had missed her all my life.
A gorgeous retelling! I enjoyed the original Carmilla well enough, though I did find it dense at times, in the way that some classics can be. This had the perfect gothic atmosphere, a plot that seemed perfectly slow and measured even in a rather short book, and Carmilla and Laura's relationship turned up to 11. It's dark and foreboding, yes, but somehow really soft. I especially loved Carmilla, and her perfect balancing of saccharine, seductive and sinister. The writing was lovely, very descriptive and perfectly apt for the setting. I really enjoyed their relationship and how Simper took things a step further than the original text, while still managing a really lovely subtlety? My favourite parts are near the beginning, when Laura is still wrestling with her feelings for Carmilla. The descriptions of her angst are just. Agh. So good.
It's different enough from the original that you might not quite see where it's going. I did have a few quibbles with some of the word choices and writing, but overall I really enjoyed this. My first from this author, but not my last!