Reviews - Carmilla and Laura

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429 reviews for:

Carmilla and Laura

S.D. Simper

4.11 AVERAGE

diaday333's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Tbh, this book slayed. It’s a really good retelling and the end pulled on my heart strings. I thought the book would end similarly to the original, but I was pleasantly surprised. Long live vampire lesbians.

madzsmiled's review against another edition

4.5

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Carmilla is a beautiful tale that stands the test of time, and S.D. Simper added such beauty, depth, and sapphic joy to the Gothic classic. While the original was rife with euphemism, Simper allows Carmilla to enjoy her love for Laura. Simper builds on the vague flirtation of the original and finally allows Laura to blossom as a character and as an independent woman. While there's still markings of a Gothic tragedy, Carmilla and Laura is a beautiful homage to everlasting Sapphic love.

The writing was easy to read. I burned through it, but it still felt rich. Carmilla and Laura were so vivid, as was the land of Laura's father's estate. We got to see a deeper side to her governesses, and to my delight, the men did not steal the ending as they did in the original. I loved keeping the perspective with Laura the entire time.

I also loved finally getting more lore for Carmilla. I won't spoil it - but it's absolutely worth the read.

I thought Carmilla was sexy before, but Simper's story was enthralling.

#bookrecommendations #bookreviews #horror #horrorreads

kwanshabit's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional medium-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

“If this were love, I wished it dead. My will was nothing to hers, I feared. But her will was nothing to God’s.”

Controversial opinion, but I enjoyed it more than the original work. While “Carmilla” is a great story, this one gave it more depth and evolved the characters and the relationships between them. It was written beautifully, and the sapphic love portrayed in this book totally stole my heart. I will definitely read more from this author!

green_man's review against another edition

4.75

emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

i liked this more then the original short story, in all honesty. the dynamic between laura and carmilla in the original was probably my favorite part of it, and i was intrigued to know more of them and see more of their interactions, and this precisely happens to satisfy that desire. it was a sheer delight to read right after the original story and it felt incredibly self indulgent at times - which i absolutely loved.

no clue why i dnf'd this many years ago when first trying to read it. i am not usually one for romance so perhaps back then i simply decided to invest my time in other stories. also thank god this had a happy ending i wouldve been so mad if it didnt

beyfrankenstein's review

5.0

"I have been in love with no one.
And I shall never be in love with anyone, I think, unless it be with you."

4.5 ★ This retelling has completely struck me and bewildered me, from its beautiful le Fanu-like writing to the intoxicating vampire that is Carmilla herself. When starting this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. I expected to be met with disappointment and bland characters, only for even the foreword to wrong me. The story was a full-on 5 stars for me, excluding the part near the ending, which I found too lovey-dovey. Carmilla and Laura is a romantic gothic retelling, so inevitably, there's gonna be eye-shocking romance (and there was..). Yet there's a line where it drifts of the original tale. As someone with a goal to read all Carmilla retellings, I'm glad this was my first one, for it displayed Carmilla's persona so accurately (seductive, devoted) and even gave Laura character.

Bathed in moonlight, Carmilla's skin turned luminous, glowing, and I swore in that moment she was no mere manifestation of flesh and blood but of another creed; something holy, some angel with whom I was blessed to be acquainted.

As I mentioned, this book is written in beautiful prose that compares to writings from the time of the original. It felt as if I was reading a classic from the 18th or 19th century.

"I do not know if I believe in God," Carmilla said, "Because it means he created a creature like me, only to condemn me to Hell from the start."

This extract is a beautiful way to display real-life struggles through Carmilla. It can be both taken for her vampire nature and her homosexual nature. I found the other God-including passages beautiful, too. For example, "She worshipped my body like the God she did not believe in [...]." or "Carmilla did not believe in God, but she believed in me.".

"[...] and for a moment, I saw not a nightmarish creature, no, but a pitiful, frightened girl."
"[...] I saw no menace; only teeth too large for her mouth, an abused animal prepared to fight."

The way Carmilla is portrayed through Laura's eyes, even after the reveal of her true "ungodly nature, is an interesting take on her character. It's not the way I originally viewed her, but alongside her backstory, it makes sense. Laura's physical response to the reveal of Carmilla's true nature is a passionate gesture. "Let me wipe your tears."

"A tragedy, perhaps, but to think of how they lived- the passion they shared! Oh, to die, nay- to die together, so that we may live together!"
"You speak as one in the very fires of love."

(To die together [in the very fires], so we may live together [as they did, happily ever after].)

finnickkisser's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Yes

"she worshipped me like the god she didn't believe in..."

carmilla & laura are now my favorite lesbian vampires !! the book is short and very brilliantly written, evoking vivid imagery of the macabre and the gothic. it's a compelling and easy read that i finished it in one sitting, being unable to put the book down.

there’s something intoxicating about the way it drips with sensuality and dread—like lace soaked in blood. the tension between love and danger, between longing and fear, is so palpable you can taste it. simper doesn’t just tell a story—she seduces you into one, leading you by the hand into a misty, candlelit nightmare. and carmilla? she’s everything—elegant, eerie, tragic, and magnetic in the way only doomed creatures can be. laura’s innocence unraveling beneath carmilla’s gaze feels like watching a flame flicker too close to silk.

honestly, i’ll never look at vampire stories the same again. this one lingers.