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A review by seekerxr
Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall it was better than the original Carmilla, in my opinion, but not by that much.
I put this on my list because the classic was honestly a big disappointment for me, so I put my hopes into a retelling. Carmilla has such good bones to be a great story but this is two iterations of it that I just feel didn't live up to its potential. I think especially with this telling, having the background be the 90s in New York with a queer POC being the main character, had the chance to be really interesting, but it was honestly average at best.
Bonus points for the creative inclusion of Chinese mythology and the side characters that I liked better than the main characters, to be honest, but other than that this book was pretty flat. It did kind of give A Dowry of Blood near the very end, when Carmilla was talking about all the girls before the MC and how "none of them mean anything compared to you" but that was probably the most interesting point in the whole story.
Also I just hatethe cheating trope, even if she got manipulated into it. It automatically tanks any story rating for me.
Still disappointed, hoping I can find a Carmilla adaptation or inspiration that I can truly obsess over.
I put this on my list because the classic was honestly a big disappointment for me, so I put my hopes into a retelling. Carmilla has such good bones to be a great story but this is two iterations of it that I just feel didn't live up to its potential. I think especially with this telling, having the background be the 90s in New York with a queer POC being the main character, had the chance to be really interesting, but it was honestly average at best.
Bonus points for the creative inclusion of Chinese mythology and the side characters that I liked better than the main characters, to be honest, but other than that this book was pretty flat. It did kind of give A Dowry of Blood near the very end, when Carmilla was talking about all the girls before the MC and how "none of them mean anything compared to you" but that was probably the most interesting point in the whole story.
Also I just hate
Still disappointed, hoping I can find a Carmilla adaptation or inspiration that I can truly obsess over.