diana's Reviews > Carmilla: The First Vampire

noooo i didn't like it. :(

i want to fall back on saying this wasn't for me, but there were things that bothered me on an execution level. the story feels almost hard-boiled, which is where it clashes with my personal tastes. i did find it neat that we follow a social worker and focus on all the ways the system has failed certain people, and if you're looking for a crime story that acknowledges systemic failure, then i think you'll find something to like here.

the thing that got under my skin the most was how so much just kinda came out of nowhere? like apparently athena was attracted to violet (girl when), and then there was what *actually* happened to athena's parents, the vampire slayer angle, carmilla's backstory.... there were several points i turned back pages and tried to peel them apart because i genuinely thought they'd gotten stuck together and i must have missed something.

that being said, there's for sure an audience for this. although it didn't work on a genre or story level for me, i appreciated its representation of asian american characters and culture, queer characters, and a discussion of social issues in a way that works off what was present in the original story. it's a neat lil book!! it just didn't work for me.

2/5 stars