Darlene's Book Nook: #Audiobook #Review: 2 out of 5 stars for Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu @BlackstoneAudio @downpour

Friday, April 20, 2018

#Audiobook #Review: 2 out of 5 stars for Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu @BlackstoneAudio @downpour_com

TITLE: Carmilla

AUTHOR: J. Sheridan Le Fanu

NARRATORS: Megan Follows
PUBLISHER: AudioGO

PUBLICATION DATE: April 27, 2010 (first published 1872)

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 3 hrs

GENRE: Classics, Horror, Gothic

ASIN: B003JJEGNQ

A classic Victorian vampire novella, which influenced Bram Stoker's later treatment of the vampire mythos in Dracula.

MY REVIEW:

I have always wanted to read this classic, and I picked it up when it was featured as a Daily Steal on Downpour.

The story is about a young woman named named Laura, who lives a quiet life with her father in their castle. Her mother is deceased, and she is raised by two governesses. She yearns for the companionship of a friend. When she was a young child, she had a dream about a beautiful woman who crept into bed with her and then felt the pain of two pricks above her breast.

When Laura is a teenager, a woman is injured in a carriage incident near the castle and is brought to them. Laura recognizes the woman as the one from her dreams when she was a child, although it seems impossible because she looks exactly the same as she did approximately ten years earlier. The woman's name is Carmilla, and she stays with the family while she recuperates. I guess people were a lot more welcoming to strangers back then!

Carmilla has the odd habit of sleeping during the daytime, but Laura's family chalks it up to the fact that she is convalescing. Carmilla and Laura become inseparable, and Carmilla tells Laura: “You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.”

I so wanted to enjoy this book, but it was so dull and boring! There is more talk than anything else, with little action. I guess the story was scandalous back in the day because it featured a lesbian vampire although, again, it was very understated and was revealed more in what Carmilla said to Laura than in anything actually happening. What I thought was cool is that the villain is a woman, which I think was uncommon in that era.

Although this story is short, it dragged for me. I highly recommend the audiobook if you are interested in reading this book, as the narrator was fantastic! She kept me listening, even through my boredom. Here is a sample of the narration:

MY RATING: