Laura lives a solitary life with her father in a mansion too large for just the two of them. A chance accident outside their home brings her a companion to break up the loneliness of her life. But her new friend, Carmilla, is more than what she seems.
It should be very obviously that this is a retelling of the classic Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. SD Simper does a really good job of staying three to the source while adding her own twist to the story. Her prose feels like it could easily be literature from the 1800s. It is incredibly enjoyable and flows so smoothly.
I love the way the author handles the characters as well. Laura is a fun narrator and protagonist. Her struggles with both her feelings for Carmilla and the truth of her life felt believable. I genuinely think I would have reacted in a similar way. I appreciated as well that her denial and struggles with her religious beliefs did not drag out too long or feel preachy. I really appreciated this aspect as that can happen given the time period the story takes place. Carmilla as well was very fun. Her personality was a great companion to Laura’s. Simper did well at lying out the hints as to Carmilla’s true nature without making it too obvious. The big twists in this book were a tiny bit silly but I actually enjoyed it and honestly I was totally fine with however the author got to the ending she had planned.
The story has an interesting set up as well. The story is told as if an unrelated character is reading Laura’s old journal in a modern setting. Then we revisit this unrelated character again at the end to get what is essentially an update on Laura and Carmilla many many years later. This left Laura as the narrator in a very classic way and it was sweet getting to see how things turn out for them after the fact.
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