The vampire story before Dracula, and the origin of the lesbian vampire trope. The vampire Carmilla comes to stay with a young woman named Laura and her father, feeding on Laura at night while quickly developing a romantic obsession.

I was surprised how textually explicit the romance was, given this was published in 1872. As I understand it, the author was able to get away with this given it is connected to Carmilla's supernatural hunger, rather than an ordinary romance. Still, the direct scenes of them kissing and the poetic declarations of love were surprising, and welcome. 

This is a very short book, and that was to its detriment. I greatly delighted in everything up until the end, of the gradual worsening of the supernatural as Laura continues to deny what's going on. But then it is all sent to a rushed conclusion in which new characters take over the narrative and leave the central focus abandoned. Despite Laura being the first person narrator, we get hardly any of her thoughts after the reveal that Carmilla is a vampire, save for a few sentences at the very end. 

Does she feel angry at the betrayal? Was it hard for her to admit it was true? Or did she in some way know all along, and was partly okay with it? Was she relieved when Carmilla died? Sad? We don't know. We can only guess, because her introspection is near entirely done away with.

That said, it's still a good book, and quite a fast read. I am glad I read it.